The aim of this study is to redesign two workstations in a PVD coating production area, consideri... more The aim of this study is to redesign two workstations in a PVD coating production area, considering productivity and ergonomic aspects. Through the elimination of wastes such as unnecessary movements and transportations and by reducing the awkward postures as arm flexion larger than 45º, the productivity in the loading and unloading workstations increased 9% and 5%, respectively, and the ergonomic risk was improved from medium to acceptable. RULA was the chosen method to evaluate the ergonomic situation and anthropometric studies were performed to find the ideal ergonomic solution. This study shows the importance to consider ergonomic conditions when designing or redesigning a workstation in order to get effective productivity improvements.
Due to demographic variation, fewer young workers are available and the overall number of workers... more Due to demographic variation, fewer young workers are available and the overall number of workers will decrease. The length of absenteeism, especially due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), increases with higher age (Müglich et al., 2015). According to Neumann and Dul (2010), if effectively applied in the design of operation systems, Human Factors can improve system performance while reducing health hazards for employees.
The ergonomic assessment of adopted working postures is essential for avoiding musculoskeletal ri... more The ergonomic assessment of adopted working postures is essential for avoiding musculoskeletal risk factors in manufacturing contexts. Several observational methods based on external analyst observations are available; however, they are relatively subjective and suffer low repeatability. Over the past decade, the digitalization of this assessment has received high research interest. Robotic applications have the potential to lighten workers’ workload and improve working conditions. Therefore, this work presents a musculoskeletal risk assessment before and after robotic implementation in an assembly workstation. We also emphasize the importance of using novel and non-intrusive technologies for musculoskeletal risk assessment. A kinematic study was conducted using inertial motion units (IMU) in a convenience sample of two workers during their normal performance of assembly work cycles. The musculoskeletal risk was estimated according to a semi-automated solution, called the Rapid Uppe...
Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-r... more Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) development and increasing productivity. The challenge is to successfully implement an industrial HRC to manage those factors, considering that non-linear behaviors of complex systems can produce counterintuitive effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design a decision-making framework considering the key ergonomic methods and using a computational model for simulations. It considered the main systemic influences when implementing a collaborative robot (cobot) into a production system and simulated scenarios of productivity and WMSD risk. In order to verify whether the computational model for simulating scenarios would be useful in the framework, a case study in a manual assembly workstation was conducted. The results show that both cycle time and WMSD risk depend on the Level of Collaboration (LoC). The proposed framework helps deciding ...
Lean Manufacturing (LM), Ergonomics and Human Factors (E&HF), and Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC)... more Lean Manufacturing (LM), Ergonomics and Human Factors (E&HF), and Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC) are vibrant topics for researchers and companies. Among other emergent technologies, collaborative robotics is an innovative solution to reduce ergonomic concerns and improve manufacturing productivity. However, there is a lack of studies providing empirical evidence about the implementation of these technologies, with little or no consideration for E&HF. This study analyzes an industrial implementation of a collaborative robotic workstation for assembly tasks performed by workers with musculoskeletal complaints through a synergistic integration of E&HF and LM principles. We assessed the workstation before and after the implementation of robotic technology and measured different key performance indicators (e.g., production rate) through a time study and direct observation. We considered 40 postures adopted during the assembly tasks and applied three assessment methods: Rapid Upper Limb ...
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2020
Industrial manufacturing is moving towards flexible and intelligent processes. Human-Robot Collab... more Industrial manufacturing is moving towards flexible and intelligent processes. Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) has a pivotal role in smart factories due to a more versatile resource allocation that ultimately drives higher productivity and efficiency. The physical barriers that separate robots' and humans' workspaces are removed to facilitate HRC, which raises new safety concerns. To cope with this new robotics paradigm, regulatory legislation and international safety standards have been issued and are enforced for any machinery placed in factories. In this paper, we aim to shorten the gap between research projects and industry-ready robotic systems, by providing the guidelines and general requirements for collaborative robotic applications. We review the current international safety standards, certification procedures under the scope of European jurisdiction, and elaborate a literature review of papers related to safety for collaborative workstations.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are one of the main occupational health problems. T... more Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are one of the main occupational health problems. The best strategy to prevent them lies on ergonomic interventions. The variety of industrial processes and environments, however, makes it difficult to define an all-purpose framework to guide these ergonomic interventions. This undefinition is exacerbated by recurrent introduction of new technologies, e.g., collaborative robots. In this paper, we propose a framework to guide ergonomics and human factors practitioners through all stages of assessment and redesign of workstations. This framework was applied in a case study at an assembly workstation of a large furniture enterprise. Direct observation of work activity and questionnaires were applied to characterize the workstations, the process, and the workers’ profiles and perceptions. An ergonomic multi-method approach, based on well-known and validated methods (such as the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and Rapid Upper Limb As...
International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety, 2018
The markets globalization erased commercial boundaries and increased the competitiveness of compa... more The markets globalization erased commercial boundaries and increased the competitiveness of companies all around the world. This competitiveness has forced companies to improve their processes and operations, as well as, their management relationships with suppliers and customers. Emerging from this progress, several needs led to the development of Lean Production (LP) – which proved to be effective in the waste reduction and efficient in providing production flexibility. Through its implementation, LP allows the increase of workers’ involvement, their safety and health. The main goal of this paper is to present how LP and Ergonomics improve not only the company productivity, but also the health and safety of the workers throughout continuous improvement processes. This was achieved in a project which purpose was to improve the consumables supply strategies, taking place in an electric mobility company. The implementation of LP tools in this industrial context resulted in improved p...
The aim of this study is to prove that it is possible to reduce the setup time and improve ergono... more The aim of this study is to prove that it is possible to reduce the setup time and improve ergonomic conditions at the same time. This research took place in a turning production area of a metallurgical factory where workers' complains due to shoulder pains and tendinitis were high, due to the awkward postures and forceful hand exertions to perform the manual tasks. Moreover, the high setup time of 105 minutes caused productivity problems and delays for customers. Through the SMED tool and increasing ergonomic conditions, the setup time was reduced 46% and the MSD risk also decreased. This study demonstrated that ergonomic condition' improvements considered in a lean process help in the achievement of good results and it is very important to consider ergonomic conditions at the project phase, otherwise changes in the equipment could be very expensive, and difficult to justify.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have long been a primary cause of non-fatal injuri... more Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have long been a primary cause of non-fatal injuries in construction. They involve sudden or continuous stresses on a worker's musculoskeletal system (e.g., muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones) and may impair the ability of the worker to perform his or her job, or even cause permanent disability. Although assessing exposure to risk factors of WMSDs has proven to be feasible to alleviate the incidence rate of this injury, the field remains underdeveloped because of a lack of knowledge among construction professionals regarding the enabling techniques and their performance and limits. This paper reviews the available techniques for WMSD risk assessments, summarizes their benefits and limitations, and identifies areas in which further studies are still needed. Current techniques are categorized into self-report, observation, direct measurement, and remote sensing assessment. Particular interests are revealed in the wearable-sensor and vision-based techniques within the construction community. This review helps the industry to better understand the severity of WMSDs and the related risks in construction. This review also provides the construction research community with a holistic view on available techniques, their limitations, and the need for research in achieving automatic assessments on construction sites.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the most important occupat... more Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the most important occupational health problem tormenting the nursing workers. This work demonstrated a preliminary analysis on the evaluation of responses to a questionnaire based on one developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. Main goal of this work is the characterisation and evaluation of the risk of WRMSDs on the home care nursing. The first results reveal that a great percentage of the respondents provide home care. The most frequent complaints are in spine and shoulders. There are no significant association between the related disorders and the home care (p < 0.05).
International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 2021
Lean Thinking is a well-known management philosophy that increases productivity and reduces cost ... more Lean Thinking is a well-known management philosophy that increases productivity and reduces cost by eliminating waste. To achieve this, it uses all suitable available tools. Simulation has been widely used to design and/or diagnose production systems and to propose effective better alternatives. In addition, Ergonomics approaches have also been applied to improve work conditions. The project described in this article applied these knowledge areas to a real case, in order to propose the use of AGVs for the materials handling and transport in certain shop-floor zones, instead of using milkrun. The developed simulation model greatly contributed for this analysis and revealed the reduction of the supply machines time and route time by half as well the reduction the human effort.
International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, 2021
Health crisis caused by COVID-19 had a significant impact on the activities and performance of co... more Health crisis caused by COVID-19 had a significant impact on the activities and performance of companies worldwide, namely in industries. In this context, the adaptation of companies to the markets and to the new demands of consumers, readapt to strategies, processes, products, and approaches to the market, become paramount. In the case of companies, some changes in the shop floor work systems become essential, to provide competitive advantages in post-pandemic business scenarios, developing new approaches to increase the efficiency, agility and resilience of operations, always tends to account the Lean Thinking approach and its principles. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show that through Lean philosophy, Lean Logistics and ergonomic tools, one can change the manufacturing space and reduce human interaction in a post-pandemic scenario. In addition, through these three approaches associated with Industry 4.0, this article shows a project in a real case study in an automotive company, to integrate Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) among other technologies. The study of AGV integration used a simulation model designed in Simio. This project could allow to significantly reduce the ergonomic risks, energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions, and the flow of materials within the organization. The costs could be reduced by 14% in the first year of implementing AGVs and 40% in the second year after implementation. Introducing autonomous AGV will reduce the need of interaction among employees which is fundamental for healthy environments in pandemic context.
The Open Cybernetics & Systemics Journal, 2018
Background: The study described in this work took place in the sanding and polishing area of a me... more Background: The study described in this work took place in the sanding and polishing area of a meta-lurgical company, where workers' complaints due to the strength needed to perform manual tasks, as well as their repetitive pattern, led to cases of shoulder pain and tendinitis.
BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute a professional group associated with a high risk of work related mu... more BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute a professional group associated with a high risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Several studies concerning to nurses reveal that they have high prevalence rates of injuries and also of symptoms associated to WRMSDs, mainly in the back. Tasks involving patient handling are those which most often arise associated to back pain. There is a scarcity of studies on WRMSDs in home care nurses. OBJECTIVE: Based on these concerns, the main goals of the present study were to identify the main risk factors of WRMSDs for home care nurses and to perform an objective assessment of the risk for these professionals. METHODS: Two methods to quantify the risk of WRMSDs associated with nursing activities were applied: REBA-Rapid Entire Body Assessment and MAC-Manual Handling Assessment Charts. REBA and MAC methods were applied to patient handling activities and to tasks involving manual material handling, respectively. RESULTS: The results indicate the presence of multiple risk factors and their important contribution to the risk level obtained: generally moderate but considered high for some activities. CONCLUSIONS: Home care nursing has specific characteristics, which clearly influence the adoption of risk behaviors by the nurses.
The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furni... more The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furniture. This miss-match is often due to the lack of consideration for ergonomic aspects that ensure the combination of anthropometric dimensions of users with the measures of the furniture. These miss-match situations can also be seen in the student work environment, where students spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. The aim of this study was to evaluate if students, who attend a Portuguese public school of elementary education, 2nd and 3rd cycles, use furniture with measures fitting their anthropometric measurements. For this purpose, the anthropometric measurements of all the students, as well as measurements of all tables and chairs from this school were collected. Taking as reference the European standard 1729-1: 2015, it was verified that 73% of the students don’t find a chair/table compatible with their anthropometric dimensions.
The present study provides an ergonomic assessment of a wire terminal crimping workstation in a w... more The present study provides an ergonomic assessment of a wire terminal crimping workstation in a wiring manufacturing company for the automotive industry. It aims to evaluate the WMSD risk. To provide this assessment two methods were used: EWA and RULA. The first show us that the main problems were postures and movements, work content, repetitiveness of work and the thermal environment. The second show us that the worst body posture and movements were in the arms, forearms, wrist and trunk. The results show that there is a need to mitigate the problems encountered, so we suggested two kind of measures: engineering measures (presenting a redesign of the workplace using anthropometric data) and organizational measures.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the major occupational hea... more Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the major occupational health problem affecting nurses. Main goals of this work are the characterization and evaluation of musculoskeletal complaints in nurses who work at Health Centres at the Northern Portugal and that provide home-based care. This work demonstrates an analysis of the responses to a questionnaire based on one other developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. The body areas with more complaints are the back and shoulders. There is statistically significant association only between “musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region” and “provide home care” (OR=4.21 (p<0.05), 95% Confidence Interval [1.4; 13.2]). Based on these results we can say that nurses who provide home-based care have a fourfold chance of having musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region than the others.
The aim of this study is to redesign two workstations in a PVD coating production area, consideri... more The aim of this study is to redesign two workstations in a PVD coating production area, considering productivity and ergonomic aspects. Through the elimination of wastes such as unnecessary movements and transportations and by reducing the awkward postures as arm flexion larger than 45º, the productivity in the loading and unloading workstations increased 9% and 5%, respectively, and the ergonomic risk was improved from medium to acceptable. RULA was the chosen method to evaluate the ergonomic situation and anthropometric studies were performed to find the ideal ergonomic solution. This study shows the importance to consider ergonomic conditions when designing or redesigning a workstation in order to get effective productivity improvements.
Due to demographic variation, fewer young workers are available and the overall number of workers... more Due to demographic variation, fewer young workers are available and the overall number of workers will decrease. The length of absenteeism, especially due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), increases with higher age (Müglich et al., 2015). According to Neumann and Dul (2010), if effectively applied in the design of operation systems, Human Factors can improve system performance while reducing health hazards for employees.
The ergonomic assessment of adopted working postures is essential for avoiding musculoskeletal ri... more The ergonomic assessment of adopted working postures is essential for avoiding musculoskeletal risk factors in manufacturing contexts. Several observational methods based on external analyst observations are available; however, they are relatively subjective and suffer low repeatability. Over the past decade, the digitalization of this assessment has received high research interest. Robotic applications have the potential to lighten workers’ workload and improve working conditions. Therefore, this work presents a musculoskeletal risk assessment before and after robotic implementation in an assembly workstation. We also emphasize the importance of using novel and non-intrusive technologies for musculoskeletal risk assessment. A kinematic study was conducted using inertial motion units (IMU) in a convenience sample of two workers during their normal performance of assembly work cycles. The musculoskeletal risk was estimated according to a semi-automated solution, called the Rapid Uppe...
Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-r... more Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) development and increasing productivity. The challenge is to successfully implement an industrial HRC to manage those factors, considering that non-linear behaviors of complex systems can produce counterintuitive effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design a decision-making framework considering the key ergonomic methods and using a computational model for simulations. It considered the main systemic influences when implementing a collaborative robot (cobot) into a production system and simulated scenarios of productivity and WMSD risk. In order to verify whether the computational model for simulating scenarios would be useful in the framework, a case study in a manual assembly workstation was conducted. The results show that both cycle time and WMSD risk depend on the Level of Collaboration (LoC). The proposed framework helps deciding ...
Lean Manufacturing (LM), Ergonomics and Human Factors (E&HF), and Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC)... more Lean Manufacturing (LM), Ergonomics and Human Factors (E&HF), and Human–Robot Collaboration (HRC) are vibrant topics for researchers and companies. Among other emergent technologies, collaborative robotics is an innovative solution to reduce ergonomic concerns and improve manufacturing productivity. However, there is a lack of studies providing empirical evidence about the implementation of these technologies, with little or no consideration for E&HF. This study analyzes an industrial implementation of a collaborative robotic workstation for assembly tasks performed by workers with musculoskeletal complaints through a synergistic integration of E&HF and LM principles. We assessed the workstation before and after the implementation of robotic technology and measured different key performance indicators (e.g., production rate) through a time study and direct observation. We considered 40 postures adopted during the assembly tasks and applied three assessment methods: Rapid Upper Limb ...
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 2020
Industrial manufacturing is moving towards flexible and intelligent processes. Human-Robot Collab... more Industrial manufacturing is moving towards flexible and intelligent processes. Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) has a pivotal role in smart factories due to a more versatile resource allocation that ultimately drives higher productivity and efficiency. The physical barriers that separate robots' and humans' workspaces are removed to facilitate HRC, which raises new safety concerns. To cope with this new robotics paradigm, regulatory legislation and international safety standards have been issued and are enforced for any machinery placed in factories. In this paper, we aim to shorten the gap between research projects and industry-ready robotic systems, by providing the guidelines and general requirements for collaborative robotic applications. We review the current international safety standards, certification procedures under the scope of European jurisdiction, and elaborate a literature review of papers related to safety for collaborative workstations.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are one of the main occupational health problems. T... more Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) are one of the main occupational health problems. The best strategy to prevent them lies on ergonomic interventions. The variety of industrial processes and environments, however, makes it difficult to define an all-purpose framework to guide these ergonomic interventions. This undefinition is exacerbated by recurrent introduction of new technologies, e.g., collaborative robots. In this paper, we propose a framework to guide ergonomics and human factors practitioners through all stages of assessment and redesign of workstations. This framework was applied in a case study at an assembly workstation of a large furniture enterprise. Direct observation of work activity and questionnaires were applied to characterize the workstations, the process, and the workers’ profiles and perceptions. An ergonomic multi-method approach, based on well-known and validated methods (such as the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and Rapid Upper Limb As...
International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety, 2018
The markets globalization erased commercial boundaries and increased the competitiveness of compa... more The markets globalization erased commercial boundaries and increased the competitiveness of companies all around the world. This competitiveness has forced companies to improve their processes and operations, as well as, their management relationships with suppliers and customers. Emerging from this progress, several needs led to the development of Lean Production (LP) – which proved to be effective in the waste reduction and efficient in providing production flexibility. Through its implementation, LP allows the increase of workers’ involvement, their safety and health. The main goal of this paper is to present how LP and Ergonomics improve not only the company productivity, but also the health and safety of the workers throughout continuous improvement processes. This was achieved in a project which purpose was to improve the consumables supply strategies, taking place in an electric mobility company. The implementation of LP tools in this industrial context resulted in improved p...
The aim of this study is to prove that it is possible to reduce the setup time and improve ergono... more The aim of this study is to prove that it is possible to reduce the setup time and improve ergonomic conditions at the same time. This research took place in a turning production area of a metallurgical factory where workers' complains due to shoulder pains and tendinitis were high, due to the awkward postures and forceful hand exertions to perform the manual tasks. Moreover, the high setup time of 105 minutes caused productivity problems and delays for customers. Through the SMED tool and increasing ergonomic conditions, the setup time was reduced 46% and the MSD risk also decreased. This study demonstrated that ergonomic condition' improvements considered in a lean process help in the achievement of good results and it is very important to consider ergonomic conditions at the project phase, otherwise changes in the equipment could be very expensive, and difficult to justify.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have long been a primary cause of non-fatal injuri... more Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) have long been a primary cause of non-fatal injuries in construction. They involve sudden or continuous stresses on a worker's musculoskeletal system (e.g., muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones) and may impair the ability of the worker to perform his or her job, or even cause permanent disability. Although assessing exposure to risk factors of WMSDs has proven to be feasible to alleviate the incidence rate of this injury, the field remains underdeveloped because of a lack of knowledge among construction professionals regarding the enabling techniques and their performance and limits. This paper reviews the available techniques for WMSD risk assessments, summarizes their benefits and limitations, and identifies areas in which further studies are still needed. Current techniques are categorized into self-report, observation, direct measurement, and remote sensing assessment. Particular interests are revealed in the wearable-sensor and vision-based techniques within the construction community. This review helps the industry to better understand the severity of WMSDs and the related risks in construction. This review also provides the construction research community with a holistic view on available techniques, their limitations, and the need for research in achieving automatic assessments on construction sites.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the most important occupat... more Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the most important occupational health problem tormenting the nursing workers. This work demonstrated a preliminary analysis on the evaluation of responses to a questionnaire based on one developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. Main goal of this work is the characterisation and evaluation of the risk of WRMSDs on the home care nursing. The first results reveal that a great percentage of the respondents provide home care. The most frequent complaints are in spine and shoulders. There are no significant association between the related disorders and the home care (p < 0.05).
International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 2021
Lean Thinking is a well-known management philosophy that increases productivity and reduces cost ... more Lean Thinking is a well-known management philosophy that increases productivity and reduces cost by eliminating waste. To achieve this, it uses all suitable available tools. Simulation has been widely used to design and/or diagnose production systems and to propose effective better alternatives. In addition, Ergonomics approaches have also been applied to improve work conditions. The project described in this article applied these knowledge areas to a real case, in order to propose the use of AGVs for the materials handling and transport in certain shop-floor zones, instead of using milkrun. The developed simulation model greatly contributed for this analysis and revealed the reduction of the supply machines time and route time by half as well the reduction the human effort.
International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, 2021
Health crisis caused by COVID-19 had a significant impact on the activities and performance of co... more Health crisis caused by COVID-19 had a significant impact on the activities and performance of companies worldwide, namely in industries. In this context, the adaptation of companies to the markets and to the new demands of consumers, readapt to strategies, processes, products, and approaches to the market, become paramount. In the case of companies, some changes in the shop floor work systems become essential, to provide competitive advantages in post-pandemic business scenarios, developing new approaches to increase the efficiency, agility and resilience of operations, always tends to account the Lean Thinking approach and its principles. Thus, the purpose of this article is to show that through Lean philosophy, Lean Logistics and ergonomic tools, one can change the manufacturing space and reduce human interaction in a post-pandemic scenario. In addition, through these three approaches associated with Industry 4.0, this article shows a project in a real case study in an automotive company, to integrate Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) among other technologies. The study of AGV integration used a simulation model designed in Simio. This project could allow to significantly reduce the ergonomic risks, energy consumption and associated CO2 emissions, and the flow of materials within the organization. The costs could be reduced by 14% in the first year of implementing AGVs and 40% in the second year after implementation. Introducing autonomous AGV will reduce the need of interaction among employees which is fundamental for healthy environments in pandemic context.
The Open Cybernetics & Systemics Journal, 2018
Background: The study described in this work took place in the sanding and polishing area of a me... more Background: The study described in this work took place in the sanding and polishing area of a meta-lurgical company, where workers' complaints due to the strength needed to perform manual tasks, as well as their repetitive pattern, led to cases of shoulder pain and tendinitis.
BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute a professional group associated with a high risk of work related mu... more BACKGROUND: Nurses constitute a professional group associated with a high risk of work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs). Several studies concerning to nurses reveal that they have high prevalence rates of injuries and also of symptoms associated to WRMSDs, mainly in the back. Tasks involving patient handling are those which most often arise associated to back pain. There is a scarcity of studies on WRMSDs in home care nurses. OBJECTIVE: Based on these concerns, the main goals of the present study were to identify the main risk factors of WRMSDs for home care nurses and to perform an objective assessment of the risk for these professionals. METHODS: Two methods to quantify the risk of WRMSDs associated with nursing activities were applied: REBA-Rapid Entire Body Assessment and MAC-Manual Handling Assessment Charts. REBA and MAC methods were applied to patient handling activities and to tasks involving manual material handling, respectively. RESULTS: The results indicate the presence of multiple risk factors and their important contribution to the risk level obtained: generally moderate but considered high for some activities. CONCLUSIONS: Home care nursing has specific characteristics, which clearly influence the adoption of risk behaviors by the nurses.
The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furni... more The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furniture. This miss-match is often due to the lack of consideration for ergonomic aspects that ensure the combination of anthropometric dimensions of users with the measures of the furniture. These miss-match situations can also be seen in the student work environment, where students spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. The aim of this study was to evaluate if students, who attend a Portuguese public school of elementary education, 2nd and 3rd cycles, use furniture with measures fitting their anthropometric measurements. For this purpose, the anthropometric measurements of all the students, as well as measurements of all tables and chairs from this school were collected. Taking as reference the European standard 1729-1: 2015, it was verified that 73% of the students don’t find a chair/table compatible with their anthropometric dimensions.
The present study provides an ergonomic assessment of a wire terminal crimping workstation in a w... more The present study provides an ergonomic assessment of a wire terminal crimping workstation in a wiring manufacturing company for the automotive industry. It aims to evaluate the WMSD risk. To provide this assessment two methods were used: EWA and RULA. The first show us that the main problems were postures and movements, work content, repetitiveness of work and the thermal environment. The second show us that the worst body posture and movements were in the arms, forearms, wrist and trunk. The results show that there is a need to mitigate the problems encountered, so we suggested two kind of measures: engineering measures (presenting a redesign of the workplace using anthropometric data) and organizational measures.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the major occupational hea... more Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as the major occupational health problem affecting nurses. Main goals of this work are the characterization and evaluation of musculoskeletal complaints in nurses who work at Health Centres at the Northern Portugal and that provide home-based care. This work demonstrates an analysis of the responses to a questionnaire based on one other developed by Kuorinka and colleagues. The body areas with more complaints are the back and shoulders. There is statistically significant association only between “musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region” and “provide home care” (OR=4.21 (p<0.05), 95% Confidence Interval [1.4; 13.2]). Based on these results we can say that nurses who provide home-based care have a fourfold chance of having musculoskeletal complaints in the lumbar region than the others.
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Papers by Paula Carneiro