Paper Session III-A - Ergonomic Considerations in Launch Vehicle Design and Processing for Operational Efficiency

Ergonomics is the science of fitting the environment and activities to the capabilities, dimensions, and needs of people. Ergonomic knowledge and principles are applied to adapt working conditions to the physical, psychological, and social nature of the person. There have been numerous launch operations studies performed concerning processing operations at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). These studies have not, to a significant extent, considered ergonomic principles in launch vehicle design and processing as a means for achieving the goals of operational efficiency. Many launch vehicle design and processing goals or objectives have been proposed to increase the operational efficiency of current systems, or to improve the operational efficiency of future systems over that experienced by current systems. Future proposed design or processing objectives may not take ergonomic principles and guidelines into consideration. A few of the launch vehicle design or processing objectives currently under consideration and their associated concerns, from an ergonomic aspect, are: • Paperless work documentation system and health related concerns with visual display terminal (VDT) and personal computer (PC) use. • Automated vehicle health management and built-in test equipment (BITE) causing troubles with human reliability and cognition associated with human-machine systems. • Hazardous operations scheduled for third-shift and problems associated with night-worker health. This examinational paper is intended to inform the reader on some of the ergonomic principles that should be considered in the design and processing of launch vehicles for operational efficiency

Facility management evaluation for Sundstrand Corporation, Aerospace Division

This Applied Management Decision Report (AMDR) examined the problem of ineffective office designs with the onset of the automated office . The company on which this report focused on was Sundstrand Corporation (Sundstrand). The current office environment is of a paper flow type and many business functions within the company have been automated. Therefore, the competitive position of Sundstrand could be affected by its current physical office environment

Physical implications of prolonged sitting in a confined posture - a literature review

The main purpose of this review article was to highlight some of the physical consequences of sitting for prolonged periods in a confined setting. More specifically, the review relates this research to call centre work and where applicable comments on the limited literature relating specifically to ergonomics research within call centre settings. In particular the article explores the biomechanical stresses placed on the musculoskeletal system during prolonged sitting at a workstation, and the physiological consequences thereof. The paper then provides possible solutions to reduce the physical strain placed on these workers by looking at workstation design and work organisation emphasizing worker education and the promotion of worker well being

A comparison of actual ergonomic usage using a statistical survey to prescribed ergonomic usage by experts

The purpose of this research is to show how factual data can be combined with statistical evidence to make people more aware of the fact that having knowledge of ergonomic workstation design is not necessarily the same as putting that knowledge to work and then to further show that continuous use of bad computer workstation habits can lead to permanent disability. A survey model is presented and used to validate the previous hypothesis of permanent disability occurring. There are 250 individual,anonymous surveys used in the data collection for the validation. The statistical evidence is then compared to the factual evidence presented in the literature review to show any differences or similarities.This research represents an array of medical and professional people that have worked with or are currently working in the field of computer workstation ergonomics.The technique of statistical analysis was a major factor in determining the outcome of whether the computer workstation population is using the information supplied to them regarding the correct usage of computer ergonomics. The survey used to obtain the data for the analysis can be adjusted to fit any ergonomic professionals quest for data input.The outcomes will be dependent on how the input is arranged and the amounts of participants

Computer aided ergonomics and workspace design

Computer aided ergonomics and workspace desig