An ergonomic analysis and computer simulations of nursing activities while raising the patients in hospitals and nursing homes

Background: The use of trolleys for transporting the patients and lifting and lowering them in the trolley is a repeated activity in the daily work of a nurse, and a very common cause of the load of the lumbosacral part of the spine and the consequent pathological deformity, and the onset of clinical symptomatology of painful lumbo-sacral syndrome. The high level of excessive biomechanical stress is associated with the established practice of using standard medical wheelchairs to move patients inside the hospital. The process itself depends on the characteristics of the patient, his or her weight, as well as his/her cooperativeness, but primarily depends on the nurse's mobility. Although nurses strive to be in a position that reduces the load on the lumbosacral part of the spine during practice, this is often impracticable due to the patient's inconsistency. Objective: To present the ergonomic analysis of the medical nurse's workplace while lifting the patient into the wheelchair and to display solution for improving working conditions and prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. Results: By ergonomic module of this software, we got results that present load on lumbosacral region of spine of medical nurses during their daily activities, especially in the position of lifting and lowering patients. It was concluded that maximal spinal loading decreases significantly and becomes less than critical (3,100 N) in the case of a wheelchair that has ability to automatically lift and lower patient. Conclusions: The use of hospital wheelchairs with an mechanism for the automatic lifting and lowering of patients and with a sliding seat will reduce the load on the lumbosacral region of the spine, prevent the onset of lumbosacral pain syndrome, facilitates work for the medical nurse and allows nurse to handle the patient on her own. The prevention of lumbosacral pain syndrome improves the quality of work of the nurse and extends the working life. Use of this type of wheelchair is justified in terms of cost-benefit analysis

SPINAL LOAD AS FUNCTION OF MOBILITY

Radno djelovanje zahtijeva stalno mijenjanje položaja da bi se udovoljilo potrebama raznih aktivnosti koje čovjek obavlja tijekom izvršavanja radnih zadataka. Ako se rad obavlja u radnom prostoru koji nije pravilno dizajniran, dolazi do zamora, smanjenja učinkovitosti rada i ugrožavanja zdravlja. Rad predstavlja analizu mogućnosti poboljšanja postojećeg radnog položaja kod ispitanika i proračuna istih vrijednosti sila i momenata na L4 i L5 pršljena kralježnice kao i naprezanja kod određene skupine mišića za radnika u poznatom radnom procesu u odnosu na dopuštena naprezanja.SUMMARY: Work requires constant change of body positions in order to perform the various work related activities. If work is carried out in a space not correctly designed, it will result in fatigue, impaired work efficiency and threat to health. The paper presents an analysis of the improvements in body position and posture and a calculation of the values of forces and momentums acting on L4 and L5 vertebrae and the strain on certain muscle groups in a known work process in relation to permitted strains

Ergonomic evaluation of task execution: Surface electromyography in muscular activity screening

Background and Purpose: In this study surface electromyography (sEMG) was used as stand alone acquisition tool in order to emphasize possibilities of sEMG utilization as a screening tool for ergonomic purposes. We presented comparison for task completion variations based on processed sEMG data, where sEMG was used as muscular activity screening tool with the objective to offer decision in the most convenient task variation. In this context, muscular activity screening used in this paper was based primarily on muscular activity index and its transformations, where such datawere correlated with electrical energy induced by activated muscle groups. Material and Methods: Analysis of two different approaches to the fixed medical table and upper trunk alignment with table surface as the final target is performed for this purpose. SurfaceEMGsignals were recorded using an eight-channel fiber optic TELEMG system (BTS S.p.a.) sampling at a frequency of 1000 Hz for selected muscles of right body side alone, in order to maximize muscular activity overview. If set otherwise (for both body sides), 8 available channel electrodes reduced the number of monitored muscle groups to 4 for each body side, causing decreased comparability and objectivity of muscular activity screening. Results and Conclusion: Finally, after benchmarking task routines, Model 2 as routine approach was less demanding than Model 1, muscular activity index as equivalent to energy or work done over time in the monitored muscles was suitable for the purpose of muscular activity estimation, but should be expressed with consideration of muscular activity duration as muscle energy expenditure per time unit. Despite its imperfections, sEMG may be exploited as stand alone and as complement to other available acquisition and analysis tools

Ergonomic Analysis and Redesign of Workspace in Order to Minimize Workers’ Workload and Optimize Their Nutrition

The problem related to the inadequate position of workers during lifting heavy loads is the everyday life of many environments, such as industrial halls or warehouses, which often results in the deepening of the worker's spine load problem. An analysis of such a workplace was carried out in this paper. The workloads at specific body zones were determined, whether they were within the prescribed limits or exceeded it, and on that basis a redesign of the workspace was made in accordance to the anthropological values of the model

Distribution of oxygen consumption by graded loads during ergonometric testing

Cardiopulmonary exercise monitoring is a valuable method not only for the evaluation of medical health, but also for the assessment of patients with cardiac or pulmonary dysfunction. Spiroergometry provides additional criteria for the assessment of cardiopulmonary efficiency compared to simple ergometry. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) is the most critical variable during spiroergometry. Most submaximal exercise measures provide the heart rate (HR) response to predetermined workloads in equations or nomograms used to predict VO2max. According to previous studies, the heart rate is divided into five fields. In this paper, we are doing a new redistribution of heart rates-to-workloads into seven fields, corresponding to the ergo bar. In other words, an answer is given based on the initial anthropological values of the subjects, when and in which field there will be a mismatch between the lung capacity of the subjects and the power required for that field

Redesign of working area for baggage loading into aircraft baggage compartment

Kako su u procesu utovara prtljage u zrakoplov uočeni brojni nedostaci u pogledu funkcioniranja sustava „čovjek-stroj-radna okolina“, zbog čega je došlo do zdravstvenih problema kod više radnika, nastojalo se u ovom radu ponuditi kvalitetno rješenje. U radu se nastojala dokazati povezanost obolijevanja naših ispitanika s radnom okolinom u kojoj oni rade, i to u funkciji opterećenja prije sanacije i poslije sanacije radne okoline, odnosno putem energetskog proračuna prikazati učinkovitost sanacije. S tim u vezi, potrebno je sagledati znanstveni doprinos rada u sustavnom i integralnom pristupu promatranja i istraživanja utjecaja svih parametara na radnu sposobnost zaposlenih.Various problems regarding the process of loading baggage on aircraft have been identified in terms of functioning of the “man – machine – working environment” system, causing health problems in a number of workers. This study tries to offer an effective solution to the problem. We have tried to prove the connection between our subjects’ health problems and their working environment. We have compared their workload before and after the improvement of their working environment, calculating energy consumption in order to show the effectiveness of the improvement. An evaluation of the study’s scientific contribution within the consistent and comprehensive approach to observing and exploring the influence of various parameters on working ability is called for

AGILE PRODUCTION AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAINTENANCE, SAFETY AND QUALITY

U ovome članku, pored odgovora na pitanja što je to agilna proizvodnja, tj. što su to fleksibilni proizvodni sustavi, koliko se agilna proizvodnja razlikuje od masovne proizvodnje, poseban osvrt dan je na prednosti agilne proizvodnje sa stajališta sigurnosti na radu, pouzdanosti i kvalitete proizvoda. Također, posebno težište je stavljeno na obveze i ciljeve funkcije održavanja u korelaciji s već spomenutom sigurnošću, pouzdanošću i kvalitetom.The paper defines agile production, i.e. describes what flexible productions systems are, how different agile production is from mass production, and with a special focus on the merits of agile production from the point of view of occupational safety, reliability and quality of products. Furthermore, special attention is focused on the obligations and aims of the maintenance function in correlation with safety, reliability and quality

Influence of school backpacks on spinal column load in primary school students

Background: The problem of heavy school bags is a global problem recognized in many countries in Europe and the world, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to poor posture habits, "sedentary lifestyles" and insufficient physical activity, school bags is one of the main causes of low back pain and deformity in pupils. The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is that the weight of the school bag should not exceed 10% of the student's weight. However, in practice these limitations are far from reality with the obvious problems caused by too heavy bags. The aim of the paper is to identify and analyze the backbone load caused by the overweight school backpacks in real school work conditions and eliminate them by creating new solutions that are in line with ergonomic and biomechanical principles, as well as the recommendation given by WHO. Methods: The research included first grade primary school students at the age of seven, including their parents. The research began by interviewing parents with relevant questions, as well as measuring the students’ height and weight and the weight of their school backpacks. The analysis was performed in CATIA v5 software package (Dassault Systèmes, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) using its advanced biomechanical modules. By knowing the anthropometric and work environment data with ergonomic design and analysis, the biomechanical analysis, rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) and carry analysis were performed. Results: The conducted survey showed that 84% of students walk from home to school nineteen minutes on average and that 77% of them carry their school backpacks independently. Based on the measurements, it has been shown that, on average, the weight of the school backpacks is well above the WHO recommendation. A study conducted on a representative sample of students confirmed the relation between fatigue and spinal pain caused by carrying a heavy school bag. Computer analysis showed excessive loads on the spinal segment of L4/L5 that were outside the normal range of 3,400 N. Conclusions: A simulated computer analysis using RULA and biomechanical analysis with calculations of maximum loads in the lumbar segment of students found that school backpacks carried by students were too heavy for their age and well beyond the normal limits and WHO recommendations. The analysis showed that it is necessary to reduce the weight of the bag by about 30%

Biomechanical analysis of three-point shot in basketball

Background: A precise three-point shot (3S) is considered a key parameter of success in a basketball game, and therefore the factors that affect its success have always attracted the attention of researchers. Aim: The aim of this research was a biomechanical-mathematical analysis of 3S in basketball, in order to determine the key parameters for performing a 3S. Results: The research shows a model of shooting a basketball player from the central position of the shot with 6.75 m. The modeling led to the conclusion that the height of the throw, the speed and the angle of the throw of the ball have a positive and direct relationship with the angle at which the ball falls into the basket when it comes to a shot for three points. Conclusion: The height of the throw, the speed and the angle of the ball have a positive and direct relationship with the angle at which the ball hits the basket when it comes to a shot for three points. Anthropometric characteristics of the player, such as the length of the arm, and the height of the player, directly lead to a positive relationship with the throwing angle