What is ergonomics? correct answers Designing work systems around the limitations and
capabilities of people
What are the benefits of ergonomics? correct answers - Reduce potential for injury/discomfort
- Make work tasks easier
- Reduce fatigue
- More productive at work and home
How is ergonomics different from other approaches that aim to prevent workplace injury? correct
answers Based on science, based on analysis of the job and scientific evidence
Flexion correct answers Condition of being bent
Extension correct answers Stretching of a limb
Abduction correct answers Movement of a limb away from midline of body
Adduction correct answers Movement of a limb toward midline of body
External Rotation (lateral) correct answers Rotation away from midline of body
Internal Rotation (medial) correct answers Rotation toward midline of body
Pronation of forearm correct answers Movement of hands to turn palms face down
Supination of forearm correct answers Movement of hands to turn palms face up
,How would you break a job down for analysis? What data would you collect? How would you
analyze the data? correct answers - Into different tasks called sub tasks
- You would collect the task element, duration, body segment posture, force applied, reach
distance, repetition rate, and other risk factors
- You would put the data into a Task Analysis Form
What are the 3 basic strategies for anthropometric design? correct answers - Design for the
extreme - Fit (doesn't accommodate for extreme large) vs Reach (doesn't accommodate for
extreme small)
- Design for the Mean - "Average Man" fallacy (every human is proportional)
- Design for adjustability
When do we design for "reach"? Who is included and who is excluded? correct answers Upper
95%.
Small people can't reach it, accommodates for tall people
When do we design for "fit"? Who is included and who is excluded? correct answers Lower 95%
Tall people won't fit, accommodates for small people
When do we design for the mean? correct answers For "average man"
What are the pluses and minuses of including adjustability in our workplace or product design
correct answers + Accommodates for more of the population
- Can be more expensive
Why don't we design for everyone? correct answers Too expensive and takes too much effort
How is anthropometric data collected? Where does one find the data? What kind of data is
available? correct answers - Previous Research
, - General Recommendations Exist:
o Standing fit and reach
o Seated fit and reach
o Isometric strength of a body join in a specific positions
o Lifting strength in selected situations
- Completing own study
When can we use on anthopometric dimension to predict another? When shouldn't we do this?
correct answers - When body part lengths are highly correlated (like index and pinky finger
length)
- Not good to do with things like height and waist circumference
What are some of the key assumptions we make regarding anthropometric data? correct answers
If a normal population can be assumed, then mean and std deviation can be used to predict
percentiles
How is anthropometric data changing over time? correct answers Over time people have grown
taller
Why is there no such thing as the average sized person? correct answers Average man fallacy.
When you take average of all data and construct a person based on these measurements, no one
fits these exact measurements
How do we combine anthropometric dimensions so that we can calculate the 5th or 95th
percentile of a new dimension? correct answers Adding two dimensions
- Means - Mean 3 = mean 1 + mean 2
- Standard Deviation S3 = (s1^2+s2^2+2r12s1s2)^0.5
r = correlation between two variables