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Temperature and humidity within the clothing microenvironment
ABSTRACTS
factors at To. At To low-back pain was significantly related with time spent driving a car at work, comfort of a car seat, carrying loads during work, standing for long periods at work, smoking, and psychosomatic factors. At 7"i driving 10 h/week or more, seat comfort, and psychosomatic factors were associated with first occurrence of low back pain. 24.2.56 (128983) Westgaard, R H and Jansen, T 'Individual and work related factors associated with symptoms of musculoskeletal complaints. I A quantitative registration system' Br J lnd Med Vol 49 No 3 (1992) pp 147-153 (13 refs) A registration system for symptoms of occupational musculoskeletal injuries has been developed and evaluated. The system is based on the recording of two aspects of the pain sensation: the intensity (five-point scale) and the frequency (three-point scale) of pain. The two primary indicators are summed to give a combined symptom score. The scoring system was evaluated in terms of its ability to predict the probability of a medical consultation due to a musculoskeletal pain problem. The intensity and frequency parameters were shown to contribute significantly, and to carry equal weight when optimizing the symptom score by a logistic regression analysis. In the scoring of pain symptoms a distinction was made between pain experienced during and outside working hours and only the first category was included. The separation eliminated some symptoms that the workers did not consider work-related (mostly due to migraine, arthritis). Repeated interviews of 14 subjects showed, however, that this procedure could cause classification problems.
24.2.57 (128871) Westgaard, R H and Jansen, T 'Individual and work related factors associated with symptoms of musculoskeletal complaints. II Different risk factors among sewing machine operators' Br J lnd Med Vol 49 No 3 (1992) pp 154-162 (28 refs)
140
Individual and work-related risk factors in the development of occupational musculoskeletal complaints were studied in a group of 210 female production workers, mainly sewing machine operators. Another group of 35 female employees performing secretarial or laboratory duties were also included. The production workers had significantly higher symptom scores with respect to self-reported musculoskeletal complaints than the group with more varied work tasks for the head, neck, shoulders and arms, but not for the low back, hips, and the lower extremities. No significant differences were found in symptom level between geographically separate groups of production workers with similar work tasks. The main individual risk factor identified in this study was the experience of previous, similar symptoms in the same body region, but this factor only accounted for 2-3% of total variance in symptom score for the neck and shoulders. Other individual factors of importance for symptoms in the neck and shoulders were 'signs of psychological problems' and 'tendency of muscle tension', but these only account for about 1% of total variance in symptom score. Symptoms in the head and low back showed complex relations with individual parameters.
24.2.58 (128885) Nieolaisen, P 'Development of a symbols library for the protection of health and safety at work - aids for the planning of manufacturing systems' Int J Hum Factors ManufVol 2 No 2 (1992) pp 127-138 (5 refs) In flexible manufacturing systems where industrial robots are in use, often little attention is paid to working conditions and safety to the human part of the system (operator, programmer, maintenance personnel). However, it is very difficult for many users to find a suitable solution to their problem. Although working groups, discussing and formulating safety standards for industrial robots, were already formed
in various countries at a very early time, it is apparent that safety at the industrial robot workstation cannot be achieved solely by observing regulations, but can only be guaranteed if it is included from the outset in the overall system concept and layout as a planning criterion, and practical planning aids for health and safety aspects are provided to the designer.
24.2.59 (128899) Sullivan, P J and Mek.javie, I B 'Temperature and humidity within the clothing microenvironment' Aviat Space Environ MedVo163 No 3 (1992) pp 186192 (23 refs) This study investigates clothing microenvironment conditions that may develop during prolonged exposure of workers to a hot environment. Five subjects were exposed to a linear increase in ambient temperature from 20 to 40°C over a 90 min period, and then remained at 40°C for an additional 90 min. During the exposures, subjects were clad in four types of helicopter personnel suits (Gore-Tex, Cotton Ventile, Nomex/ Insulite, and Nomex/Neoprene), incorporating both dry-suit and wet-suit designs. Continuous assessment was made of skin temperature, rectal temperature, and of microenvironment temperature, relative humidity, and vapour pressure ( Tu, RHu, and VPu) 8 mm from the surface of the skin. Results indicate that although microenvironment temperatures were similar among suits and slightly lower than that of the environment, the RHu and VPo were much greater than those of the ambient air. The Nomex/Insulite and Nomex/Neoprene suits showed the highest VPu, of which only the Nomex/ Insulite resulted in significantly greater increases in rectal temperature, likely due to complete covering of the body with the impermeable insulite component. The present study demonstrates the need to discern between the ambient conditions and the conditions encountered next to the skin when protective clothing is worn.
Applied E r g o n o m i c s
factors at To. At To low-back pain was significantly related with time spent driving a car at work, comfort of a car seat, carrying loads during work, standing for long periods at work, smoking, and psychosomatic factors. At 7"i driving 10 h/week or more, seat comfort, and psychosomatic factors were associated with first occurrence of low back pain. 24.2.56 (128983) Westgaard, R H and Jansen, T 'Individual and work related factors associated with symptoms of musculoskeletal complaints. I A quantitative registration system' Br J lnd Med Vol 49 No 3 (1992) pp 147-153 (13 refs) A registration system for symptoms of occupational musculoskeletal injuries has been developed and evaluated. The system is based on the recording of two aspects of the pain sensation: the intensity (five-point scale) and the frequency (three-point scale) of pain. The two primary indicators are summed to give a combined symptom score. The scoring system was evaluated in terms of its ability to predict the probability of a medical consultation due to a musculoskeletal pain problem. The intensity and frequency parameters were shown to contribute significantly, and to carry equal weight when optimizing the symptom score by a logistic regression analysis. In the scoring of pain symptoms a distinction was made between pain experienced during and outside working hours and only the first category was included. The separation eliminated some symptoms that the workers did not consider work-related (mostly due to migraine, arthritis). Repeated interviews of 14 subjects showed, however, that this procedure could cause classification problems.
24.2.57 (128871) Westgaard, R H and Jansen, T 'Individual and work related factors associated with symptoms of musculoskeletal complaints. II Different risk factors among sewing machine operators' Br J lnd Med Vol 49 No 3 (1992) pp 154-162 (28 refs)
140
Individual and work-related risk factors in the development of occupational musculoskeletal complaints were studied in a group of 210 female production workers, mainly sewing machine operators. Another group of 35 female employees performing secretarial or laboratory duties were also included. The production workers had significantly higher symptom scores with respect to self-reported musculoskeletal complaints than the group with more varied work tasks for the head, neck, shoulders and arms, but not for the low back, hips, and the lower extremities. No significant differences were found in symptom level between geographically separate groups of production workers with similar work tasks. The main individual risk factor identified in this study was the experience of previous, similar symptoms in the same body region, but this factor only accounted for 2-3% of total variance in symptom score for the neck and shoulders. Other individual factors of importance for symptoms in the neck and shoulders were 'signs of psychological problems' and 'tendency of muscle tension', but these only account for about 1% of total variance in symptom score. Symptoms in the head and low back showed complex relations with individual parameters.
24.2.58 (128885) Nieolaisen, P 'Development of a symbols library for the protection of health and safety at work - aids for the planning of manufacturing systems' Int J Hum Factors ManufVol 2 No 2 (1992) pp 127-138 (5 refs) In flexible manufacturing systems where industrial robots are in use, often little attention is paid to working conditions and safety to the human part of the system (operator, programmer, maintenance personnel). However, it is very difficult for many users to find a suitable solution to their problem. Although working groups, discussing and formulating safety standards for industrial robots, were already formed
in various countries at a very early time, it is apparent that safety at the industrial robot workstation cannot be achieved solely by observing regulations, but can only be guaranteed if it is included from the outset in the overall system concept and layout as a planning criterion, and practical planning aids for health and safety aspects are provided to the designer.
24.2.59 (128899) Sullivan, P J and Mek.javie, I B 'Temperature and humidity within the clothing microenvironment' Aviat Space Environ MedVo163 No 3 (1992) pp 186192 (23 refs) This study investigates clothing microenvironment conditions that may develop during prolonged exposure of workers to a hot environment. Five subjects were exposed to a linear increase in ambient temperature from 20 to 40°C over a 90 min period, and then remained at 40°C for an additional 90 min. During the exposures, subjects were clad in four types of helicopter personnel suits (Gore-Tex, Cotton Ventile, Nomex/ Insulite, and Nomex/Neoprene), incorporating both dry-suit and wet-suit designs. Continuous assessment was made of skin temperature, rectal temperature, and of microenvironment temperature, relative humidity, and vapour pressure ( Tu, RHu, and VPu) 8 mm from the surface of the skin. Results indicate that although microenvironment temperatures were similar among suits and slightly lower than that of the environment, the RHu and VPo were much greater than those of the ambient air. The Nomex/Insulite and Nomex/Neoprene suits showed the highest VPu, of which only the Nomex/ Insulite resulted in significantly greater increases in rectal temperature, likely due to complete covering of the body with the impermeable insulite component. The present study demonstrates the need to discern between the ambient conditions and the conditions encountered next to the skin when protective clothing is worn.
Applied E r g o n o m i c s