Ergonomics/ Alternative Access/ AAC Flashcards
Ergonomics Environments
- Home
- Learning
- Play and Leisure
- Work
- Designing products for individuals and populations
- Providing strategies for safety, fitness, health, and wellness
- Environment analysis
Interpret risks of poor design and environment
- Reduce medical visits
- Reduce absenteeism
- Improve productivity
- Improve quality & reduce scrap material
- Improve worker comfort on the job
Successful match between AT and person leads to
- ease of use
- functional efficiency
- – productivity
- – task performance
- comfort
- health and safety
- quality of working life
Working the body beyond its capabilities
Force, Repetition, Awkward postures, Static postures, Contact stress, Lack of rest and recovery time
Environmental Factors
Temperature, Humidity, Air Quality, Vibration, Lighting, Noise, Force (weight), Chemical agents, Toxic substance, Non-toxic substances, Biological agents, e.g., infectious agents (blood borne agents; allergic reactions), Violence
Work Organization and Psychosocial Work Factors
Fatigue, Feelings of isolation, Anxiety and inability to cope, Muscle tension and poor posture, Easily distracted by low level noise, Difficulty concentrating, Job control, Social support, Job distress, Task & performance demand, Job security, Responsibility, Complexity
Engineering Controls: Definition
- Changes to the workstation, equipment or tools.
Administrative Controls: Definition
- Decisions made by management intended to reduce the duration, frequency, and severity of exposure to existing hazards. It leaves the hazards at the workplace, but attempts to diminish the effects on the worker.
Engineering Controls: Examples
Eliminates hazards at the source.
- Workstation reconfiguration or redesign
- – work height adjustments
- – reach adjustments
- – location of supplies and equipment
- Tool & handle design or redesign
- Environmental design
Administrative Controls: Examples
- Job Rotation
- – job stays the same, workers go from job to job
- Job Enlargement
- Work Scheduling
- – breaks, flexible hours, job sharing
- Work Method
- – Reduce external pacing
- Protective Equipment
- – Gloves, masks, clothing & footwear, Eye Wear, Vibration Protection, Ear Protection
- Automation
Job Enlargement
- Horizontal or Job Extension: job content is increased by giving the worker a greater number of tasks to perform all within the same level of responsibility
- Vertical or Job Enrichment: job content includes taking over some responsibilities which were previously assigned to a supervisor
Work Practice Controls
- safe and proper work techniques
- fitness and flexibility
Self-Help
- 20-40% of the problems
- Simple or “quick fix”
- lowest cost
- generated by the worker
- 2-4 hours of awareness training
Skilled Help
- 20-40% of the problems
- more complex, multiple changes
- low cost
- problem-solving team
- 2-3 days training
Expert Help
- 5-25% of the problems
- usually complex
- most expensive method
- professional ergonomist
Alt Access: Control Sites
- body sites that can be used to control a device
- include the hand, finger, arm, head, eye, leg, foot, mouth
Alt Access: Direct Selection
- 1 button = 1 action
- all items in the set are available at any time
- more efficient than indirect
- Ex: computer keyboard, ipad app, clicking icon to save Word doc
Alt Access: Indirect Selection
- some buttons = many actions
- scanning items to make a selection
- Ex: DVD menu, loading a program from Windows Start menu, clicking file–>save to save Word doc
Alt Access: Switch
- control interface between client and the device
- can be commercially purchased, modified, or custom developed
Scanning Selection Techniques
- Automatic
- Step scanning/manual Scan
- Inverse Scanning
Automatic Scanning
- items presented continuously
- rate may be adapted by device
- requires attention and patience
- only one switch site needed
Step Scanning/Manual Scan
- user in control of scan
- requires ability for multiple consecutive switch activations
- requires at least two switch sites (one to scan, one to click)
Inverse Scanning
- device scans when switch depressed, device selects when switch is released
Scanning Formats
- Linear
- Rotary
- Linear: items presented in a row, simple but time consuming
- Rotary: items presented in a circle, repeats, simple but time consuming