Anthropometric Differences Among Occupational Groups

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hsiao H ; Long D ; Snyder K
• Description:
  The increasing demands for anthropometric information for the design of machinery and personal protective equipment to prevent occupational injuries has necessitated an understanding of the anthropometric differences to be found among occupations. This study identified differences in various body measurements between occupational groups in the USA, as determined in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Approximately 16,000 of its 32,900 subjects were associated with an occupational group. The analysis of the data showed that the body size, or body segment measurements, of some occupational groups differ significantly. For example, agricultural workers were shorter by an average of 2.5 cm in height, and had wider wrist breadths, than other workers. Female agricultural and manufacturing workers had larger waist circumferences than those in the 'other occupations' and 'all occupations' categories. Protective service workers (i.e. firefighters, police and guards) were taller and heavier (7 kg heavier for males and over 10 kg heavier for females) than those in all occupations combined. These differences and other deviations as well as some age-and-ethnicity-adjusted results were tabulated for users' reference. Researchers and designers who use anthropometric databases to evaluate human-machine interfaces and personal protective equipment (PPE) must use caution in selecting databases that are adequate for their occupational applications. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Agriculture Construction Industry Firefighters Law Enforcement Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Race Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Age-groups Agricultural-workers Agriculture Anthropometry Author Keywords: Anthropometry Body-protection Construction Construction-workers Fire-fighters Humans Human Size Machine-operation Occupation Occupational-hazards Personal-protective-equipment Personal Protective Equipment Police-officers Racial-factors

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  136-152
• Volume:
  45
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022401
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2002 Feb; 45(2):136-152
• Contact Point Address:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Email:
  hhsiao@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment ; Research Tools and Approaches: Exposure Assessment Methods
• Performing Organization:
  West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19940701
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1a86d532fb6c248657d3207e9a35ce98d8b1cdd064143710f85c84d2c3d5a03f192b2aeae12559a8caf7e30b8852ac15cf45c8921c322bab6fa4cb95f9cbd3d5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199193/cdc_199193_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 271.02 KB ]