Development of a Decision Support System for Residential Construction Using Panellised Walls: Approach and Preliminary Results

Details

• Personal Author:
  Guo C ; Kim S ; Nussbaum MA ; Seol H ; Shewchuk JP
• Description:
  There is a high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among residential construction workers, yet control in this industry can be difficult for a number of reasons. A decision support system (DSS) is described here to allow early assessment of both ergonomic and productivity concerns, specifically by designers. Construction using prefabricated walls (panels) is the focus of current DSS development and is based conceptually on an existing 'Safety in Construction Design' model. A stepwise description of the development process is provided, including input from end users, taxonomy development and task analysis, construction worker input, detailed laboratory-based simulations and modelling/solution approaches and implementation. Preliminary results are presented for several steps. These results suggest that construction activities using panels can be efficiently represented, that some of these activities involve exposure to high levels of WMSD risk and that several assumptions are required to allow for ease of mathematical and computational implementation of the DSS. Successful development of such tools, which allow for proactive control of exposures, is argued as having substantial potential benefit. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Construction Industry Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Residential Construction Back-injuries Biodynamics Biological-function Biomechanics Construction-industry Construction-workers Muscle-physiology Muscles Musculoskeletal-system Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs Physiological-factors Physiological-stress Posture Prevention Through Design Risk-analysis Risk-factors Risk Assessment Safety-engineering Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-practices Statistical-analysis Task Analysis Work-environment Work-performance Work-practices Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0014-0139
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  87-103
• Volume:
  52
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035447
• Citation:
  Ergonomics 2009 Jan; 52(1):87-103
• Contact Point Address:
  Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
• Email:
  nussbaum@vt.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040915
• Source Full Name:
  Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20100630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:68f4d0f392a0f2f8c523e8494e8931d3342eb73cddff365657fcf81a400d7e0aa98d0f3e6a7d492d016341889a99aa94a7165893cc6e6ec6e6826685d14fb7d8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187301/cdc_187301_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.33 MB ]