Reducing the Pain and Fatigue of Overhead Drilling

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  CPWR--The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Description:
  The Challenge: Drilling overhead into concrete or metal ceilings is punishing work. Electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, sheet metal, and other construction workers use 6- to 12-lb. hand-held rotary hammer drills to bore holes in ceilings where anchor bolts will be placed. Workers may drill hundreds of holes, one after another, spending up to two minutes per hole. The resulting sore hands, arms, shoulders, and backs help explain why the construction sector has the highest rates of non- traumatic soft tissue injuries to these areas. The Response: When Dr. David Rempel heard workers at a safety conference identify overhead drilling as a vexing issue, he began envisioning solutions. Rempel, an MD and engineer, heads the graduate ergonomics program at the University of California San Francisco and UC Berkeley. His team began researching ways to minimize stress on the body and keep workers off ladders when drilling overhead. Partnering with Rempel's team were more than 20 contractors and labor unions representing workers in a range of trades. More than 100 workers in California, Oregon, and Washington took part in field testing. The team designed and built four generations of the tool through tests and improvements. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Back Injuries Construction Industry Construction Workers Drilling Equipment Testing Intervention Upper Extremities
• Series:
  CPWR - Center for Construction Research and Training Publications
• Publisher:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20054723
• Citation:
  CPWR IMPACT. Silver Spring, MD: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 2012 Jan; :1-2
• Contact Point Address:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, 8484 Georgia Avenue, Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  CPWR IMPACT
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8f44454d6754cf0bdbd1ce3fe3f65a3607fc85fdc5b7bb8402214e56b7591da93aa013b4586f4d5a0b5aef0330b6184ab5a201b6eafaeda8c2f19c965b638e1a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213093/cdc_213093_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.29 MB ]