An Investigation of Safe Handle Design

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cochran DJ
• Description:
  Safe handle design for knives used by meat packers was investigated. A variety of configurations and sizes of knives was tested to evaluate safety, fatigue, and effectiveness. A methodology for evaluating handle configuration and guard design was developed using anthropometric measurements. A total of 36 handle shapes and sizes were tested in six separate maximum force tests. Of the 36 handles, 11 were selected based on force test performance for evaluation in two fatigue tests: a constant static load test and a constant static load with intermittent impulses test. Various sizes and shapes of guards were also tested. No differences were seen between the 11 handles with respect to the fatigue tests. The guard test showed that the radius of the guard had no effect on maximum forces; however, guard height did affect maximum force capability. A minimum effective guard height was established for both males and females. The author concludes that, based on these results and in particular with respect to handle guard height, most of the knives currently available to meat packers are inadequate. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Food Handling Food Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Meat-handlers Meat-packing-industry NIOSH-Grant Safety-equipment Safety-research
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  Nebraska ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-215
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00135010
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-187476
• Citation:
  Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, R01-OH-01134, 1982 Mar; :1-215
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Performing Organization:
  Industrial & Mgmt Systems Engr, University of Nebraska
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19810101
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• End Date:
  19820331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ba917522c6828c6c91f39da4949343127f76b734aa9c8cf2525f5097cba18227ff4f21cac0db46c1f55ef2407b11c877eb4715e97ac1515c026bd7a7cfcac060
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217718/cdc_217718_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.07 MB ]