Manufacturing Worker Perceptions of Wearing Ambulatory Inertial Sensors in the Workplace: An Exploratory Cluster Analysis

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bani-Hani, Dania ; Gallagher, Sean ; Schall, Mark C. Jr. ; Zhang, Xuanxuan
• Description:
  Wearable technologies such as ambulatory inertial sensors (AISs) are increasingly being used to track measures of well-being while at work and at home. While typically worn on the wrist, AISs secured to the upper arms and torso can provide objective information regarding occupational exposure to physical risk factors (e.g., non-neutral postures, high movement speeds) associated with the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Wearing AISs on the upper arms and torso, however, may be uncomfortable, distracting, and/or burdensome to some workers. This preliminary analysis of a subset of data from a larger study characterized manufacturing worker (n=16) perceptions of discomfort, distraction, and burden associated with using AISs secured to both upper arms, the trunk, and the dominant wrist over 15 production days (240 total observations including 21 imputed values). Participants self-reported the amount of discomfort, distraction, and burden the sensors caused them using a 10cm visual analog scale (VAS) immediately following the completion of each work shift. Workers also rated the "stress" experienced and "force" exerted for work tasks they performed on a 10cm VAS. Full-shift time-weighted averages of the stress and force ratings were calculated using participant-reported daily task logs. Exploratory simple K-Mean clustering was used to explore potential patterns in the data based on the Euclidean distance criterion while considering other factors including Body Mass Index (BMI) and shift duration. Preliminary results indicated that participants did not find wearing the sensors to be uncomfortable, distracting, or burdensome. The group with higher reported levels of discomfort, distraction, and burden tended to report higher levels of job stress and force, as well as had a higher BMI, based on the cluster analysis. Thus, perceived job demands as well as some personal characteristics may be important to consider when implementing AISs at work. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Wearable Technology Equipment Testing Ergonomics Inertial Sensors Manufacturing MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Physical Activity Sensors Wearable Technologies
• ISBN:
  9781938496578
• Publisher:
  International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067010
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the XXXIst Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference, June 12-13, 2019, New Orleans, Louisiana. Amsterdam: International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety (ISOES), 2019 Jun; :160-164
• Email:
  mark-schall@auburn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  Auburn University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20180901
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the XXXIst Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference, June 12-13, 2019, New Orleans, Louisiana
• End Date:
  20210831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f77e44ced4cdf8b84d6c899d99b2e837156b90fd36f9a4283e9293be55ad53bc7a0c6d7fe357371abb0ce9e874c159d400087280e51348c2a47b27eebada44db
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230840/cdc_230840_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 951.75 KB ]