An initial investigation into human factors design and evaluation criteria for manually adjustable retrofit ROPS.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Etherton, John R.
• Description:
  Human factors impacting on current initiatives aimed at retrofitting tractors with rollover protective structures (ROPS) were discussed. In particular, the interference of ROPS with tractor use in the absence of rollover hazards was addressed. Manually adjustable ROPS have been developed to allow tractors to pass under low obstructions. The development and use of such ROPS were described and discussed. Performance criteria, such as energy absorption and ergonomic features, were suggested to be included in the design of adjustable retrofit ROPS. It was found that the force needed to raise a telescoping ROPS was about 70 pounds. A hinged type of ROPS required about 25 pounds of force. Based on the experience of NIOSH researchers who tried using the adjustable ROPS themselves, two areas in need of further analysis were identified. These included the convenience of the lowering procedure of the adjustable ROPS as well as the safety of procedures required to reraise the ROPS after it had been adjusted down. The author emphasized the importance of user acceptance in safety device engineering. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Ergonomics Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Human-factors-engineering; Safety-equipment; Safety-engineering; Agricultural-workers; Equipment-design; Ergonomics; Work-performance;
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00237248
• Citation:
  1990 International Winter Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Chicago, Illinois, December 18-21, 1990, Paper No. 90-1618 1990 Dec; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  1990 International Winter Meeting of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Chicago, Illinois, December 18-21, 1990, Paper No. 90-1618, 8 pages, 17 references
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/243568/cdc_243568_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]