Advanced Ergonomics

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Unit III Assignment

This assignment involves reading two scenarios and then answering each question that follows the scenarios. Insert your responses just below each question, save all of your work, and then submit it in Blackboard for grading.

Scenario #1

Our truck driver from previous scenarios puts in 500 miles per day, with no more than 11 hours driving time allowed by DOT standards, with a total of no more than 14 hours worked in a 24-hour period. Truck drivers must rest (or be off duty) for at least 10 hours for every 24-hour period. Traveling 500 miles in 11 hours means that the driver has to maintain an average of 45.5 miles per hour. Keep in mind that the driver will need to stop for various reasons, such as fuel, food, and bathroom breaks (depending on how many large quantities of coffee they drank). Also, the driver has a satellite system in the truck that monitors the miles driven, the average and specific speed, the fuel flow, and time.

Question 1. Use the Iowa Model (page 270 of the textbook) to make recommendations for improving the performance of drivers in the scenario.

(1) The effect of combining tasks – what are three examples that the driver could do to combine tasks to improve efficiency?

(2) The effect of performing particular task sequences – recommend a sequence for a series of tasks for the driver to maintain accuracy and productivity.

(3) The effect of pacing – how much time the driver spends on each task.

Question 2. Provide examples of how, as an ergonomics safety professional, you might help the driver prevent the common CTDs of low back pain, sciatica, and thoracic outlet syndrome? Think in terms of analysis and body measurements. What type of technique would you use to capture and interpret the data, based on the techniques discussed in chapter 6? Your response should be at least 150 words.

Question 3. Knowing that the driver gets paid by the mile and has to travel 500 miles per day in order to make his daily pay, list several things that drivers do that might be dangerous to themselves or others in order to make this production. These are items that we as safety professionals should be on the lookout for. Your response should be at least 150 words.

Scenario #2

Look at a typical racing team. NASCAR, Indy car, or Formula one racing teams have developed specific and targeted routines for their drivers and pit crews. Years ago, these very teams had little in the way of safety devices or ergonomic tools, and the drivers and crews paid with their lives at times. In today’s racing world, the drivers and pit crews use highly detailed tools to help advance their team in the race while also keeping team members safe. The crew chief and his assistants monitor all aspects of the team to include fuel usage, tire usage, tire pressure, engine diagnostics, as well as other details. To indicate the importance of such details, racing teams have both won and also lost races due to fuel usage.

Question 1. Using your favorite search engine, locate and watch race footage, or actually watch a race, and describe some of the safety tools the teams use to prevent injury in the pit area. Specifically, look at the fueler, the tire changer, and the tire wrangler. Also, look at items that are ergonomically beneficial to these team members. Your response should be at least 150 words.

Question 2. While viewing the race footage, spend some time watching the driver while he or she is in the car. What devices does the driver use specifically for safety? What about the ergonomic devices that allow the driver to turn left at very high speeds for several hundreds of miles without sustaining either short- or long-term injury. Discuss this in terms of body measurements and modeling. Your response should be at least 150 words.

Question 3. The crew chief spends significant amounts of time in practice with the pit crew. They try to reduce valuable seconds from their work times with the car while in the pits. Discuss several ways, using the items you learned from this unit (analysis, measurement, modeling, sampling) that the crew chief might use to evaluate the team. As a safety professional assigned to the team and answering to the team’s owners, give one or two suggestions to improve the safety of the crew. Your response should be at least 150 words.