design – Page 41 – SafetyAtWorkBlog

Evidence on the need for safe job design

One reader has provided an example of recent research that supports the previous SafetyAtWorkBlog article on the importance of quality and safety in job creation.

In the March 2011 online edition of the Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal, Australian researchers have analysed data concerning “the psychosocial quality of work”. According to an accompanying media release (not available online yet) they found that

“The impact on mental health of a badly paid, poorly supported, or short term job can be as harmful as no job at all…” Continue reading “Evidence on the need for safe job design”

New quad bike research and practical safety guidance

A major Australian rural newspaper, The Weekly Times, has devoted its front page to an article on rollover protective devices on quad bikes. It has taken as the base new information released by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety (ACAHS) through a media release. The new policy paper and the supporting Practical Management Guide acknowledge new research from independent engineers that has finally questioned the established knowledge base on the safety of quad bikes.

ACAHS has come to a position where it states:

“Farmers and other owners of quad bikes should be encouraged to fit suitably tested protective devices to reduce death and serious injury from rollovers.” Continue reading “New quad bike research and practical safety guidance”

NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety

Any new OHS guidelines from regulators important to read and consider when implementing safety interventions. New Zealand’s Department of Labour (DoL) has released new guidelines for the use of quad bikes in workplaces, predominantly, farms.

Quad bike manufacturers are strong advocates of “active riding” techniques as an important safety practice. The new guidelines support this position.

Regular readers will be aware that there are engineering controls for rollovers of quad bikes where “active riding” is an administrative control of rollovers. The engineering control is primarily a rollover protective structure (ROPS). The difference between the two control measures is significant as the engineering controls are considered to be a higher order, or more effective, control in the hierarchy of controls advocated by OHS regulators and professionals around the world.

The NZ DoL guidelines make reference to ROPS but only as a text box because the evidence on ROPS remains contentious. Continue reading “NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety”

LiquidKeyboard may have substantial ergonomic benefits

As an iPad user for well over 6 months, the iPad is a terrific device for reading but it is not the best for writing. This may be due to having typed since the age of 14 on everything from a solid old Remington typewriter to an IBM golf ball electric typewriter and various keyboards over the decades. Typing on glass is possible but the limited keyboard size on the iPad is a struggle. But that struggle may be replaced by an even greater challenge.

The iPad, and many other devices, are bound by a QWERTY keyboard. Others have argued that the QWERTY layout is outdated but it is possible to produce a presentable email holding an iPad in one hand and typing with the other. It is likely that , over a short period of time, the shortcomings of that arrangement will create ergonomic problems.

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have not introduced an alternative to the QWERTY keyboard but rather tweaked it into a new layout. LiquidKeyboard is the system and, in short

“A new keyboard that makes it easier to type on touch screen devices has been invented

LiquidKeyboard enables people to use both hands in typing in the traditional way

As soon as your first four fingers touch the surface – in one fluid motion – an entire keyboard is constructed using the QWERTY format”

As with many innovations, productivity is the main motivation or it may be that productivity is the language needed to gain broad media attention but the potential ergonomic benefits are just as interesting. If ergonomics is “the science of designing the workplace environment to fit the user” then the ergonomic benefits of LiquidKeyboard are self-evident. Just because the use of a virtual keyboard has not identified any hazards yet does not mean that research into alternative, more ergonomic methods is not warranted. The forethought of Christian Sax and other researchers is to be applauded.

Kevin Jones

Laboratory safety begins with design

Laboratory safety is often treated as a specialist area of occupational safety due to the potential harm from the material being handled but also because the laboratories often exist in universities, isolated work environments in many ways. Kansas State University (KSU) is obviously very proud of its Biosecurity Research Institute that, it claims, has considered all elements of safety in all stages of construction and operation.

BRISafety — A researcher works with materials in a biosafety cabinet in the Biosecurity Research Institute at Kansas State University. A biosafety cabinet is a safety enclosure that uses HEPA filters and directional airflow to contain pathogens.

The article that KSU has released on line is a little promotional in tone but there is enough information in it to illustrate the high level of planning that was given to the project. There may not be much new information for those already involved in laboratory safety but it is a useful example of the need for preparatory work in establishing a safe working environment that also ensures product integrity.

Kevin Jones

Independent research into quad bike ROPS safety

In early 2009, Australian engineer, Shane Richardson, completed his thesis into the “Performance Criteria For Effective Structural Rollover Protective Systems For Light Passenger Vehicles”. Part of his thesis included an evaluation of the New Zealand Department of Labour’s ROPS guidelines for ATVs or quad bikes.

Richardson points out that the guidelines have strong similarities to the Australian Standard for protective Structures on Earth-moving Machinery (AS2294) although quad bikes may tipover or undergo a multi-directional tumble, the latter action is not one considered by AS 2294. Richardson believed that the earth-moving machinery “origin” of many of the basic concepts and calculations in the NZ DoL guidelines made them useful but inadequate. Continue reading “Independent research into quad bike ROPS safety”

NZ Farmers rep enters quad bike safety debate

An opinion piece was published in the New Zealand Herald on 12 January 2011 concerning quad bikes. There are several points raised by Donald Aubrey, vice-president of Federated Farmers and chairman of the Agricultural Health and Safety Council that can be disputed.

“In the hands of the untrained or the over-confident they can be deadly. And quad bike safety is far from being a problem exclusive to the agricultural sector.”

From the outset Aubrey’s position is clear, the problem with quad bike safet is not design-related, it is lack of training and over-confidence. Training for quad bike riding has existed for many years and injuries continue to occur. At what point should more effective controls be introduced? Continue reading “NZ Farmers rep enters quad bike safety debate”

Category: design

Evidence on the need for safe job design

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New quad bike research and practical safety guidance

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NZ releases new guidelines on quad bike safety

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LiquidKeyboard may have substantial ergonomic benefits

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Laboratory safety begins with design

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Independent research into quad bike ROPS safety

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NZ Farmers rep enters quad bike safety debate

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