Project | Applying Ergonomic Design Principles (2012_2013) Under supervision of Dr.Reem ElKadeem. Project Objective: The goal of the project is to exercise the application of ergonomic design principles combined with our creative talent in solving or preventing current problems in real case study. Sometimes minor ergonomic changes in the design of equipment, workstations or job tasks can make significant improvements in worker’s comfort, health, safety and productivity. Our team was required to select one of workstations in the college and make a comparison between two workstations of the same category. Our case study was about “Computer Laboratory” (Production Workshop / Mechanical Building). Project Deliverables: Our team was required to document both the activities performed throughout the project and the application of the mechanism in industry in the form of a Technical Report. The report contains: Workstation Description _Workstation Assessment: through observation and NIOSH & OSHA surveys. _Workstation Measurements:Measuring of necessary workstation dimensions. _ Workstation Analysis: Identifying of risk factors causing WMSD, suggesting of modifications. Results and conclusion: Criticizing both workstations and showing result of comparison. And to present the activities performed throughout the project in the form of a PowerPoint Presentation.

1. Ergonomics mini-project
Group #18
Workstation:
•Computer Laboratory
(Production/Mechanical Building)
Under the Supervision of:
•Dr. Reem Al-Kadeem
•Eng. Hadi fors
•Eng. Aliaa Mohammed Abdel-Whaed

2. contents
 Introduction.
 Workstation Description.
 Workstation Assessment.
 Workstation Measurements.
 Workstation Analysis.
 Conclusion.

3. “
”
Introduction
Esraa
Fathy

4. Esraa
Fathy

5. “
”
Why do we Need Ergonomics?
what ergonomics does and
reason for using ergonomic study?
Esraa
Fathy

6. Human Centered Design Process:
 Collect information
 Define system requirements
 Design and supply facilities
 Specify physical devices
(Measure,Analyze,Improve,Control)
To design a usable system, designers needs a description of the users
Esraa
Fathy

7. Workspace Design:
 Discipline of creating an environment that brings people
together to do their jobs in the most effective way.
Esraa
Fathy

8. “
”
Workstation Description
1. Workshop Laboratory.
2. Mechanical building Laboratory.

9. 1. Workshop Laboratory
Working area
 Desk.
 Chair.
 Projector.
 Board.
 Air conditioning.
 shelf.
 Workstation layout:
Esraa
Fathy

10. Users Students Instructors Lab-technician
Gender Males & Females Males & Females Males & Females
Age Range 18 to 24 24 to 40 29
Working Hours Av. 1.5 hours/week From 8:00 to 2:00 PM From 8:00 to 2:00 PM
Rest Periods
10:00 till 10:10 AM
11:40 till 11:50 AM
01:20 till 01:40 PM
03:10 till 03:20 PM
10:00 till 10:10 AM
11:40 till 11:50 AM
01:20 till 01:40 PM
03:10 till 03:20 PM
10:00 till 10:10 AM
11:40 till 11:50 AM
01:20 till 01:40 PM
03:10 till 03:20 PM
Years of Experience No experience (0-6) Years 8 Years
 Instructors:
Ensure that students have access to and assistance in the use of computer
technology. Assumes full responsibility for the operation, safety and security of the
computer labs. Hires, trains and supervises student help, work-study that use the
computer labs.
 Technicians:
To monitor, maintain, install, and support networked servers, computer systems, and
peripheral equipment; provides network support functions, and assists faculty, staff,
and students in an
academic lab
environment.
 Undergraduate Students:
Attending group lectures,
sections and training
seminars.
Excel/Word processing
and Data entry.
 Information about users, tasks and operations:
1. Workshop Laboratory
Esraa
Fathy

11. 1. Workshop Laboratory
 Working Environment:
Esraa
Fathy

12. 2. Mechanical building laboratory:
 Workstation layout:
Nihal
Wahed

13.  Undergraduate Students.
 Master and PHD Students.
 Professors.
 Other External Users.
 Users of the Work Station:
2. Mechanical building laboratory:
Nihal
Wahed

14.  Master and Ph.D.'s Students:
Using some programs helping them in studies.
 Professors:
- Presenting courses or lectures using the projector and the smart board.
- Using the 3-D printer or the 3-D scanner.
- Using some Engineering Software Programs.
 Other External Users:
Using some special programs or using the (3-D printer/Scanner)
 Laboratory Users’ Job Description:
2. Mechanical building laboratory:
Nihal
Wahed

15.  The Data Show (Projector), the White Board, the computer (monitor,
CPU system unit, keyboard, and mouse) and Chairs are placed on a
stable working surface with adequate room for proper arrangement.
 All jobs are done sitting or standing.
2. Mechanical building laboratory:
 Working Environment:
Nihal
Wahed

16. Nihal
Wahed

17. “
”
Workstation Assessment
1. Workshop Laboratory.
2. Mechanical building Laboratory.

18. Checklist selection
While choosing the checklist, we
considered that it should cover all
possible points of discomfort that
may affect the working environment.
Alaa
Farag

19.  Sample:
2 Instructors (Eng. Mousafa Yakout, Eng. Mohammed Alaa)
4 Students
 Summary of responses:
most of users agreed that the chairs needs to be replaced because it’s
neither adjustable nor provide support back. Some of the users mentioned
that chairs also need redesign and material change. For the keyboard
and mouse, users said that it only needs small modifications to meet their
comfort. Consigning the working surface, everyone agreed that it’s a
complete disaster. There isn’t enough area of anything.
1. Workshop Laboratory
Alaa
Farag

20. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B C D E
Chair
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
A B C D E
KeyBoard and mouse
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B C D E
Work Surface
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B A B
Breaks
Others
Accessories
Data analysis & observation:
1. Workshop Laboratory
Alaa
Farag
Agree
Disagree

21.  Sample:
2 Technicians
3 Students
 Summary of responses:
Based on team observations we all agreed the lab. equipment are up-to-
date “except that there is no air conditioning” but the layout of the lab
needs to be rearranged to use the most out of it.
2. Mechanical building laboratory:
Nihal
Ibrahim

22. 2. Mechanical building laboratory:
0
1
2
3
4
5
A B C D E
Chair
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B C D E
KeyBoard and mouse
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
A B C D E
Work Surface
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
A B A B
Breaks
Others
Accessorie
Data analysis:
Nihal
Ibrahim
Agree
Disagree

23.  Chairs:
The first type is the old one, and it
may causes a back pain due to its
design
The second type is the new one; it
suits all the human body but the
material not well enough like the first
one
observation:
2. Mechanical building laboratory:
Nihal
Ibrahim

24.  Lightening:
It's not sufficient for all the lab computers, and this may cause an
eye pain or headache for the users.
 LCD screen:
The front half of the lab that can see the screen clearly
Suggestion :
putting another screen in the back of the lab that allows the
second half to see it clearly.
 Air conditioning:
There is about 46 computer device in the lab, so it needs at least
five air conditioners to allow a good performance for the devices
and users.
Nihal
Ibrahim

25. “
”
Workstation Measurements
1. Workshop Laboratory.
2. Mechanical building Laboratory.

26. Measurements
In this task we were supposed to
measure both work stations to
compare between the measured
values and the standard calculated
values in order to locate the causes
of mostly common Work-Related
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Nourhan
Hany

27. 1. Workshop laboratory
 Chair .
 Desk.
 Devices.
 Shelf.
Nourhan
Hany

28. 1. Workshop laboratory
Nourhan
Hany

29. 1. Workshop laboratory
Nourhan
Hany

30. Workshop laboratory
Nourhan
Hany

31. 1. Workshop laboratory
Nourhan
Hany

32. 2. Mechanical building Laboratory
 Chair .
 Desk.
 Devices.
Nourhan
Ghanem

33. 2. Mechanical building laboratory
Nourhan
Ghanem

34. 2. Mechanical building laboratory
Nourhan
Ghanem

35. 2. Mechanical building laboratory
Nourhan
Ghanem

36. “
”
Workstation Analysis
1. Workshop Laboratory.
2. Mechanical building Laboratory.

37. 1. Workshop Laboratory.
item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
chair Seat pan depth (-6 cm)
Backrest height (-7.5 cm)
Width (-5.5 cm)
Arm rest (not available)
Poor design Localized pressure
Awkward posture
Static posture
Lack of proper leg
blood circulation
Low back pain
Elbow injury
The chair design needs too many
modifications which make it
costless if the chairs were
replaced with new ones fits to
design criteria
Peter
Adel

38. item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
Desk Clearance width (-5.5 cm)
(it is designed to fit one and a half
units which is physically almost
impossible)
Poor design Awkward posture
Repetitive motion
Localized pressure
Repetitive strain
injuries
Use each desk as a
single unit
**Buy ergonomically
designed keyboards,
mouse and mouse pads
1. Workshop Laboratory.
Peter
Adel

39. item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
Monitor Visual height (-20 cm) Poor design Awkward posture
Static posture
Eye strain
Neck pain and
injury
Add a small box under
each monitor with a
height of 20 cm
1. Workshop Laboratory.
Peter
Adel

40. item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
chair Seat pan height (+12.5 cm) Poor design Localized pressure
Award posture
Static posture
Lake of proper leg
blood circulation
Place a foot rest under each desk
to decries the difference
2. Mechanical building laboratory
Ahmed
Ameen

41. item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
Desk Surface height (+8 cm) Poor design Awkward posture
Repetitive motion
Localized pressure
Repetitive strain
injuries
Cut down the (8 cm) from
the bottom of the desk “it’s
feasible”
OR add a drawer for the
keyboard and mouse
2. Mechanical building laboratory
Ahmed
Ameen

42. item error Workstation
hazards
Risk factors WMSD How to overcome
Board Visual height (+75 cm) Poor design Awkward posture
Static posture
Eye strain
Neck pain and
injury
The board is adjustable
so we only need to
readjust it to the
proper height
2. Mechanical building laboratory
Ahmed
Ameen

43. Search findings
 Experiment was made immediately after sitting > 6 hours per day:
electrical activity in muscles slow down, calorie burning rate drops to 1 calorie per minute (1/3
of what it does while walking)
 Experiment was made after year sitting > 6 hours per day:
weight gain and high cholesterol
for women lose up to 1% of bone mass a year
Alaa
Farag
American journal of Epidemiology paper
Stand once
an hour

44. References:
 http://www.hfes.org/Web/EducationalResources/booksspecifictopics.html
 https://www.osha.gov/Publications/laboratory/OSHAfactsheet-laboratory-safety-ergonomics.pdf
 https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/computerworkstations
 Occupational Ergonomics Principle and Applications by Chapman & Hall.
 Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics for Engineers, Second Edition By Mark R. Lehto,
Steven J. Landry
 An Ergonomics Guide to Computer Workstations by Mary O'Reilly, Brian Finder, Marjorie K. Werrell.
Alaa
Farag

45. Thank you
Group
#18