Background: Laptops are ubiquitous tools in today's society; however, their prolonged use often l... more Background: Laptops are ubiquitous tools in today's society; however, their prolonged use often leads to discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders due to their nonergonomic design. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative adjustable laptop stand in enhancing comfort and productivity during typing tasks. Methods: A 2-phase experimental design was employed. Phase 1 involved the development of a novel laptop stand considering ergonomic principles and expert recommendations. In Phase 2, a total of 25 office workers-13 men and 12 women-participated in 3 randomized sessions of a 2-hour typing task. They used the newly designed stand, adjusted their laptop height using conventional methods, or completed the task without any height adjustment (control). The Local Subjective Discomfort Questionnaire (LPD), the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and speed and error rates were used to measure postural risk, subjective discomfort, and typing performance, respectively, during each session. SPSS Version 26 (IBM) was used for the analysis, and P ˂ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The RULA scores were significantly lower with the newly designed stand compared with the other conditions. When using the stand, perceived discomfort in specific regions significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, the number of typing errors significantly reduced with the stand (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was observed in typing speed (P = 0.371). Conclusion: The novel adjustable laptop stand significantly reduced discomfort and improved typing accuracy during typing tasks, suggesting its potential to enhance user comfort and productivity. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of this intervention.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Objective This study aimed to investigate the effects of a head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE... more Objective This study aimed to investigate the effects of a head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE) on the electromyographic fatigue threshold (EMGFT) of the neck and shoulder muscles during a simulated overhead work task. Background Overhead work is a well-known risk factor for neck and shoulder musculoskeletal disorders due to the excessive strain imposed on the muscles and joints in these regions. Method Fourteen healthy males performed a repetitive overhead nut fastening/unfastening task to exhaustion while wearing and not wearing the HNSE at two neck extension angles (40% and 80% of neck maximum range of motion). Electromyographic signals were continuously recorded from the right and left sternocleidomastoid (SCMR, SCML), splenius capitis (SCR, SCL), upper trapezius (UTR, UTL), and anterior deltoid (ADR, ADL) muscles. The normalized electromyographic amplitude (nEMG) data was time normalized, and a bisegmental linear regression was applied to determine the muscle fatigue break p...
International journal of occupational hygiene, Aug 30, 2018
Work-related accidents and illnesses are a great concern in developed countries. Numerous researc... more Work-related accidents and illnesses are a great concern in developed countries. Numerous researches have been performed to find an appropriate approach to decrease occupational accidents. This descriptive-analytical study was designed based on the retrospective and field studies to develop a customized model of the safety culture and identify the effective factors of safety culture in a car manufacturing company. In order to present a new customized model of safety culture questionnaire, the study was designed in three phases: 1) Proposing a customized model, 2) Constructing a validated questionnaire, and 3) Conducting a field study. A total number of 619 cases completed the questionnaire (321 injured and 298 uninjured people). Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was 0.855. The injured population noticeably acquired more points than the uninjured workers in all items of the questionnaire except for "safety rules and regulations"; though, this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) only in the 7 items. The correlation between almost all of the safety culture components in the injured and uninjured workers was positive (P<0.05 P <0.001). Developing a customized model and questionnaire for a car manufacturing industry is an important finding of the present study. The results showed that the safety culture of the injured subjects was higher than those uninjured. Therefore, it can be stated that the occupational accident is the milestone for the evaluation of the safety culture.
Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront the COVID-19 Phenomeno... more Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront the COVID-19 Phenomenon, the identification and treatment of ever-increasing number of patients has put the health systems of many countries under an unprecedented pressure beyond their capacity On the frontline of this battle, the employees of the health systems, especially nurses are among the people who have been impacted the most by this natural disaster This editorial aims to have a comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the barriers and problems that nurses have faced during the pandemic Based on investigations, early into the pandemic, shortage of preventive and diagnosis equipment, as well as low usability of personal protective equipment were the most important challenge of nursing Nursing job characteristics have also undergone a major transformation by an adverse increase in the physical and mental workload of the profession Moreover, nurses' working condition has been so inevitably affected by the phenomenon's characteristics of fear and uncertainty This unprecedented situation has also hindered the hospitals in providing an appropriate physical environment for their patients and employees On the other hand, in spite of having great importance, organizational (i e , shortage of specialized workforce, lack of training for new nurses, and inefficiency of break time) and extra-organizational (i e , sanctions and stigma) issues have been paid scant attention Lastly, the consequence of such difficult and grueling conditions has been various psychosomatic disorders which can be a serious threat not only to nurses' health and quality of care, but also to the proper functioning of the health systems of countries
BACKGROUND: Parents often use baby walkers (BWs) as assistive devices to improve their infants’ i... more BACKGROUND: Parents often use baby walkers (BWs) as assistive devices to improve their infants’ independent movement and motor skill acquisition. However, the literature suggests that conventional baby walkers (CBW) may cause delays in an infant’s ability to walk independently and musculoskeletal burden on parents. OBJECTIVE: In the current study, a baby walker (RBW) with chest support was redesigned and ergonomically assessed during an infant-walking task. METHODS: The anthropometric dimensions of 90 infants aged 7–11 months were measured in the city of Urmia, northwestern Iran. Following redesigning based on the results from expert panel meetings and prototyping of the RBW, 18 mothers (age: 28.33±4.27 and height: 163.75±5.32 and weight: 59.45±5.99) with their infants (9 boys and 9 girls) performed a simulated infant walking task in two experimental sessions using the CBW and RBW over a repeated measurements design. The infants’ feet track patterns, including the number of steps an...
New Research in Nursing - Education and Practice [Working Title]
The hospital work system as a complex sociotechnical system has been an interesting research envi... more The hospital work system as a complex sociotechnical system has been an interesting research environment for human factor/ergonomic researchers. In this chapter dimensions of nurses’ work system elements were presented and Macroergonomics approaches were pointed out to optimize the interaction between nurses and other system elements. From Macroergonomics perspectives, human factor researchers would be able to identify and categorize health and performance issues through a systematic approach. Researchers are believed that this approach was not shown positive results initially, therefore a low-hanging fruit strategy is recommended. Decomposing work system elements is a potential opportunity to track the balance in the hospital nurse work system by considering these elements for redesigning work systems and applying appropriate interventions.
BACKGROUND: Smartphones (SPs) are widely used by people of all age groups and genders. Users spen... more BACKGROUND: Smartphones (SPs) are widely used by people of all age groups and genders. Users spend many hours per day on the SPs for different purposes, which imposes significant stress on their musculoskeletal system. OBJECTIVES: This study explored head forward flexion, lateral bending angle, and viewing distance while working with a SP in sitting/standing postures and one-handed/two-handed grips. The users’ performance as well as pain development were also investigated. METHODS: Participants answered a questionnaire on pain experience before and after SP usage. Neck kinematics of 20 SP users were monitored by a motion analysis system while doing three tasks (typing, video watching, and reading) in sitting and standing postures. Performance was evaluated by number of typed words, amount of errors in typing, and total read words. RESULTS: The results indicated a significant increase in pain complaints in neck and upper limbs after test completion. Working with SPs in sitting and st...
Overhead work is an important risk factor associated with musculoskeletal disorders of the neck a... more Overhead work is an important risk factor associated with musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulder region. This study aimed to propose and evaluate a passive head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE) as a potential ergonomic intervention for overhead work applications. Fourteen male participants were asked to perform a simulated overhead task of fastening/unfastening nut in 4 randomized sessions, characterized by two variables: neck extension angle (40% and 80% of neck maximum range of motion) and exoskeleton condition (wearing and not wearing the HNSE). Using the HNSE, significantly alleviated perceived discomfort in the neck (p-value = 0.009), right shoulder (p-value = 0.05) and left shoulder (p-value = 0.02) and reduced electromyographic activity of the right (p-value = 0.005) and left (p-value = 0.01) sternocleidomastoid muscles. However, utilizing the exoskeleton caused a remarkable increase in right (p-value = 0.04) and left (p-value = 0.05) trapezius electromyographic activities. Performance was not significantly affected by the HNSE. Although the HNSE had promising effects with respect to discomfort and muscular activity in the static overhead task, future work is still needed to investigate its effect on performance and to provide support for the generalizability of study results.
Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront with the COVID-19 Phen... more Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront with the COVID-19 Phenomenon, the identification and treatment of ever-increasing number of patients has put the health systems of many countries under an unprecedented pressure beyond their capacity On the frontline of this battle, the employees of the health systems, especially nurses are among the people who have been impacted the most by this natural disaster The present study aims to have a comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the barriers and problems that nurses have faced during the pandemic Based on investigations, early into the pandemic, shortage of preventive and diagnosis equipment, as well as low usability of personal protective equipment were the most important challenge of nursing Nursing job characteristics have also undergone a major transformation by an adverse increase in the physical and mental workload of the profession Moreover, nurses’ working condition has been so inevitabl...
Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, 2016
Introduction: Work pressure and excessive workload can jeopardize and impair the people’s health.... more Introduction: Work pressure and excessive workload can jeopardize and impair the people’s health. One of these impairments is musculoskeletal disorders. Among these disorders, low back pain is the most common and most costly problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between workload and prevalence of low back pain in assembly line workers of a car manufacturing factory. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 69 workers working in the assembly line of a factory. Data collection tools included three questionnaires: demographic questionnaire, NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ). Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential (T-test and One-way ANOVA) statistics. Results: Of the workers, 72.5% were female. The average total workload was 71.42% and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in low back was 43.37%. The results of the analysis of relationship between workload and the pre...
Background: Laptops are ubiquitous tools in today's society; however, their prolonged use often l... more Background: Laptops are ubiquitous tools in today's society; however, their prolonged use often leads to discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders due to their nonergonomic design. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative adjustable laptop stand in enhancing comfort and productivity during typing tasks. Methods: A 2-phase experimental design was employed. Phase 1 involved the development of a novel laptop stand considering ergonomic principles and expert recommendations. In Phase 2, a total of 25 office workers-13 men and 12 women-participated in 3 randomized sessions of a 2-hour typing task. They used the newly designed stand, adjusted their laptop height using conventional methods, or completed the task without any height adjustment (control). The Local Subjective Discomfort Questionnaire (LPD), the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), and speed and error rates were used to measure postural risk, subjective discomfort, and typing performance, respectively, during each session. SPSS Version 26 (IBM) was used for the analysis, and P ˂ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The RULA scores were significantly lower with the newly designed stand compared with the other conditions. When using the stand, perceived discomfort in specific regions significantly decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, the number of typing errors significantly reduced with the stand (P < 0.05), while no significant difference was observed in typing speed (P = 0.371). Conclusion: The novel adjustable laptop stand significantly reduced discomfort and improved typing accuracy during typing tasks, suggesting its potential to enhance user comfort and productivity. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of this intervention.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Objective This study aimed to investigate the effects of a head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE... more Objective This study aimed to investigate the effects of a head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE) on the electromyographic fatigue threshold (EMGFT) of the neck and shoulder muscles during a simulated overhead work task. Background Overhead work is a well-known risk factor for neck and shoulder musculoskeletal disorders due to the excessive strain imposed on the muscles and joints in these regions. Method Fourteen healthy males performed a repetitive overhead nut fastening/unfastening task to exhaustion while wearing and not wearing the HNSE at two neck extension angles (40% and 80% of neck maximum range of motion). Electromyographic signals were continuously recorded from the right and left sternocleidomastoid (SCMR, SCML), splenius capitis (SCR, SCL), upper trapezius (UTR, UTL), and anterior deltoid (ADR, ADL) muscles. The normalized electromyographic amplitude (nEMG) data was time normalized, and a bisegmental linear regression was applied to determine the muscle fatigue break p...
International journal of occupational hygiene, Aug 30, 2018
Work-related accidents and illnesses are a great concern in developed countries. Numerous researc... more Work-related accidents and illnesses are a great concern in developed countries. Numerous researches have been performed to find an appropriate approach to decrease occupational accidents. This descriptive-analytical study was designed based on the retrospective and field studies to develop a customized model of the safety culture and identify the effective factors of safety culture in a car manufacturing company. In order to present a new customized model of safety culture questionnaire, the study was designed in three phases: 1) Proposing a customized model, 2) Constructing a validated questionnaire, and 3) Conducting a field study. A total number of 619 cases completed the questionnaire (321 injured and 298 uninjured people). Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was 0.855. The injured population noticeably acquired more points than the uninjured workers in all items of the questionnaire except for "safety rules and regulations"; though, this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) only in the 7 items. The correlation between almost all of the safety culture components in the injured and uninjured workers was positive (P<0.05 P <0.001). Developing a customized model and questionnaire for a car manufacturing industry is an important finding of the present study. The results showed that the safety culture of the injured subjects was higher than those uninjured. Therefore, it can be stated that the occupational accident is the milestone for the evaluation of the safety culture.
Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront the COVID-19 Phenomeno... more Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront the COVID-19 Phenomenon, the identification and treatment of ever-increasing number of patients has put the health systems of many countries under an unprecedented pressure beyond their capacity On the frontline of this battle, the employees of the health systems, especially nurses are among the people who have been impacted the most by this natural disaster This editorial aims to have a comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the barriers and problems that nurses have faced during the pandemic Based on investigations, early into the pandemic, shortage of preventive and diagnosis equipment, as well as low usability of personal protective equipment were the most important challenge of nursing Nursing job characteristics have also undergone a major transformation by an adverse increase in the physical and mental workload of the profession Moreover, nurses' working condition has been so inevitably affected by the phenomenon's characteristics of fear and uncertainty This unprecedented situation has also hindered the hospitals in providing an appropriate physical environment for their patients and employees On the other hand, in spite of having great importance, organizational (i e , shortage of specialized workforce, lack of training for new nurses, and inefficiency of break time) and extra-organizational (i e , sanctions and stigma) issues have been paid scant attention Lastly, the consequence of such difficult and grueling conditions has been various psychosomatic disorders which can be a serious threat not only to nurses' health and quality of care, but also to the proper functioning of the health systems of countries
BACKGROUND: Parents often use baby walkers (BWs) as assistive devices to improve their infants’ i... more BACKGROUND: Parents often use baby walkers (BWs) as assistive devices to improve their infants’ independent movement and motor skill acquisition. However, the literature suggests that conventional baby walkers (CBW) may cause delays in an infant’s ability to walk independently and musculoskeletal burden on parents. OBJECTIVE: In the current study, a baby walker (RBW) with chest support was redesigned and ergonomically assessed during an infant-walking task. METHODS: The anthropometric dimensions of 90 infants aged 7–11 months were measured in the city of Urmia, northwestern Iran. Following redesigning based on the results from expert panel meetings and prototyping of the RBW, 18 mothers (age: 28.33±4.27 and height: 163.75±5.32 and weight: 59.45±5.99) with their infants (9 boys and 9 girls) performed a simulated infant walking task in two experimental sessions using the CBW and RBW over a repeated measurements design. The infants’ feet track patterns, including the number of steps an...
New Research in Nursing - Education and Practice [Working Title]
The hospital work system as a complex sociotechnical system has been an interesting research envi... more The hospital work system as a complex sociotechnical system has been an interesting research environment for human factor/ergonomic researchers. In this chapter dimensions of nurses’ work system elements were presented and Macroergonomics approaches were pointed out to optimize the interaction between nurses and other system elements. From Macroergonomics perspectives, human factor researchers would be able to identify and categorize health and performance issues through a systematic approach. Researchers are believed that this approach was not shown positive results initially, therefore a low-hanging fruit strategy is recommended. Decomposing work system elements is a potential opportunity to track the balance in the hospital nurse work system by considering these elements for redesigning work systems and applying appropriate interventions.
BACKGROUND: Smartphones (SPs) are widely used by people of all age groups and genders. Users spen... more BACKGROUND: Smartphones (SPs) are widely used by people of all age groups and genders. Users spend many hours per day on the SPs for different purposes, which imposes significant stress on their musculoskeletal system. OBJECTIVES: This study explored head forward flexion, lateral bending angle, and viewing distance while working with a SP in sitting/standing postures and one-handed/two-handed grips. The users’ performance as well as pain development were also investigated. METHODS: Participants answered a questionnaire on pain experience before and after SP usage. Neck kinematics of 20 SP users were monitored by a motion analysis system while doing three tasks (typing, video watching, and reading) in sitting and standing postures. Performance was evaluated by number of typed words, amount of errors in typing, and total read words. RESULTS: The results indicated a significant increase in pain complaints in neck and upper limbs after test completion. Working with SPs in sitting and st...
Overhead work is an important risk factor associated with musculoskeletal disorders of the neck a... more Overhead work is an important risk factor associated with musculoskeletal disorders of the neck and shoulder region. This study aimed to propose and evaluate a passive head/neck supporting exoskeleton (HNSE) as a potential ergonomic intervention for overhead work applications. Fourteen male participants were asked to perform a simulated overhead task of fastening/unfastening nut in 4 randomized sessions, characterized by two variables: neck extension angle (40% and 80% of neck maximum range of motion) and exoskeleton condition (wearing and not wearing the HNSE). Using the HNSE, significantly alleviated perceived discomfort in the neck (p-value = 0.009), right shoulder (p-value = 0.05) and left shoulder (p-value = 0.02) and reduced electromyographic activity of the right (p-value = 0.005) and left (p-value = 0.01) sternocleidomastoid muscles. However, utilizing the exoskeleton caused a remarkable increase in right (p-value = 0.04) and left (p-value = 0.05) trapezius electromyographic activities. Performance was not significantly affected by the HNSE. Although the HNSE had promising effects with respect to discomfort and muscular activity in the static overhead task, future work is still needed to investigate its effect on performance and to provide support for the generalizability of study results.
Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront with the COVID-19 Phen... more Despite the unprecedented mobilization of people and resources to confront with the COVID-19 Phenomenon, the identification and treatment of ever-increasing number of patients has put the health systems of many countries under an unprecedented pressure beyond their capacity On the frontline of this battle, the employees of the health systems, especially nurses are among the people who have been impacted the most by this natural disaster The present study aims to have a comprehensive look at the various dimensions of the barriers and problems that nurses have faced during the pandemic Based on investigations, early into the pandemic, shortage of preventive and diagnosis equipment, as well as low usability of personal protective equipment were the most important challenge of nursing Nursing job characteristics have also undergone a major transformation by an adverse increase in the physical and mental workload of the profession Moreover, nurses’ working condition has been so inevitabl...
Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, 2016
Introduction: Work pressure and excessive workload can jeopardize and impair the people’s health.... more Introduction: Work pressure and excessive workload can jeopardize and impair the people’s health. One of these impairments is musculoskeletal disorders. Among these disorders, low back pain is the most common and most costly problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between workload and prevalence of low back pain in assembly line workers of a car manufacturing factory. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 69 workers working in the assembly line of a factory. Data collection tools included three questionnaires: demographic questionnaire, NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ). Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential (T-test and One-way ANOVA) statistics. Results: Of the workers, 72.5% were female. The average total workload was 71.42% and the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in low back was 43.37%. The results of the analysis of relationship between workload and the pre...
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Papers by Ehsan Garosi