New technologies are changing the face of information services and how those services are delivered. Libraries spend a great deal of time planning the hardware and software implementations of electronic information services, but the human factors are often overlooked. Computers and electronic tools have changed the nature of many librarians' daily work, creating new problems, including stress, ...

Background: Ergonomic interventions and ergonomic redesign are researched upon today in the realms of 'Prevention through Design' towards addressing the occupational health and safety concerns of the industry. Objective: To review the developments over the past ten years relating to computer aided ergonomic design, and propose an ergonomic intervention framework for manufacturing systems. Metho...

The newspaper industry is one of many in which employees are reported to be at risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremities and low back. The purpose of this 18-month demonstration project was to assess the usefulness of a participatory ergonomics process as a strategy to reduce the risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders at a metropolitan newspaper co...

The growing number of musculoskeletal disorders in industry could be addressed by the use of collaborative robots, which allow the joint manipulation of objects by both a robot and a person. However the efficiency of a collaborative robot regarding the reduction of musculoskeletal disorders risks is highly task-dependent. Yet, even when designing dedicated systems, the ergonomic benefit provide...

OBJECTIVES Information technologies have been developing very rapidly, also in the case of occupational activities. Epidemiological studies have shown that employees, who work with computers, are more likely to complain of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between neck MSD and individual and work related factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS The inve...

BACKGROUND Improper workstation, work procedures and tools are found to be the risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders among the informal sector workers of the developing countries. Low cost ergonomic interventions can effectively improve such adverse conditions. CASE PRESENTATION In the present article some studies related to design interventions in different informal a...

BACKGROUND Few studies have identified the risk factors associated with lost time in employees working with occupational low back pain (OLBP) despite the presence of pain. Such data could assist in the development of evidenced-based secondary prevention programs. METHODS The present investigation was a case-control study (n = 421) of demographic, health behavior, ergonomic, workplace and indi...