A review of machine-guarding recommendations

A model to predict and optimize machine guarding operator compliance activities in a bottling process plant: a developing country experience

Introduction. The accurate tracking, elimination and control of hazards are fundamentals in accident avoidance at operational machine guarding stations. This article develops a machine guard usage compliance model. Nonetheless, very few studies account for operator compliance to the usage of machine guards in workplaces. Methods. This article contributes by first building up a multiple regression (MR) model, and, second, proposing a novel integrated MR and Taguchi method (MR-TM) model that optimizes operator compliance to guard usage. The comparative significance of the diverse factors was appraised and examined via analysis of variance. Results. Bottling process data from Nigeria illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. The coefficient of determination (R ² = 0.997) established the efficient predictive ability of the MR model. The significant variables are the number of functional guards and damaged guards, and the number of non-compliances (guards present and operational but not used) (p < 0.050). Simulated and field data variables exhibited good agreement (R ² = 0.997). From the MR-TM model, the most significant result is the highest operator compliance for machine guard usage with mean and signal-to-noise ratio values of 269.28 and 48.60, respectively. Conclusion. This work provides safety managers with snapshot information for planning and control purposes.

Validation of a three-dimensional hand scanning and dimension extraction method with dimension data

A three-level experiment was developed to validate a 3-D hand scanning and dimension extraction method with dimension data. At the first level, a resin hand model of a participant was fabricated to test the repeatability of the dimension data obtained by the 3-D method. At the second level, the actual hand of that participant was measured repeatedly using both the 3-D method and the traditional manual measurement method. The repeatability for both methods was investigated and compared. The influence of posture keeping, surface deformation and other human issues were also examined on the second level. At the third level, a group of participants were recruited and their hands were measured using both methods to examine any differences between the two methods on statistical descriptives. Significant differences, which varied among dimension types (length, depth/breadth, and circumference), were found between the 3-D method and the traditional method. 3-D anthropometric measurement and dimension extraction has become a prospective technology. The proposed three-level experiment provides a systematic method for validation of the repeatability of a 3-D method and compatibility between dimension data from a 3-D method and a traditional method.

A case-crossover study of transient risk factors for occupational hand trauma by gender

An estimated 8.2 million occupational injuries occur annually to women in the United States. This case-crossover study of 1166 subjects compares transient risk factors for occupational traumatic hand injury to women and men. Study subjects were recruited over a 3-year period (1997 to 2000) from 23 occupational health clinics in five New England states. The case-crossover design was used to estimate the short-term risk of an acute hand injury while controlling between-person potential confounders. Subjects reported on the occurrence of seven transient exposures within a 90-min period and provided control exposure information during the month before an acute hand injury. A total of 275 women and 891 men were interviewed a median of 1.3 days after injury. Lacerations were the most common injury type in both women (58%) and men (64%). Relative risks for women were higher for being distracted, doing unusual tasks, and working with malfunctioning equipment or materials, and were lower than men for being rushed. Gloves provided significant protection for males and females. Results suggest the importance of considering both the prevalence of various exposures and gender in modifying risk factors to reduce the incidence of acute hand injury in the workplace. Thus, greater emphasis should be placed on the planning of safer working environments for all workers.