Citation

Min SN, Kim JY, Parnianpour M. Appl. Ergon. 2012; 43(3): 574-581.

Affiliation

Department of Industrial and Management Engineering ErgoMechanics Lab, Hanyang University, Sa 3Dong, Sangrok-gu, Ansan 426-791, Republic of Korea.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2011.09.002

PMID

21986560

Abstract

Work performed on scaffolds carries the risk of falling that disproportionately threatens the safety and health of novice construction workers. Hence, objective measures of the postural stability, cardiovascular stress, and subjective difficulty in maintaining postural balance were evaluated for four expert and four novice construction workers performing a manual task in a standing posture on a scaffold with and without safety handrails at two different elevation heights. Based on a multivariate analysis of variance, the experience, scaffold height, and presence of a handrail were found to significantly affect measures of the postural stability and cardiovascular stress. At a lower level of worker experience, a higher scaffold height, and in the absence of a handrail (which may correspond to higher risk of a fall), postural stability was significantly reduced, while cardiovascular stress and subjective difficulties in maintaining postural balance increased. We emphasize the importance of training and handrails for fall prevention at construction sites.

Language: en