Effect of Sweating on Insulation of Footwear

The study aimed to find out the influence of sweating on footwear insulation with a thermal foot model. Simultaneously, the influence of applied weight (35 kg), sock, and steel toe cap were studied. Water to 3 sweat glands was supplied with a pump at the rate of 10 g/hr in total. Four models of boots with steel toe caps were tested. The same models were manufactured also without steel toe. Sweating reduced footwear insulation 19–25% (30–37% in toes). During static conditions, only a minimal amount of sweat evaporated from boots. Weight affected sole insulation: Reduction depended on compressibility of sole material. The influence of steel toe varied with insulation. The method of thermal foot model appears to be a practical tool for footwear evaluation.     

Determination of Heat Loss from the Feet and Insulation of the Footwear

This study compared the methods of determining footwear insulation on human participants and a thermal foot model. Another purpose was to find the minimal number of measurement points on the human foot that is needed for insulation calculation. A bare foot was tested at 3 ambient temperatures on 6 participants. Three types of footwear were tested on 2 participants. The mean insulation for a bare foot obtained on the participant and model were similar. The insulation of warm footwear measured by the 2 methods was also similar. For thin footwear the insulation values from the participants were higher than those from the thermal model. The differences could be related to undefined physiological factors. Two points on the foot can be enough to measure the insulation of footwear on human participants (r = .98). However, due to the big individual differences of humans, and good repeatability and simplicity of thermal foot method, the latter should be preferred for testing.     

Integrated Estimation of the Effect of Physical Factors on Human Functional State During Mental Work

The purpose of this study was to develop a model for an integrated estimation of the functional state of the human organism (FSHO) and an integral estimation of physical factors (PF) for hygienic rating. Tests were performed twice with 3 men in 0.7-clo clothing during 4-hr mental work with 9 combinations of 4 PF: wideband noise (55–83 dB(A)), whole-body vibration (6 Hz, a_z = 0.2–1.8 ms^?2), air temperature (18–30 °C), and illumination (1, 3, 5 lx). Thermoregulatory, cardiovascular, and psychophysiological reactions and temporary threshold of hearing (TTS₂) shifts were studied. For the integral estimation of PF influence on FSHO the model F(y₁, y₂, ... y_m) = f(x₁, x₂, ... x_n) was used, relating both FSHO and PF sets. The most important physiological parameters in creating FSHO are defined and the contribution of individual parameters of FSHO and PF is found.     

Ergonomic Diagnosis of the Driver’s Workplace in an Electric Locomotive

This paper deals with research aimed at developing a method for ergonomic analysis of the driver’s workplace in an electric locomotive. It presents the structure of the diagnosis and its assumptions, and includes a re-evaluation of the questionnaire-expert method in ergonomic research. The article presents research data on weights and evaluations including their standard deviations for particular priority features. Ergonomic levels of the studied operator’s cabin in locomotives are compared.     

Synergy Between Visual and Auditory Signals and Its Influence on the Follow-Up Regulation Quality

The study aimed at verifying a hypothesis that supporting a visual signal of regulation deviation with an auditory one could improve the quality of regulation; the operator would have better information on machine operation. A special simulator was applied to follow-up tracking with a manual lever which controlled vertical movements of a cursor on a monitor screen. Simultaneously with visual information on screen, the operator was provided with an auditory deviation signal of pre-determined characteristics. 33 young males underwent the test. It was found that supporting a visual signal with an auditory one resulted in an improvement in the regulation quality by 5-6%, which proved synergy between those signals. The results may be used in designing tele- and servo-mechanisms, especially for remote control machinery, e.g., inspection robots or micromanipulators controlled by operators in a follow-up system.     

Simulation of Reflected and Scattered Laser Radiation for Designing Laser Shields

This paper presents a computer simulation of reflected and scattered laser radiation for calculating the angle of laser shields performed with the Laser Shield Solver computer program. The authors describe a method of calculating the shield angle for laser shields which protect workers against reflected and scattered laser radiation and which are made from different materials. The main assumptions of the program, which calculates and simulates reflected laser radiation from any material and which can be used for designing shield angles, are presented. Calculations are compared with measurements of reflected laser radiation. The results for one type of laser and different materials which interacted with a laser beam showed that the Laser Shield Solver was an appropriate tool for designing laser shields and its simulations of reflected laser radiation distribution have practical use.     

Analysis of Conditions and Organization of Work of Notebook Computer Users

Abstract

Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate working conditions with a notebook computer (notebook) as a potential cause of musculoskeletal disorders. Material and methods. The study had 2 stages. The first one was a questionnaire survey among 300 notebook users. The next stage was an expert analysis of 53 randomly selected workstations. The questionnaire survey included questions about the participants, their working conditions, work organization and also duration of work with a notebook. Results and conclusions. The results of the research showed that most examined operators used a notebook as a basic working tool. The most important irregularities included an unadjustable working surface, unadjustable height of the seat pan and backrest, unadjustable height and distance between the armrests and no additional ergonomic devices (external keyboard, docking station, notebook stand or footstool).     

Disparity of a Seat Cushion and Its Influence on Postural Control

Properties of supporting surfaces of a seat have an influence on postural control. Centre of pressure (COP) displacement parameters reflect both the balance controlling process and movements of the centre of a mass of entire body. The subjects of the study were 9 healthy men. A seat cushion was examined with a 2-force platform setup. Force exertion at a seat pan and feet and COP displacement at a seat pan were measured to analyse postural control. Analysis of variance determined the differences in postural control depending on a cushion type among the subjects. Significant differences in COP displacement parameters were in COP trajectory length, medio-lateral COP displacement and COP velocity. The results of the study showed that foam cushion ensures better postural control.     

Analysis of underlying causes of investigated loss of containment incidents in Dutch Seveso plants using the Storybuilder method

In the Netherlands there are around 400 “Seveso” sites that fall under the Dutch Major Hazards Decree (BRZO) 1999. Between 2006 and 2010 the Dutch Labour Inspectorate's Directorate for Major Hazard Control completed investigations of 118 loss of containment incidents involving hazardous substances from this group. On the basis of investigation reports the incidents were entered in a tailor-made tool called Storybuilder developed for the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for identifying the dominant patterns of technical safety barrier failures, barrier task failures and underlying management causes associated with the resulting loss of control events. The model is a bow-tie structure with six lines of defence, three on either side of the central loss of containment event. In the first line of defence, failures in the safety barriers leading to loss of control events were primarily equipment condition failures, pre start-up and safeguarding failures and process deviations such as pressure and flow failures. These deviations, which should have been recovered while still within the safe envelope of operation, were missed primarily because of inadequate indication signals that the deviations have occurred. Through failures of subsequent lines of defence they are developing into serious incidents. Overall, task failures are principally failures to provide adequate technical safety barriers and failures to operate provided barriers appropriately. Underlying management delivery failures were mainly found in equipment specifications and provisions, procedures and competence. The competence delivery system is especially important for identifying equipment condition, equipment isolation for maintenance, pre-start-up status and process deviations. Human errors associated with operating barriers were identified in fifty per cent of cases, were mostly mistakes and feature primarily in failure to prevent deviations and subsequently recover them. Loss of control associated with loss of containment was primarily due to the containment being bypassed (72% of incidents) and less to material strength failures (28%). Transfer pipework, connections in process plant and relief valves are the most frequent release points and the dominant release material is extremely flammable. It is concluded that the analysis of a large number of incidents in Storybuilder can support the quantification of underlying causes and provide evidence of where the weak points exist in major hazard control in the prevention of major accidents.     

Quantitative assessment in safety reports of the consequences from the detonation of solid explosives

Safety reports are mandatory documents in member states of European Union whenever any threshold limits of amounts of either stored or processed hazardous substances are exceeded. After a short introduction to EU Seveso Directives on major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances and to the transposition and implementation by member states, with a brief comment on last 2012/18/EU Directive (also known as Seveso III directive), the paper focuses on drafting of safety reports for industrial activities involving solid explosives. Specifically, the quantitative assessment of consequences from detonation is tackled respect to the side-on overpressure and the debris production. Both direct and inverse problems are illustrated to determine respectively the overpressure value at a given distance, and the explosive amount that allows respecting the regulations. Their solution is based on either analytic or numerical techniques and being based on recent scientific publications on the matter either evaluates or zeroes nonlinear algebraic equations. The availability of these equations avoids grounding the consequences assessment on diagrams and nomograms that otherwise would lead to interpretation and usage errors besides avoiding the automatic solution of the inverse problem. The paper focuses also on details such as embankment, crater, munitions, rocket propellant, building structure, and wall material that, at different levels, play a role in the assessment of detonation consequences. A discussion on debris formation, the available literature, and the evaluation of the impact probability of fragments on both fixed and moving targets closes the paper.