ERGONOMIC ANALYSIS AND COMFORT DRIVEN REDESIGN OF STUDENT CLASSROOM COMBO DESKS AT UNIVERSITY OF SALERNO (ITALY)
Journal Title: Journal of Industrial Design and Engineering Graphics - Year 2015, Vol 10, Issue 2
Abstract
The definition of methods and tools for the evaluation of workers’ perceived comfort during work activities is an ongoing challenge. Many researchers have dealt with it over the past twenty years, generally focusing their research efforts on the automotive field (driver and passenger comfort) and on VDT workstation comfort. In recent years, there has been great interest in ergonomics and comfort in secondary schools and universities, with the aim of going beyond the UNI-EN regulations and understanding how practically to improve students’ perceived comfort during lessons. This paper deals with the analysis of classroom combodesks (desk + chair) at the University of Salerno, in which students sit while they follow lessons and take notes. The aim is to analyze acquired postures during a five-hour lesson cycle in students who often experience problems in this situation: a couple of paired students who are right-handed and left-handed respectively. The aim of the work is to ensure, in a simple and economical way, that the students carry out their activities in less incongruous and incorrect positions. Methods used for evaluating the risk of biomechanical overload were:- An experimental analysis to identify the most critical and risky working phase.- The OCRA method to evaluate the total risk level of the total repetitive work-cycle.- A virtual-postural analysis to evaluate the perceived discomfort.In the third type of analysis, the workstation has been virtually modelled with DELMIA® software, and postural analysis has been done using non-invasive methods such as cameras to record activities and to identify angles of repetitive actions in different postures. The comfort indexes have been calculated using software developed by researchers in the Department of Industrial Engineering of Salerno (Italy), called CaMAN®. The comfortindexes were analyzed, and used to correct postures and redesign the combo-desks in order to improve ergonomics and perceived comfort.
Authors and Affiliations
NADDEO Alessandro, FASULO Luisa, VALLONE Mariarosaria
Keywords
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