In most industries, musculoskeletal injuries are the most common work-related reason for employee absences. These injuries are often caused by static postures or repetitive movements that have to be maintained for many hours a day, such as intensive use of data entry devices, assembly work, parts inspection, equipment maintenance, manual materials handling, machinery operations, and vehicle operation, among others. The book addresses seating concepts, hand tool and pedal designs, foot-floor interfaces, digital human models for computer-aided design and engineering, and work organization (task duration, breaks, handling frequency) as they affect human performance and musculoskeletal injury reduction. Professionals responsible for identifying and improving conditions in the industries where such workplace injuries occur will find this volume to be a handy sourcebook, while teachers and students will find it to be a valuable reference.

This book presents seven case studies in which digital human models were used to solve different types of physical problems associated with proposed human-machine interaction tasks. This book includes contributions from researchers at Ford, Boeing, DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, the U.S. Air Force, and others.

Contents:
Foreword [Nigel Corlett]. 1. Introduction. 2. Anthropometry. 3. Motor Behaviour. 4. Vision and Eyes. 5. Head and Neck. 6. Trunk. 7. Pelvis. 8. Leg and Foot. 9. Shoulder Girdle and Upper Arm 10. Forearm and Hand. 11. Postures, Movements, and other Factors. 12. Force Exertion. 13. Performance. 14. Digital Human Models for Ergonomic Design and Engineering. Index.