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The study investigated the extent to which electronic voting is accessible to Dutch voters, especially the visually impaired, those with low literacy, and the elderly. Together with the different user groups, a series of electronic interfaces were developed and simulations of a vote-printer were built to run tests on large numbers of participants. The interface consisted of a card reader, a touchscreen and a printer; audio support was available via a headset. For participants with disabilities, the independent variables were visual impairment and low literacy. For elderly participants, the independent variable was age. All participants were asked to make specific choices on the screen and to check the printed result for their choice. As reference, they were asked to vote using the current Dutch ballot paper/red pencil system. The criteria used to determine the accessibility of both systems was: does the printed ballot match the intended vote? The vote-printer significantly increased independent voting by the visually impaired, however this was not seen for the low-literacy group. For the elderly, the use of a vote-printer with electronic interface is equally as accessible as the current paper ballot. All three groups reported using a vote-printer with electronic interface to be easier than the current paper ballot. The study confirmed that co-creating with intended users in the early conceptualization phase is key.

Non-pharmacological interventions have been applied to manage Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). However, these interventions have not been assessed from an ergonomics perspective. Ergonomics has investigated the age-related capability changes in terms of sensory, cognition and movement aspects. This study aims to review the existing non-pharmacological interventions for BPSD targeting nursing home residents and generate design recommendations based on the domain of ergonomics in ageing. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO were searched for studies which applied non-pharmacological interventions for treating BPSD in nursing home residents. A total of 67 studies met the inclusion criteria; from which 16 types of interventions were identified. Within these intervention types, the main capabilities required from the interventions for People with Dementia (PwD) were identified. The interventions were then categorized into sensory-, cognition-, and movement-oriented according to the main capabilities. Design recommendations were then generated for the interventions with knowledge from the domain of ergonomics in ageing.

Obesity is a growing issue in western societies with consequences for the field of human centered design. Most anthropometric data sources assume the data follow the Gaussian distribution, with population data symmetrically distributed above and below the mean value. This assumption is often true in length measurements like body heights, but may not be true for measurements more sensitive to body mass, like body weight, hip width, elbow-to-elbow width, and body depth. While length measurements have remained relatively stable over time in western societies, mass related measurements are increasing. The authors have experience in providing data via an interactive website DINED, which seeks to make anthropometry accessible without requiring expert knowledge about anatomy and statistics. Currently all DINED dimensions are assumed Gaussian, including those related to body mass. This might not work when designing for plus size people. Future additions in DINED will be about design for obesity and about how to implement 3D scanning into the design process in order to redress these defects.

The social dimension of design

Since a few years, a number of academic papers have been proposing to shift from user-centered design to human-centered (or person) design. In this contribution, we discuss as the common thread underlying these works the idea that design should also address the reflective part of our human experience and not only aim to maximize the experiential aspects. Our review is complemented with examples derived from the Internet world and from ICT consumer products. The main research areas we see as promising for the approach of “design for reflection” are design for pauses, design for detachment, design for serendipity, and design for action.

Restructuring has become a daily practice in both private and public sectors in the EU. But often restructuring processes fail to produce the intended effects of secured or increased organizational profitability. On the contrary restructuring puts the physical and psychosocial health of all organizational members at risk. To limit the risks of enterprise restructuring effectively, several groups of actors at the individual, enterprise and societal level have to collaborate towards the implementation of healthier change procedures and to create a “social convoy” in occupational transitions for workers affected by dismissal. The European Expert Group HIRES on Health in Restructuring was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Thomas Kieselbach from the University of Bremen and supported by DG Employment of the European Commission. It presented with its report a concise overview of the effects of enterprise restructuring and the social frameworks and change procedures that should be considered for “healthier restructuring”. With its policy recommendations and the case studies of innovative approaches on a company and regional level the report addresses policy makers, governmental structures like labour inspectorates or federal institutes, unions, managers, occupational health and safety personnel, shareholders and workers alike. The public reception of the HIRES recommendations on Health in Restructuring was impressive all over Europe and across different institutions, stakeholders and professions. They were conceived before the economic crisis started but the development of the economies increased public awareness for the problems addressed in the HIRES report. It was disseminated on an international level within several scientific communities as well. The success of HIRES led to the follow-up project HIRES Plus (co-ordinated by Dr. Claude Emmanuel Triomphe (ASTREES, Paris) and Prof. Dr. Thomas Kieselbach, Bremen), which organized in 13 EU countries national workshops in order to increase awareness of main actors, discuss HIRES conclusions and to test them in the light of the national consultation process, discuss possible ways to include health as an issue when restructuring takes place and to develop networks at national and European levels.

The health dimension of enterprise restructuring is a widely neglected area of research, intervention and public concern. Restructuring is taking place in every competing organisation and is therefore affecting all European societies. With restructuring is meant an organizational change that is much more significant than commonplace changes and affecting at least a whole organizational sector or an entire company in the forms of closure, downsizing, outsourcing, off shoring, sub-contracting, merging, delocalisation, internal job mobility or other complex internal reorganizations. Besides or through its effects on employment restructuring also has vast impact on the health of employees, organisations and communities. A concept of enterprise restructuring, that aims at preserving certain features of a European social model of employment relations with the new demands of a globalised competition has to take into account not only economic indicators of the health of a company but also the individual effects of restructuring on the workforce which will show a considerable long-term impact on the competitivity of the economy as well. This new understanding broadens the perspective from a uni-lateral shareholder perspective often pursued in the restructuring efforts to a more balanced view on the interests of all stakeholders involved in the full process of company adaptation and accommodation to the globalised economy with the goal of socially responsible restructuring.

International audience; BACKGROUND Lumbar disc-related disorders are a main cause of work-related osteo-articular morbidity. Lumbar disc surgery (LDS) has been chosen as sentinel event for the epidemiological surveillance of these disorders since LDS can be identified in the medical databases from public and private hospitals. OBJECTIVE To assess the theoretical impact of workplace-based primary interventions designed to reduce exposure to personal and/or work-related risk factors for LDS. METHODS Cases of LDS were assessed using hospital discharge records for persons aged 20-64 in 2007-8 in the French Pays de la Loire region. We estimated the number of work-related cases of LDS (WR-LDS) in high-risk industry sectors. Three theoretical scenarios of workplace-based primary prevention have been simulated a mono-component work-centered intervention reducing the incidence of WR-LDS by 10%, and two multicomponent global interventions reducing the incidence of all cases of LDS by 5% and 10% by targeting personal and occupational risk factors. RESULTS Four high-risk sectors were identified, amounting to 277 [216-352] cases, of which 98 [37-175] were WR-LDS construction and information and communication for men; wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food service activities for women. AFE was limited for each industry sector, 30%, 50%, 33% and 55%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Prevention scenarios combining actions on personal and occupational risk factors would be the most effective, compared to prevention focused only on occupational risk factors. Implementing actions of promotion of health at work would be necessary in addition of actions on occupational risks.

International audience; Based on a research led in the waste sorting and recycling sector in France, we propose to reflect upon the territorial anchorage of the work activities for household waste. In this article, we will argue that the territory is a determinant of work, forgotten by the commercial and industrial logics that organize waste sorting and structure the design of work systems. We will also place the territory as a scale of action for occupational risks prevention that conducts to involve internal actors from the waste sorting centers and external actors from the territory.

In the past 20 years, cardiovascular mortality has decreased in high-income countries in response to the adoption of preventive measures to reduce the burden of coronary artery disease and heart failure. Despite these encouraging results, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for approximately 17 million deaths every year in the world, approximately 25% of which are sudden cardiac death. The risk of sudden cardiac death is higher in men than in women, and it increases with age due to the higher prevalence of coronary artery disease in older age. Accordingly, the sudden cardiac death rate is estimated to range from 1.40 per 100 000 person-years in women to 6.68 per 100 000 person-years in men. Sudden cardiac death in younger individuals has an estimated incidence of 0.46–3.7 events per 100 000 person-years, corresponding to a rough estimate of 1100–9000 deaths in Europe and 800–6200 deaths in the USA every year. Cardiac diseases associated with sudden cardiac death differ in young vs. older individuals. In the young there is a predominance of channelopathies and cardiomyopathies, myocarditis and substance abuse, while in older populations, chronic degenerative diseases predominate. In younger persons, the cause of sudden cardiac death may be elusive even after autopsy, because conditions such as inherited channelopathies or drug-induced arrhythmias that are devoid of structural abnormalities are epidemiologically relevant in this age group. Identification of the cause of an unexpected death provides the family with partial understanding and rationalization of the unexpected tragedy, which facilitates the coping process and allows an understanding of whether the risk of sudden death may extend to family members. Accordingly, author present their experience with autopsies of unexplained sudden death young victims in which a cardiac origin was suspected and the relevance of a standardized protocol for heart examination and histological sampling, as well as for toxicology and molecular investigation.

Tractor overturn is the main cause of injuries and fatal accidents in agriculture. Rollover Protective Structures (ROPS) showed to be effective in reducing fatalities during tractor overturn. Foldable ROPS (FROPS) have been developed to offer greater mobility when working in low overhead clearance zones and more storage options. However, many fatalities and serious injuries in tractor overturn accidents occur for a misuse of the FROPS. The study proposed a multidimensional ergonomic investigation of FROPS handling to identify criticalities in the human-machine interaction which prevent farmers from raising the roll-bar. An observation of users’ behaviors while operating the FROPS and a collection of subjective ratings about perceived effort were performed, considering also tractor objective features. Eleven operators and nine tractors were involved in the study. The results showed that the participants exposed themselves to different safety (e.g. falls) and health (e.g. biomechanical overload of the spine) risks when raising the FROPS, even though they did not perceive any intense effort in handling the roll-bar. The vertical distance between the FROPS pivot pin and the ground affected participants’ gestures and postures. To facilitate the actual use of the FROPS and to prevent injuries or fatal consequences in case of tractor overturn, some technical solutions to enhance the accessibility of the FROPS may be developed. Furthermore, the correct postures and gestures to handle the roll-bar should be addressed during safety and health training courses.

Biomechanical overload represents one of the main risks in the industrial environment and the main possible source of musculoskeletal disorders and diseases. The aim of the this study is to introduce new technologies for quantitative risk assessment of biomechanical overload, by integrating surface electromyography (sEMG) with an innovative motion-capture system based on inertial measurement units (IMU). The case study was carried out in collaboration with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy S.p.A. and deals with the analysis of the “central tunnel cabinet assembly” activity, performed by two workers of assembly lines during a working task, which lasts about one minute. The electromyography signals were acquired bilaterally, in three different body regions on the right and on the left side of the Erector Spinae, during standard working activities; the progression of trunk postures (flexion-extension, lateral flexion and twisting) was tracked by using an inertial motion-capture system made of wearable inertial sensors, to evaluate the alignment of the major body segments, using a developed algorithm. Data analysis showed kinematic and muscular activity patterns consistent with the expected ones. In particular, data show that the proposed technologies can be integrated and simultaneously used during workers’ real performing activities. Data quality also demonstrates that both types of sensors, EMG electrodes and IMU, not influenced each other, neither by electromagnetic noise usually present in an industrial environment. The results of this study show feasibility and usefulness of the integration of kinematic and electromyography technologies for assessing the biomechanical overload in production lines.

International audience; Neurological patients are characterized by multiple handicaps and by physical, behavioral, and psychological symptoms that are diverse and fluctuating. They need specialized, multidisciplinary and constant health care, a large amount of hygiene care and technical care, but also relational care. The objective of this communication is to present the anticipatory operative strategies used by a team of nurses working in a neurology hospitalization sector and their representations of healthcare quality. Healthcare quality is studied from the constructive perspective of activity ergonomics: it considers quality as a permanent process on-going in the work situation, articulating the effective conditions provided by the organization for the realization of work-as-imagined and the individual and collective resources available by the agents who deal with the actual context. The methodology used is based on an exploratory field study using the clinical method of work analysis in ergonomics. The results show that quality is the result of arbitrations and individual and collective adjustments built in context, which incorporate formal and informal standards of care quality according to the content of care, the type of patient and the current state of the latter. The strategies identified allow the agents to reconcile in more or less satisfactory ways the different existing standards.

Since the early development for health purposes in 1950s, motion tracking systems have been strongly developed for several applications. Nowadays, using Micro Electro-Mechanics Systems (MEMS) technologies, these systems have become compact and light, being popular for several applications. Looking at the manufacturing industry, such as the automotive one, ergonomic postural analyses are a key step in the workplaces design and motion tracking systems represent fundamental tools to provide data about postures of workers while carrying out working tasks, in order to assess the critical issues according to ISO 11226 standard. The aim of this work is to present an experimental wearable inertial motion tracking system, developed at the Dept. of Engineering of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in collaboration with Linup S.r.l., composed by several low-cost inertial measurement units (IMU). The system allows to estimate the orientation of selected human body segments and to analyze the postures assumed during the working tasks. To increase the flexibility of use, the system is highly modular: it’s composed by 4 independent modules in full-body configuration, each one made of 3 or 4 inertial units. In this paper, the overall system is presented, supported by several test cases, carried out in Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) assembly lines, to test the system reliability in industrial environments. Furthermore, an automatic posture analysis code is presented to evaluate the postural critical issue of the workplaces.

Risk communication based on safety signs is a fundamental component in high-hazard industries as agriculture, to prevent injuries. To make signs easily comprehensible by all users, the design of safety signs has been standardized in terms of color and shape to distinguish the different types of safety messages. Nevertheless, several studies demonstrated that individual characteristics as education, cultural background, and experience, can affect safety signs comprehension. Considering the increasing number of the migrant workforce in agriculture, especially in high-income countries, it is significant to investigate cross–cultural differences in safety signs interpretation. A sample of sixty migrants (Romanian n = 8; Indian n = 12; Pakistani n = 28; Gambian n = 12) employed in Italian farms was asked to associate four graphical symbols representing the main types of safety messages (mandatory, prohibition, warning, emergency), to the corresponding surround shape. With regard to geometric shape interpretation, the results showed that less than 50% of participants chose the standardized shape for warning (triangle), mandatory and prohibition (round) signs; while the majority of respondents assigned the emergency sign to the square shape. With regard to nationality, all the shape-symbol associations made by Romanians corresponded to the standardized ones, followed by Indians (52%), Pakistanis (43%) and Gambians (42%). No significant differences emerged either for the length of stay in Italy or for years of education. Results confirmed the role of national culture in safety signs interpretation and seem to show that only migrants from countries closer to the Western culture are more familiar with the meaning of standardized shapes.

International audience; The VOCADOM research project aims to design a new technology (voice control usable at home) to encourage the well-being and autonomy of the elderly with loss of autonomy at home. To guide design choices, we develop a user-centered design for all so that all actors are involved in the design process and we develop new methods of uses prospecting so that target profiles can project themselves into the use of an innovative device in ecological situation. We are in a process of methodological triangulation. Especially for the study of needs where through an ethnographic study we identify the problems encountered at home where the device can help. We ask end users and caregivers who are part of the eco system. After we use activity simulation methods to evaluate the acceptance , usefulness and usability of the device. This will allow us to improve the device so that it matches the real needs of users.

Observation methods historically form a significant part of the identity of activity-oriented approaches to ergonomics, while playing a central role in the holistic approach to work activity. This paper introduces the issue of the role and positioning of observation in ergonomics approaches, and presents a current research and design project. Started two years ago, the project promotes research and practice exchanges, involving reflections on and teaching of observation methods and techniques. Its objectives are threefold: (1) design an open and stable tool for in-situ observation, (2) contribute to the research about observation and human activities, and (3) promote teaching of observation methods and techniques. The paper concludes with an outline of the next steps for research and practice.

As companies move toward globalization, companies use distance work to accomplish work more effectively and efficiently. A telepresence robot (TPR) is a mobile remote presence device that allows a two-way communication and interaction between a distance manager and the employees. The objective of the study was to improve the understanding of how distance workers and managers experience the use of TPR in the daily management and in which tasks the TPR is suitable to ensure employee well-being and thus performance. The data collection included three phases – before, during and after the implementation of the TPR, where we conducted 25 semi-structured individual and group interviews, on-site observations of the TPR in use and research notes. The distance manager (user) controlled the TPR from a distant site when using it in the home office. The managers were able to create a sense of proximity and via the camera feature, enable eye-contact, which the managers considered essential and beneficial for assessing the employee’s feelings and well-being. The majority of the users had a positive experience regarding the TPR basic functionalities´ utilization. In all three cases the participants, both managers and employees, agreed that the TPR is most useful in planned project meetings. On the other hand, the lack of trust, problems with the technology, privacy issues and intrusive emotions affected the use of the TPR in a negative way in some cases. The TPR was not suitable for meetings where people needed to share physical documents or important meetings, i.e. private talks or decisions meetings.