An Ergonomic Investigation of Hand Switch Operation

Details

• Creators:
  Page, George B ; McMahan, Paul B
• Corporate Creators:
  Association of American Railroads. Research and Test Department ; University of Michigan. Center for Ergonomics
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Adjustment (Psychology) Back Design Ergonomics Injuries Low Back Pain Maintenance Practices Over-Exertion Rail Lubrication Railroads Stress (Physiology) Switches (Railroads)

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• Publication/ Report Number:
  R-715
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Association of American Railroads
• Abstract:
  About 4 percent of all lost time injuries in the railroad industry are associated with the operation of hand switches. These injuries cost about $30 million a year in claims. We investigated the operation of vertically operated, ground level switch stands. We used biomechanics to evaluate methods workers use to operate this type of switch stand. We found some operating methods to be less stressful than others. We developed procedures to that could be used to compare the back compression experienced and strength needed by workers with guidelines for back compression and strength that have been established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). We also found that current procedures for maintenance of switches and switch stands, when applied to the switches we evaluated, reduced (on average) the forces needed to move the lever arm so that the back compression experienced and strength needed of the worker were within the NIOSH guidelines. Lastly, we provide an EXAMPLE analysis of alternative designs for switch stand levers that illustrates how human performance criteria might be helpful in developing and evaluating such designs.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  ESD-87-024
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4325a41b9b6457147379dc4de25b0c74c8e0db3c35c6eb28550363b0423a9506c4543f6a0efc2834f492f71530b665c5f21596803be67d7dec83544994366f65
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/77349/dot_77349_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.56 MB ]