Human Factors and Ergonomics

Investigation of Ergonomic Pipette Design, a Systematic Review

Afterman, M.
Honan, M.
Barr, A.
Harris-Adamson, C
2023

The impact of computer mice weight on muscle activity, performance, and user preferences while gaming

Yan, Y
et al

The impact of distance learning on physical activity, mental health, and learning among 4th graders during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ballen B
Okoro J
Afterman M
Barr A
Robertson M
Harris Adamson C
Austin Sanders
2022

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced additional concerns for childhood obesity, cardiometabolic disorders, and mental health among children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households. This study aimed to understand how distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the healthy habits, mental health, and metabolic health of 4th graders in an under-resourced district. 4th graders from 3 elementary schools answered questions about their habits related to diet, physical activity, sleep, and hydration during the pandemic (distance education). Students’ height, weight, waist,...

08/12/2025: Positive Psychological Functioning, Work, and Health

About the webinar:

How do optimism, purpose in life, and other aspects of positive psychological functioning shape our health and longevity? This presentation will explore research on positive psychological functioning and its associations with long-term health outcomes. It will also highlight various interventions designed to enhance positive psychological functioning and discuss how such interventions can be applied in occupational settings to improve worker well-being and performance.

08/20/2025: OSHA Ergonomics: History, Enforcement, and Success Stories

About the webinar:

OSHA’s presentation will introduce and expand the participants understanding of the history of OSHA ergonomics enforcement, how OSHA enforces ergonomics in workplaces where employees suffer significant musculoskeletal injuries, and how OSHA’s enforcement actions result in improved safety and health and ergonomics programs and reduced workplace hazards to employees. Case study examples will be presented. OSHA’s VPP and Safety Pays topics are also promoted and discussed.

Factors Associated With Reporting Attitudes of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders Among Direct Care Workers in South Korea

Minjung Kyung
Soo-Jeong Lee, RN, PhD, ANP
Laura M Wagner
Carisa Harris-Adamson
Oisaeng Hong, RN, PhD, FAAN
2024

Background: Workers' reporting of work-related injuries or illnesses is important for treatment and prevention, yet research often focuses on reporting barriers. This study aimed to identify factors related to work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD) reporting attitudes and their connection to reporting intention and behavior.

Methods: We analyzed data from 377 direct care workers employed in 19 long-term care facilities in South Korea. A self-administered questionnaire collected demographics, job characteristics, physical and psychosocial...

Professional and High-level Gamers: Differences in Performance, Muscle Activity, and Hand Kinematics for Different Mice

Li G
Wang M
Arippa F
Barr A
Rempel D
Liu Y
Harris Adamson C
2021

Computer mouse design can impact user comfort and performance. The effect of mouse design on gamers, who use a mouse for long hours and apply higher velocity movements than office workers, is uncertain. Professional (N = 29) and high-level (N = 19) gamers participated in this laboratory study and performed Fitts’ and gaming tasks (OverwatchTM) with different mice, and this analysis compared results from a light-weight (87 g) wireless mouse and a very light-weight (80 g) wireless mouse. There was little difference between the mice on muscle activity, hand...

Design of 3D Microgestures for Commands in Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality

Li G
Rempel D
Liu Y
Song W
Harris Adamson C
2021

Virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) systems present 3D images that users can interact with using controllers or gestures. The design of the user input process is crucial and determines the interactive efficiency, comfort, and adoption. Gesture-based input provides a device-free interaction that may improve safety and creativity compared to using a hand controller while allowing the hands to perform other tasks. Microgestures with small finger and hand motions may have an advantage over the larger forearm and upper arm gestures by reducing distraction, reducing fatigue, and...

Heavy load carrying and musculoskeletal health: An exploratory study of biomechanical risk factors among sand miners in Pokhara, Kaski District, Nepal

Koyuncu A
Bates M
Petrin Z
Cope M
McCoy S
Prata N
Sijali T
Harris Adamson C
2021

A data-driven approach to understand factors contributing to exoskeleton use-intention in construction

Kim S
Moore A
Ojelade A
Gutierrez N
Carisa Harris-Adamson
Alan Barr, MS
Srinivasan D
Nussbaum MA
2023

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) remain an important heath concern for construction workers. Occupational exoskeletons (EXOs) are a new ergonomic intervention to control WMSD risk, yet their adoption has been low in construction. We explored contributing factors to EXO use-intention, by building a decision tree to predict the intention to try an exoskeleton using responses to an online survey. Variable selection and hyperparameter tuning were used respectively to reduce the number of potential predictors, and for a better prediction performance. Performance was assessed...