Understanding human body s physiological responses to work & biomechanical evaluations.

Anatomy body s structure including muscles, bones tendon, ligaments & other structures. Physiology body s function including metabolism, muscles mechanics, oxygen & nutrient distribution, temperature regulation, nerve transmission, cognition & other functional activities.

 Anatomical Position Standing erect the eyes looking forward to the horizon, the arms by the sides, the palms of the hands & the toes directed forward.

Reference Planes
The mid sagittal (median) plane Vertical plane dividing the body into right & left halves.

 A coronal (frontal) plane Any vertical plane which divides the body into anterior (front) & posterior (back) portions. A transverse (horizontal) plane Any horizontal plane at right angles to the sagittal & frontal (coronal) planes, dividing the body into superior (upper) & interior (lower) parts.

 The skeletal + Muscular system of human body > Movement Mechanism. Skeletal system provides the mechanical levers movements -> contraction of the muscles. Skeletal system -> bones, cartilages, joints connective tissues Bones -> Long, short, flat, irregular.

Joint Articulations types based on function Diarthroses freely movable joints e.g. ball & socket joint, Hinge joint Synarthroses immovable or Slightly movable. e.g. skull joint.

Joint movement Flexion movement decreases the angle between two bones. bending Extension stretching or strengthening movement, increases angle between two bones.

Joint movement Abduction moving away laterally from the central axis of the body (median plane) Adduction moving towards the central axis

 Circumduction Involves all above movements in sequence Rotation Movement of bone along its long axis.

 Pronation Medical rotation. Supination Lateral / upward rotation.

Muscular system and work

The muscular system provide power for performing mechanical work. The muscle transform chemical energy stored in the body into physical activities. The mechanical work is of various forms, such as moving parts of the body, carrying loads and manipulating objects.

Guidelines for Muscle use

If a static effort repeated every day over a long period, permanent aches can appear in the limbs and may involve not only the muscles but also the joints, tendons, ligaments and other tissues.

General Guidelines
The optimal use of muscle strength can be achieved by adapting the following guidelines. Appropriate movements must be made to allow muscles to develop as much power as possible. Since a muscle typically generates its greatest tension at or near its resting length, appropriate postures (resting lengths of muscles) should be assumed.

Posture and movement

Posture & movement play a central role in ergonomics. Poor posture & movement can lead to local mechanical stress on the muscles.

Biomechanical, Physiological & Anthropometric background

A number of principles of importance to the ergonomics of posture and movement derive from a range of specialist fields, namely biomechanics, physiology and anthropometrics.

Biomechanical background
Estimating the local mechanical stress on muscles & joints which occurs while adopting a posture or making a movement.

Biomechanical principles, Joints must be in a neutral position Keep the work close to the body Avoid bending forward A twisted trunk strains the back Sudden movements & forces produce peak stresses Alternate postures as well as movements. Limit the duration of any continuous muscular effort Prevent muscular exhaustion More frequent short breaks are better than a single long one.

Physiological background Amount of energy which the heart & lungs can supply to the muscles to allow posture to be adopted or movement to be carried out.

Physiological principles,
Limit the energy expenditure in a task Rest is necessary after heavy tasks Take account of differences in body size Use of anthropometric tables appropriate for specific populations