Introduction:

The objective of this GBA is to allow your team to experience workstation evaluation and redesign process using real-life examples. Some questions require you to pick a situation of your choice for the analysis. It may be from your home or workplace.

Use the time allocated for your student-led session to work on the GBA with your team.

Put in effort to format your report. Treat your marker as your Human Factors client. A wellformatted and neat report would be given higher grades.

Participating fully in this GBA give you insights into how to tackle practical workplace evaluations, and the practical-oriented questions in the final exam.

cta_queston_1

Question 1

(a) Apply the anthropometric jig at the Human Factors Safety (HFS) Lab to generate the anthropometric profile for ONE (1) of your team members. Anthropometric measurement instructions and supplementary material can be downloaded from the Canvas course site (HFS201_Jul24_L01 > Modules > Student-Led Lab Sessions). A comprehensive set of anthropometric data is to be taken. You may refer to Tan et al (2010) (uploaded to Canvas in the same folder) for a list of the commonly used anthropometric measurements. Provide a table showing anthropometric values in millimetres. Include pictures of the team taking the measurements.

(b) The anthropometric jig is not a common instrument that you can find easily. List THREE (3) three tools that is easy for you to buy to take anthropometric dimensions. Include pictures of the tools. Discuss the strength and weaknesses of the tools.

Question 2

(a) Tim is a newly employed welder in TUV Welder Pte Ltd (TUV) based in ABC Land. During the pre-employment screening, only his stature was collected.

As the workplace safety officer, you received information that Tim is 1.63 metre tall and is experiencing shoulder pain. You have access to the anthropometric data of ABC males, see Table Q2a in the Appendix on Page 9. Using the standard normal cumulative probability table in the Appendix, calculate his percentile value based on Table Q2a in the Appendix. You may assume that all his body proportions correspond to that of his stature.

(b) Tim uses specialized equipment to heat and melt the material at the joint, causing the material to fuse once it cools. Tim spends approximately 3 hours welding every day. The current work surface that TUV has is 1.1 m high.

Apply appropriate anthropometric design techniques to analyse the compatibility between Tim and the work surface. Show your calculations clearly. State the anthropometric measurements used in your analysis precisely. Illustrate with diagram(s). Discuss if the work surface will be comfortable for Tim. (Note: no marks will be awarded for calculations that only show numeric numbers without providing proper name of the anthropometric dimensions (e.g. knee height) or item dimensions (e.g. surface height) involved.)

(c) TUV runs another welding facility at XYZ Land. At XYZ Land, TUV had limited resources and only have the stature anthropometric data. The mean is 1.65 m and SD is 5.3 cm. Applying the RASH method, calculate the mean and SD of the elbow height of the population at XYZ Land.

Question 3

(a) You are planning to buy a sit-stand desk for your home, see Figure Q3a. As a group, determine the anthropometry dimensions that are critical for the purchase. Illustrate the key considerations and steps.

(b) Do Question 3(b) independently and not as a group. Marks are awarded to individuals. Append your individual work as an appendix with your name as the title of the appendix.

Building on your discussion in Question 3(a), take anthropometric measurements that are critical for the purchase of the sit-stand desk for your home. Apply your anthropometric measurements to find a sit-stand desk that meets your needs. Include photos of the product and discuss if it meets the needs of your family.

(c) As a group, reflect on this design for adjustability exercise. What are the key lessons learnt? What did you discover about variability in people? What did you discover about the use of anthropometry in your environment?

Question 4

(a) The artefact in Figure Q4a is placed at the entrance of Tai Seng MRT. On rainy days, commuters can swipe their umbrella up and down several times between the two layers to wipe off the rain. Examine how this artefact increases safety at the train station.

(b) Pick an organization that a member in your team works in. As a group, identify an artefact deployed in public spaces that you can propose to the organisation to improve workplace safety and/or health.

(i) Attach a photo or drawing of the artefact
(ii) Explain how this artefact would improve the safety and/or health of employees at the selected workplace. Relate its application to the nature of the workplace.

(c) There is a chance that the CEO of the organisation would disagree with your recommendation. What might this disagreement be?

Refer to your iStudy Guide (iSG) Study Unit 1 to Study Unit 3 to generate information that the team can collect to justify your recommendation. You need not collect the evidences. Briefly describe the evidence and how you plan to collect.