This book focuses exclusively on ergonomics in the design and use of hand tools. Hand tools have been an integral supplement to the human hand since the beginning of civilization. Recently, they have been pinpointed as a prominent cause of workplace disease. Cumulative Trauma Disorders such as Tendonitus, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and Raynaud's Syndrome are caused by the specialization of motion employed when using a screw driver, the shock to the hand and wrist when a hammer strikes a nail, or the vibration of a power saw. Ergonomics and Safety in Hand Tool Design explores the relationship between Biomechanics, Safety, and Ergonomics allowing the reader to recognize, evaluate, and control ergonomic risk factors and improve hand tool design. After a history of hand tool use and design, the book is broken down by the various disciplines as they apply to hand tools, taking a broad approach. The author gives special attention to safe design and use, illustrated with detailed diagrams. The text serves as a guide to the human factors in safety and ergonomics for safety professionals.

A complete introduction to the field, Ergonomics: Foundational Principles, Applications and Technologies discusses scientific principles, research, applications, and emerging trends in technology. Covering the foundational principles and major topics in physical ergonomics, the book contains the necessary components of a quality ergonomics course, including a sample course syllabus, PowerPoint slides for instructors and students, homework assignments, class projects, instructor’s manual, suggested lab equipment, proposed lab exercises, and a student laboratory manual. Based on the author’s almost two decades of teaching, the text covers basic ergonomic principles from research and application perspectives. It includes hands-on laboratory activities to complement classroom instruction and cases studies that demonstrate application of ergonomic knowledge. Using an approach that highlights the physical over the cognitive, the author focuses less on kinesiology principles and more on applied kinesiology in ergonomics. Provides a basic explanation of the systems of the body to establish a foundation for understanding and consistently applying ergonomic principles Covers the human senses and the sensory process for each, including tools and techniques for assessing sensory impact Explains the functionality, relationship, and elements of the integrated roles of the muscular system and nervous system Introduces the study of anthropometrics and the principles that can be used to support anthropometric design, including data collection, calculation of statistics, and identification of appropriate data sources Examines the basic ergonomic principles of work place design and evaluation of hand tools Discusses the origin, nature, and impact of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in the global community Includes coverage of the concepts of information processing, measurement of mental workload, and an introduction to ergonomic design of controls and displays The book supplies everything required to teach the class. Upon completion of a course using this book, students will be prepared to apply the ergonomic knowledge in industry or continue to higher levels of study in the field. The text builds the foundation students and professionals need to understand and improve the environments, equipment, and systems with which humans interact in the workplace, recreational environment, and home. Description of Instructors Manual Available upon course adoption, the instructor’s manual contains resources to assist in quickly establishing a course layout, schedule, and associated documents. This resource genuinely makes the selection of the text a "turn-key" option for the professor to deliver a high-quality ergonomics course. Sample course syllabus Summary of suggested ergonomic lab equipment Sample course schedule Description of assignments such as student projects and more. Description of Laboratory Manual Available for download from www.crcpress.com, the laboratory manual contains multiple laboratory and application assignments to give student a hands-on experience in applying ergonomic material taught in the classroom lectures. The manual has labs for each of the primary topics covered in the course as well as guidelines on how students are to conduct the laboratories and prepare lab reports. Numerous tables, equations, and examples are provided in the lab manual to facilitate student understanding of the material. The use of the lab manual supports the instructor by providing tailored exercises for students to perform that are directly aligned with the textbook material. Assignments are also provided for students taking the course via distance learning or remote resources.

The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) is currently developing standards for Ergonomic Quality in Design (EQUID) which primarily intends to promote ergonomics principles and the adaptation of a process approach for the development of products, work systems and services. It is important to assess the ergonomic quality of products, hand-held tools and computer input devices through working processes that represent reality. Well-designed working tools can be expected to reduce or eliminate fatigue, discomfort, accidents and health problems and they can lead to improvements in productivity and quality. Furthermore, absenteeism, job turnover and training costs can positively be influenced by the working tools and the environment. Not all these short-term and long-term issues of working tools can be quantified in pragmatically oriented ergonomic research approaches. But multi-channel electromyography, which enables the measurement of the physiological costs of the muscles involved in handling tools during standardized working tests, and subjective assessments of experienced subjects enable a reliable insight in the essential ergonomic criteria of working tools and products. In this respect it is advantageous to provide a test procedure, in which working tests can be carried out alternating both with test objects and reference models.

This book offers practical introduction for anyone to conduct ergonomic evaluation of hand tools to improve their performance, comfort and efficiency.People get used to these unergonomic conditions and encounter even extreme occupational hazards by unknowingly adapting bad postures in their normal work cycle. This book is an attempt to successful application of ergonomic principles to overcome the hazardous features of hand tools. The case analysis undertaken with a special reference to kitchen tools is an additional asset of this book which in detail explains all the design flaws in the existing tools and the design features to be incorporated to overcome those flaws leading to enhancement of user's safety, comfort and efficiency. The book includes multiparametric ergonomic analysis of hand tools emphasizing the biomechanical, anthropometric and psychological aspects providing greater knowledge about qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation techniques. The techniques are explained in detail to enable any ergonomic professional designing to take up work on hand tools.This book provides valuable professional with technique and useful to the general reading public.