An analysis of the forces required to drag sheep over various surfaces
- Authors: Harvey, Jack , Culvenor, John , Payne, Warren , Cowley, Stephen , Lawrance, Michael , Stuart, David , Williams, Robyn
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Applied Ergonomics Vol. 33, no. 6 (Nov 2002), p. 523-531
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- Description: Some occupational health and safety hazards associated with sheep shearing are related to shearing shed design. One aspect is the floor of the catching pen, from which sheep are caught and dragged to the shearing workstation. Floors can be constructed from various materials, and may be level or gently sloping. An experiment was conducted using eight experienced shearers as participants to measure the force exerted by a shearer when dragging a sheep. Results showed that significant changes in mean dragging force occurred with changes in both surface texture and slope. The mean dragging forces for different floor textures and slopes ranged from 359 N (36.6 kg) to 423N (43.2 kg), and were close to the maximum acceptable limits for pulling forces for the most capable of males. The best floor tested was a floor sloped at 1:10 constructed of timber battens oriented parallel to the path of the drag, which resulted in a mean dragging force 63.6N (15%) lower than the worst combination.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000244
Effect of a nurse back injury prevention intervention on the rate of injury compensation claims
- Authors: Martin, Peter , Harvey, Jack , Culvenor, John , Payne, Warren
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Safety Research Vol. 40, no. 1 (2009), p. 13-19
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- Description: Problem: This study evaluated the effect of introducing a No Lifting policy on back injuries to nurses, across an entire health care system. Methods: Methods included: analysis of the data for all public health agencies in the Australian state of Victoria; compensation data from the Victorian Workcover Authority; data about workforce and program implementation from a retrospective survey of agencies; longitudinal analysis of standardized workers compensation claim rates for back injuries before, during and after the intervention. Results: A statistically significant decline in back injury claim rates during implementation contrasted with no statistically significant trends within the periods before and after the intervention. A statistically significant reduction occurred in mean quarterly standard back injury claim incidence rates per 1,000 equivalent fulltime nursing staff (EFTNS), representing a 24% reduction in standard back injury claims/1000 EFTNS. Discussion: Ergonomics principles encourage changing the work environment to suit the worker. This approach delivered a significant improvement in the immediate term. Impact of industry: The substantial decline in back injury rates signifies a major improvement in the safety of a critical aspect of the work environment for nurses. © 2009 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd.
Impact of health and safety representative training on concepts of accident causation and prevention
- Authors: Culvenor, John , Cowley, Stephen , Harvey, Jack
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand Vol. 19, no. 3 (2003), p. 279-292
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- Description: In South Australia, health and safety representatives (HSRs) may undertake three levels of training, commencing at basic level, then progressing through advanced level to continuing level. A survey of 1,200 HSRs in SA was conducted to assess their beliefs about accident causation and accident prevention. In regard to accident causation, the survey found that HSRs showed a tendency to favour behavioural causation over workplace environment or systems-type causation. In regard to accident prevention, HSRs at all levels of training had a preference for low-order controls. However, there appears to be some shift in thinking by the time HSRs have completed all levels of training (that is, to the continuing training level), though the thinking of most remains distinctly safe-worker in orientation.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003003020
Reducing the energy cost of dragging sheep during sheep shearing
- Authors: Payne, Warren , Culvenor, John , Lawrance, Michael , Harvey, Jack , Cowley, Stephen , Stuart, David , Williams, Robyn
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Health and Safety - Australia and New Zealand Vol. 18, no. 2 (2002), p. 173-179
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- Description: The task of dragging sheep into position for shearing has been reported by shearers as the most physically demanding and one of the highest injury risk aspects of shearing, particularly with regard to back injury. This study aimed to identify which of the currently used drag paths induced the lowest energy consumption and risk of injury. The drag path with the lowest work economy (oxygen cost per sheep dragged per minute) and highest injury risk is used by left-handed shearers who are shearing from a workstation which is designed for right-handed shearers. Importantly, there were no significant differences in the work economy of the two drag paths which were used most frequently and which involved the lowest injury risk. These data have been used in advocating the adoption of simple shearing shed design solutions to assist in the control of injury risk and energy expenditure in the wool industry.
- Description: 2003000247