ERGONOMIC ASPECTS OF OLDER WORKERS POSTURAL BALANCE

拟议的研究提供了一个实验设计，解决了国家职业研究议程（诺拉）的两个优先领域，即“与工作有关的创伤性伤害”和“处于危险中的特殊人群-老年工人所经历的特殊危险因素的性质和程度”随着美国的老龄化，据预测，到2000年，45岁至64岁的人将至少有5900万。由于强制退休年龄已经取消，老年工人是一种资源的观点正在取代老年工人是一种负担的观点。 因此，需要仔细研究这一新的老年工人队伍，根据一些与工作有关的要求和任务相关的环境风险因素，确定他们的能力和局限性。 因此，本研究将重点调查年龄相关的影响的作用，对113名工人的神经肌肉性能和能力，以保持安全的直立姿势平衡的任务执行过程中，如达到和弯曲拿起物体和步行的重量在不同类型的表面（水平和斜坡表面的已知光滑度）与各种鞋磨损。 这项研究的结果将扩大我们目前的年轻人（21至55岁）数据库。工人的能力和限制，包括75岁以下的老年工人。 基于目前的研究结果，未来的研究可以制定预防跌倒/失去平衡的干预策略：（1）通过改善次优环境条件;（2）通过开发人机工程学解决方案，使工作负荷达到可接受的水平;（3）通过识别在产生滑动/福尔斯中更危险的风险因素的某些组合，以及（4）通过确定是否需要在小于OSHA当前要求的坡道坡度角处设置扶手。目前，在滑坡道上执行任务期间，不存在需要扶手的标准。 拟议研究的结果将提供科学数据，以确定老年工人是否有能力在各种风险因素组合下在斜坡表面上执行任务。

The proposed study provides an experimental design that addresses two of the priority areas of National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), i.e. "Work related traumatic injuries" and "Special population at risk-nature and magnitude of the special risk factors experienced by older workers" With the aging of America, it is projected that in the year 2000 there will be at least 59 million between the ages of 45 and 64 yrs. As mandatory retirement age has been abolished, the view of the older worker as a resource is replacing the perspective of the older workers as a liability. Therefore, this new growing workforce of elderly workers needs to be studied carefully to determine their abilities and limitations in the light of some of the work related demands and task associated and environmental risk factors. Therefore, the present study will focus on investigating the role of age associated influence on 113 workers' neuromuscular performance and ability to maintain safe upright postural balance during task performance, such as reaching and bending to pick up objects and walking with weights in hand on various types of surfaces (level and ramp surfaces of known slipperiness) with various kinds of shoe wear. The results from the proposed study will expand our current data base of younger (21 to 55 yrs.) workers' abilities and limitation to include those of older workers up to the age of 75 years. Based on results of the present study, intervention strategies for fall/loss of balance prevention can be developed in a future study: (1) by improving suboptimal environmental conditions; (2) by developing ergonomic solutions to bring the workload to acceptable levels; (3) by identifying certain combinations of risk factors that are more dangerous in producing slips/falls and (4) by determining if there is a need to have hand rails at ramp slope angles less than that currently required by OSHA. Currently, no criteria exists for the need to have handrails during task performance on ramps which are slippery. The results from the proposed study will provide scientific data to determine whether or not older workers are capable of performing tasks on ramp surfaces under various combinations of risk factors.