Effects of Localized Muscle Fatigue on Risk of Occupational Slips and Falls

描述（由申请人提供）：与滑倒和跌倒事故相关的伤害继续对工业造成重大负担，无论是在人类痛苦还是经济损失方面。大多数导致受伤和死亡的职业福尔斯跌倒是脚打滑的结果，并且通常由劳动者经历。文献提供了令人信服的论据，局部肌肉疲劳可以破坏来自外围的信号的质量，以在滑动扰动期间进行有效的平衡控制，并增加滑动和福尔斯的风险。尽管政府、劳工和行业组织一直在努力降低与跌倒有关的伤害的风险，但工人仍然广泛暴露于与跌倒事故相关的风险。这些发现证明有必要进行更多的研究，以提供更有效的预防策略和设计标准的工作和工作环境，以减少职业滑倒和跌倒事故。该提案通过实验研究和生物力学建模相结合来满足这一需求。将进行两个实验室实验，以量化局部肌肉疲劳对滑动倾向和平衡恢复的影响。第一个实验将评估在非光滑表面上行走时局部肌肉疲劳对滑动起始过程的影响。远端肢体肌肉（踝跖屈肌、膝伸肌）以及踝、膝和髋关节肌肉的组合将在不同周独立疲劳。此外，地板倾斜度、载荷承载、工作速度（即，速度和年龄将被确定。第二个实验将评估局部肌肉疲劳对平衡恢复过程的影响，这些平衡恢复过程是由在意外光滑的表面上行走引起的。远端肢体肌肉以及近端肌肉（即，下背部）将在不同的星期独立疲劳。地板倾斜度，工作节奏和年龄的影响将被确定。跌倒恢复特性将在扰动和未扰动的脚上进行量化。将开发一个模型，通过量化踝关节、膝关节、髋关节和下背部的关节力矩和力量，来表征扰动和未扰动肢体的平衡控制策略。拟议的工作涉及工作相关创伤性福尔斯背景下的几个诺拉优先领域。主要优先领域是：1）风险评估方法; 2）控制技术; 3）干预效果研究。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Injuries associated with slip and fall accidents continue to pose a significant burden to industry, both in terms of human suffering and economic losses. A majority of occupational falls leading to injuries and deaths are a result of foot slippage and are typically experienced by laborers. The literature provides convincing arguments that localized muscle fatigue can disrupt the quality of the signal from the periphery for effective balance control during slip perturbations, and increase the risk of slips and falls. Although government, labor, and industry organizations have been working to reduce the risks of fall related injuries, workers are still broadly exposed to risks associated with fall accidents. These findings warrant the need for additional studies to provide more effective prevention strategies and design criteria for jobs and working environment to reduce occupational slip and fall accidents. This proposal addresses this need through a combination of experimental studies and biomechanical modeling. Two laboratory experiments will be conducted to quantify the effects of localized muscle fatigue on slip propensity and balance recovery. The first experiment will evaluate the effects of localized muscle fatigue on the slip initiation process while walking over a non-slippery surface. Distal limb muscles (ankle plantarflexors, knee extensors) and a combination of ankle, knee, and hip muscles will be fatigued independently on different weeks. Additionally, the effects of floor inclination, load carriage, work pace (i.e., walking speed) and age will be ascertained. The second experiment will evaluate the effects of localized muscle fatigue on the balance recovery process following slips induced by walking on an unexpectedly slippery surface. Distal limb muscles as well as proximal muscles (i.e., low back) will be fatigued independently on different weeks. The effects of floor inclination, work pace, and age will be ascertained. Fall recovery characteristics will be quantified on both the perturbed and unperturbed foot. A model will be developed to characterize balance control strategies of both perturbed and un-perturbed limbs by quantifying joint moments and power of the ankle, knee, hip, and low back. The proposed work addresses several NORA Priority Areas in the context of work-related traumatic falls. The main Priority Areas are: 1) Risk Assessment Methods; 2) Control Technology; and 3) Intervention Effectiveness Research.