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给工业带来巨大的负担，无论是在人的痛苦和经济损失方面。大多数导致伤亡的职业性跌倒是脚部打滑的结果，通常是劳动者经历的。文献提供了令人信服的论据，即局部肌肉疲劳可以扰乱从外周发出的信号的质量，以便在滑行扰动期间进行有效的平衡控制，并增加滑倒和摔倒的风险。尽管政府、劳工和行业组织一直在努力降低与跌倒相关的伤害风险，但工人仍然普遍面临与跌倒事故相关的风险。这些研究结果证明，有必要进行更多研究，为工作和工作环境提供更有效的预防策略和设计标准，以减少职业滑倒和跌倒事故。这项建议通过实验研究和生物力学建模相结合的方式解决了这一需求。将进行两个实验室实验，以量化局部肌肉疲劳对滑行倾向和平衡恢复的影响。第一个实验将评估局部肌肉疲劳对行走在非光滑表面上的滑行起始过程的影响。四肢远端肌肉(踝屈肌、膝关节伸肌)以及踝关节、膝盖和臀部肌肉的组合将在不同的周单独进行疲劳。此外，还将确定地板倾斜、载重、工作速度(即步行速度)和年龄的影响。第二个实验将评估局部肌肉疲劳对因走在出人意料的光滑表面上而导致滑倒后平衡恢复过程的影响。远端肢体肌肉以及近端肌肉(即腰背部)将在不同的周独立地进行疲劳。将确定地板倾斜、工作速度和年龄的影响。受干扰和未受干扰的脚的跌倒恢复特征都将被量化。将开发一个模型，通过量化踝关节、膝盖、臀部和下背部的关节力矩和力量来表征受扰和未受扰肢体的平衡控制策略。拟议的工作涉及与工作有关的创伤性跌倒的几个Nora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.