Beyond the Ergonomics Program: Applying Gamification for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders.

拟议的研究计划旨在通过使用先进技术来开发一种创新，有趣和创造性的工作场所安全方法，以减少工作场所与工作相关的肌肉骨骼疾病（WMSDs）的风险因素，从而改善工人的福祉。游戏化，在非游戏环境中使用游戏元素和游戏设计技术，激励人们增加参与和参与，甚至可以推动行为朝着预定义的目标发展。WMSD是人因工程学和人机工程学中最重要和最常见的课题之一。虽然已经进行了许多尝试来管理WMSD问题，包括改变工作方法和使用个人防护设备和工程重新设计，但WMSD仍然是世界各地工人中最普遍和最常见的残疾原因。这些疾病造成巨大的人类痛苦和损失，也带来高昂的经济代价。众所周知，WMSD主要是由工人的不安全行为和/或不安全的工作条件引起的，包括姿势和动作、工作的重复性和速度、动作的力量、振动、温度等。因此，激励雇主和雇员改变工人的行为和环境以创造更安全的工作条件，从而减少WMSD的危险因素至关重要。在这种情况下，游戏化可以成为预防工伤的一种有前途的工具，因为它是一种有趣的体验，本质上也是一种激励，甚至是长期激励。因此，本研究计划将回答以下问题：（1）从心理和生理角度来看，游戏化如何在人类动机中发挥作用？(2)如何开发一个符合人体工程学的游戏化系统，激励雇主和员工成为自愿和积极的参与者，以有趣，创造性和创新的方式创造更安全的工作场所行为？以及（3）我们如何在工业环境中应用和验证人机工程游戏化的效果？拟议的研究计划的结果将不仅有助于开发一种新的方法来解决WMSDs的普遍问题，而且还通过为非专家游戏设计师提供游戏化设计框架来扩展游戏化研究领域，从而促进在其他领域的未来研究中使用游戏化。最后，拟议的研究计划将有利于加拿大的私营和公共部门，提高工人的绩效和提高工人的满意度，从而有助于工作场所的安全文化。

The proposed research program aims to improve the wellbeing of the worker by using advanced technology to develop an innovative, fun, and creative approach to workplace safety in order to reduce the risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in the workplace. Gamification, the use of game elements and game-design techniques in non-game contexts, motivates people to increase engagement and participation, and can even drive behavior toward predefined objectives. WMSDs constitute one of the most important and common topics of human factors and ergonomics. Although numerous attempts have been conducted to manage the problem of WMSDs, including changing work methods and employing personal protective equipment and engineering redesigns, WMSDs still remain the most prevalent and most common cause of disability among workers worldwide. These disorders cause great human suffering and loss and also carry a high economic cost. It is well known that WMSDs result mainly from unsafe behaviors in workers and/or unsafe working conditions, including postures and movements, repetitiveness and pace of work, force of movements, vibration, temperature and so on. Therefore, it is crucial to motivate both employers and employees to modify workers' behavior and environment in order to produce safer working conditions, thereby reducing the risk factors of WMSDs. In this context, gamification can be a promising tool in the effort to prevent workplace injuries based on its nature as a playful experience that is also intrinsically motivating, even to the point of long-term motivation. Thus, this research program will answer the following questions: (1) How does gamification play a role in human motivation from both psychological and physiological perspectives? (2) How can an ergonomic gamification system be developed in which both employer and employee are motivated to become voluntary and active participants in creating safer workplace behaviors in fun, creative and innovative ways? and (3) How can we apply and validate the effect of ergonomic gamification in an industry setting? The outcomes of the proposed research program will contribute not only to developing a new approach to solving the prevalent problem of WMSDs, but also to extending the domain of gamification research by providing a gamification design framework for non-expert game designers, thereby facilitating the use of gamification in future studies in other domains. Finally, the proposed research program will benefit Canadian private and public sectors by improving worker performance and increasing worker satisfaction, thereby contributing to a culture of workplace safety.