FINAL REPORT 31 OCTOBER 1977 ANTHROPOMETRY AND BIOMECHANICS OF SELECTED ...

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FINAL REPORT
31 OCTOBER 1977
ANTHROPOMETRY AND
BIOMECHANICS OF
SELECTED POPULATIONS
Prepared for:
APPALACHIAN LABORATORY OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE
944 CHESTNUT RIDGE ROAD
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA 26505
CONTRACT NO. 77-1 212 6

Tuhnical Rcporc Docurntotion Page
I. Rmport No. I.G oremmt Acc*ss~onN o. 3. Reopamt'r Cotolog No. 1
UM-HSRI-77-52
4. To11e and Subtitle 5. Rrport 01 ..
Anthropometry and Biomechanics of
Selected Populations
J
I 8. Perfom~ngO rgm~to(~oRne port No.
7 Authdr)
Snyder, Richard G. UM-HSRI-77-52
I I1
9. Prkming Orga~xsttonN r* md Address , 10. rod Un~Nt o. (TRAIS)
Highway Safety Research Institute
The Uni versi ty of Mic hi gan 11. tontrocr or Gent NO.
77-12126
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
' TIP* of #.pert ond Period Coverod
12. &soring Agency nmo md A ~ ~ S S Final
National Institute for Occupational
23 June 1977-31 Oct ,1977
Safety and Health
944 Chestnut Ridge-Road 14. banrering Agoney code
Morgantown, West V~rginia 26505 N IOSH
IS. Suppl.mmtay Notes
I
1 16. Abstract -- -
This study reviews the limited 1i t erature and data available
relative to anthropometry and biomechanical aspects of human factors,
range of motion, strength,and kinematics o f the body under different
working conditions for selected U .So civ i1 populations. Particular
emphasis i s on the capability o f the female, pregnant women, the handi-
capped or disabled (amputee, paraplegic, left-handed), obese, and the
elderly to safely perform occupational tasks. Recommendations based
upon evaluation of the 1i terature are provided relative to future research
needs and priorities.
17. Key Words 10. Oiskibrtim Stotnmt
Anthropometry Amputees
Ergonomics Parapl egi cs/Quadr ip le g' cs Unl imit ed
Hand1 capped Obese Human Factors
Disabl ed Elderly Range o f Motion
eft-handed Strength Pregnant
19. SrcuAty Classit. (of this nrrt) a. korrity Classil. (of rhis peg4 21. No. of Paws 22. Price 1
Unclassified Unclassified
I 1 1 I 1
Form DOT F 1760.7 (8-721
Rwrobctim of -led poge oudmrixd
7 C. 5. GOVERh'MEh? PRIh7nC OFFICE lq73 '25-50~/12a
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Assistance in compil ing the reference materials reviewed was provided
by Elaine Umholtz of the Biomedical Department and Ann Grimm of the HSRI
library staff, and secretarial assistance by Beverly Creviston. The author
,is particularly indebted to Dr. John T. McConvil le, Webb Associates, Ye1 low
Springs, Ohio; Dr. Lloyd L. Laubach, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio;
Dr. Howard W. Stoudt, Michigan State University, East Lansing; Dr. Don
Chaffin, The University of Michigan; Dr. J.S. Ward, Institute for Consumer
Ergonomics, Ltd. , University of Technology, Loughborough, U .K., and the
numerous other colleagues who generously shared pertinent papers and/or
suggested further potential sources of information.
CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONTENTS iii
I. CONCLUSIONS 1
II . OBJECTIVES 5
METHODS 6
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 8
.
1 PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED OR DISABLED 8
(a) Amputees 11
(b) Parapl egics/Quadriple gics 13
(c) The Left-handed 15
2. FEMALES 17
(a) Elderly 29
(b) Pregnant 32
ELDERLY MALES 36
THE OBESE 3 7
V. FUTURE RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS AND PRIORITIES 38
APPENDIX A. Anthropometry 3 9
Human Factors
C. Range of Motion and Body Kinematics 5 3
D. Strength 56
iii
I. CONCLUSIONS
,
The physically handicapped (amputees, paraplegics, and the 1e ft-handed)
the female, elderly femal e, pregnant female, and the elderly male, as we1 1
as the obese male and female, represent significant sub-populations. Review
of the literature relative to the anthropometry, strength, biomechanics, range-
of-motion, and human factors of these groups clearly indicate that l i t t l e atten-
tion has been focused on them i n the past, and that basic information relative
to their specialized requirements i n the occupational environment i s quite 1i mit ed.
1. The Physical l y Handicapped
.Nearly one out o f every four Americans has a disability of some type. Job
demands i n rehabil it ation of the physical ly handicapped require assessment of
range of motion, anthropometry , workspace human factors, strength capabil it y,
and biomechanics considerations.
.While a number of studies have been addressed to the handicapped wheelchair
user, human factors requirements for the disabled have only received limited
attention i n the areas of access to public buildings and mass transit systems.
Current air transport aircraft are not equipped nor arranged to accommodate the
handicapped; 75% of the non-ambulatory handicapped were unable to reach an exit
i n time i n a 1977 test. Concepts for accommodation of the handicapped and
elderly i n buses have been under serious study only during the past two years.
Similarly the development o f techniques to assess the driving capabilities of
disabled persons, the evaluation and testing of adaptive devices, and design
performance and safety guide1 ines requirements are only now being studied i n
an initial federal program. No work i s being conducted i n anthropometry,
strength capabilities, range of motion, or biomechanics requirements of the
disabled driver at the present time.
.Amputee abi 1i t y to steer and brake commercial vehicles was reported i n a
1968 study which found that-lower extremity amputees required a longer time to
operate the brakes and above-the-knee amputees were generally unsuccessful i n
operating pedals with the impaired limb. This pioneering effort should be
expanded to consider the occupants' workspace and control problems i n current
and future vehicles and also to consider female drivers.
.An excel 1e nt anthropometric study of ma1 e parapl egi cslquadri ple gics has
been undertaken at the University of Melbourne, Australia i n 1973-75,due to
concern that the guadraplegic population could not be employed at meaningful
occupations. Range of motion as we1 1 as biomechanics with reference to the
wheelchair was also studied. However, it should be determined to what extent
these data may apply to American males. There appears to be complete lack of
information on female parapl egics/quadripl egi cs.
.\hi1 e not generally considered "Handicapped ," some 22 m i l li on left-handed
individuals i n the U.S. are attempting to adapt to various ocdupational
tasks designed for right-handed individuals. Review of the 1i t erature shows that
the 1e ft-handed individual has been virtual l y ignored in most human engineering
.
design hand books
2. The Female Worker
.There has been a recent shift of millions o f women into the labor force,
increasing by 1.6 million alone i n 1976. Women make up two-fifths of the entire
labor force and it i s estimated that nearly 50% o f the U.S. female population
is either employed or seeking work. However, a1 though the female represents
about 52% of the current U.S. population, she is grossly under-represented in
studies of biomechanical and human factors aspects of the occupational environ-
ment and very 1i t tl e attention has been given toHwomen-machine" problems.
The strength 1i t erature for females i s not extensive. Where comparative
studies have been conducted, most often young college women make up the
female subject pool. Even i n specific areas where good studies have been
conducted, such as the grasping reach of women, the subjects have been young
college women. Such subjects cannot be considered as representative of the
general female populations, and often are not representative of particular
occupational requirements. A 1a rge proportion of the publ ished studies of
female industrial workers has been conducted i n foreign countries. A1 though
females operate a1 1 types of vehicles requiring seated pedal operation, almost
all studies of seated forces applied to a pedal have utilized male subjects.
No publ ished data have been located for push forces for the female standing subject,
There i s a genera1 lack o f biomechanical data relative to the female, most studies
having been conducted with ma1 e subjects.
.A1 though there appears to be no comparable civilian study, one study of
m i li t ary women employed i n maintenance, electronics, and civil engineering areas
found a significant number of problems relative to adapting females to tools,
equipment, clothing, and workspace designed primarily for males. A review of
female anthropometry shows that while there have been two recent comprehensive
military studies of females, the most representative civil data available i s the
HEW Public Health Examination Survey report o f 1Q5. However, this included only
12 1i near measurements and six additional measures (compared to the 137-1 51 meausres
routinely obtained i n mil itary survey). Thus quite 1i mit ed anthropometry
on the U.S. Civil female is available. An example of the problem manufacturers have
with the lack of adequate dimensional information i s provided by one chain
i n the garment industry alone,which estimated economic losses of $200,000 i n 1976
due to incorrect sizing,
3. The Elderly Female
There have been almost no biomechanical, range-of-motion, strength, or human
factors studies of the elderly female. Most anthropological studies of the elderly
female have been conducted outside the U.S.,with the HEW Health Examination Survey
providing 18 measures for 378 females between age 65-79. Other than these limited
data, further published anthropometry for the U.S. elderly female is not available.
4. The Pregnant Female
.The pregnant femal e encounters numerous occupational problems, whether she
is driving a car, sitting at a desk, or working at a bench. Recently
1 imi ted attention has been given to some of these problems, with a 1976 report
to NIOSH by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists addressing
some health and work environment questions. Independent posture/workbench
(Chaffin 1975) and lifting load (Garg, 1976) studies have also contributed to
our limited knowledge. No anthropometry, range of motion, or biomechanics
studies of the pregnant female were found, and strength and human factors
considerations appear to be limited to the several noted.
5. Elderly Males
-Elderly males have seldom been studied as a population. Most male anthro-
pometry ,especial ly mi 1 i tary studies, has been conducted on younger age ranges.
The most generally applicable data for the civilian elderly male is that taken
on 265 males from age 65 to 74, and 72 males from age 75-79, for a total of
only 18 measurements, in the HEW Health Examination Survey of 1959-1962, a
population of 16-19 years ago. A more recent study by the author did utilize
some male and female subjects to age 75, for neck range of motion, strength,
and 48 anthropometry measures, but these data are unpublished. Biomechanics,
range of motion, and strength studies involving the elderly are extremely
1 imi ted.
6. The Obese
There appears to be no comparabl e studies of the biomechanics , anthropometry ,
strength, range-of-motion, or human factors considerations of the obese, relative
to occupational environments.
4
11. OBJECTIVES
The purpose o f this study was to conduct the following tasks:
1. Review o f the current state-of-the-art which may be appl icable
to the occupational setting.
2. Determine what currently available data are directly applicable
to the occupational safety setting.
3. Identify major research gaps which must be filled by various levels
of research effort specific to the occupational safety setting.
4, Prioritize the research gaps found, if any.
5. Include, as an appendix to the report, a comprehensive l i s t of
appl icabl e references.