Overview
Keywords: Fatigue; measurement; ergonomics; quality
Timeline: March 14, 2014
Presenters: Richard Wells, Marcus Yung (PhD student)
Funders: Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD); AUTO21
Project type: Workshop
Sector/Workplace type: All
Themes:
Theme
1
Injury
mechanisms
Theme
2
Risk
factors
Theme
3
Risk
assessment
and
hazard
identification
Background/rationale
Fatigue is a large risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and affects worker performance and quality of work. Many students and researchers are not familiar with its assessment and control. This workshop was put on to fill this gap.
Goals and process
The objectives of the research day were for participants to:
- Become familiar with multiple definitions and manifestations of fatigue and its measurement
- Understand specific issues in the measurement of fatigue in the workplace
- Apply the knowledge to the participant’s research area or project.
12 researchers and 53 students participated in three interactive activities that were interspersed with presentations delivered by CRE-MSD researchers.
Summary
The exercises showed participants that there is no universally accepted definition of fatigue and helped them recognize the complexity of fatigue and its measurement.
Implications for the prevention of MSDs
Knowledge transfer about fatigue to researchers and students might enhance future research for the prevention of MSDs.
Knowledge dissemination
For full summary see the 2014 Research Retreat event page.