Nélson Bruno Martins Marques da Costa

Study of the School Furniture Adequacy to Students’ Anthropometric Dimensions

The discomfort due to poor sitting posture may be related to the lack of suitability of the furniture. This miss-match is often due to the lack of consideration for ergonomic aspects that ensure the combination of anthropometric dimensions of users with the measures of the furniture. These miss-match situations can also be seen in the student work environment, where students spend a lot of time sitting at a desk. The aim of this study was to evaluate if students, who attend a Portuguese public school of elementary education, 2nd and 3rd cycles, use furniture with measures fitting their anthropometric measurements. For this purpose, the anthropometric measurements of all the students, as well as measurements of all tables and chairs from this school were collected. Taking as reference the European standard 1729-1: 2015, it was verified that 73% of the students don’t find a chair/table compatible with their anthropometric dimensions.

Capturing the Ups and Downs of Accidents’ Figures – The Portuguese Case Study

Nowadays, the need to obey the Portuguese legislation compels the employer to establish a safety management structure within the company that mirrors the legal-binding prevention general principles, patent in the legal framework for the Promotion of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). Moreover, Safety and Health at Work Management System, also evokes the importance of Safety in the current occupational arena in Portugal, where Safety is also a strategic target for companies, not only for image issues but also for the proven benefits of certification. Given this, it would seem logical to assume that the data reporting the number of accidents’ occurrence would naturally diminish in the course of the years. What one observes, however, is that these numbers oscillate, presenting ups and downs throughout the last years. What has happened, then? This article proposes to look within those numbers, describe their behavior and critically analyze them.

Tackling Autonomous Driving Challenges – How the Design of Autonomous Vehicles Is Mirroring Universal Design

In the future, the world will be characterized by highly densely populations, with growing share of mobility-impaired/disabled persons, a critical problem regarding the sustainability of the metropolises, whose resolution may reside in autonomous vehicles. A broader range of users will be allowed a, so far, denied mobility in level 4 and level 5 SAE autonomous vehicles, a goal to be accomplished through Universal Design, a design which intends to be the closest possible to the ideal design. For such purpose, Human Factors and Ergonomics are key. Literature review and research have shown that there is evidence of application of the seven Universal Design principles in these new autonomous vehicles and that, given the nature and purpose of the Universal Design, with the increase of autonomy, there is natural increased evidence of Universal Design. A novel model for interaction of the Universal Design influencers is proposed.

Wellness in Cognitive Workload - A Conceptual Framework

Driving is a highly complex task, comprising over 1600 separate tasks over five behavioural levels. 94% of road accidents occur by human faults. Drivers simultaneously control the vehicle, adjust speed and trajectory, deal with hazards, evaluate progress towards their goal, and make strategic decisions such as navigation. Novel technologies such as active cruise control and active steering are intended as comfort systems for the driver because they are designed to relieve the driver of workload. One could go further and imagine whether cars could be created so as to get to know their user and use that knowledge to recognise the user and be more safe. A cooperative driving leads to automotive systems with impacts on mental workload. Of particular concern in this study are the twofold areas. On the one hand the personalization of the car to the user and on the other, its customization. Using the principles of cognitive ergonomics, the main purpose is to allow more features to people, whilst providing comfort and trust in the human machine interface which (1) diagnoses the driver’s state and uses additional monitoring devices (2) to provide feedback about driver´s behaviour as well as awareness and wellness.

Driving workload indicators: the case of senior drivers

The automotive industry is currently focused in the goal of developing advanced autonomous driving systems (ADAS) and its supporting technologies. A main condition for achieving this goal is to ensure drivers’ safety and comfort during the ride. The driving task is often described as complex and dynamic and can be considered as the single most risky task that the individual has to perform on a daily basis. Since the mean age of the population in industrialized countries is gradually increasing, one of the ADAS objective is to enhance mobility of seniors by easing the task of driving to levels with which they are able to comply. This paper aimed at researching present key workload indicators that can be used by the car autonomous driving systems to establish the more efficient means to keep the senior drivers informed about the driving task and surrounding environment, allowing them to benefit from other entertainment applications and safely resume the driving task.

Global City: Index for Industry Sustainable Development

Nowadays, discussion on global cities concept is been addressed at a European level. The concept is a consequence of the array of globalization processes, adding different analysis layers according to social, economic and environmental requirements, such as, cultural, user-friendly and amenity, assessable, sharing, energy, smart, green or city factory age-friendly cities and communities. Cities should also be analyzed as working systems, with the same needs and requirements in terms of safety and well-being that are considered for other systems. Taking this into consideration, the goal of being a Global City should also comprise the so-called occupational layer. Therefore, it is important, within a city context, to define indicators for Sustainability regarding the occupational Layer. This paper aims to develop a methodology helping cities, at a local level, to define an Index for Industry Sustainable development contributing for the global city model.

Cytotoxic Drug Manipulation and Its Impact on Occupational Safety of Hospital Workers

In order to study environmental contamination by cytostatic drugs in a Portuguese hospital two wipe sampling campaigns were conducted in 2010 (12 samples) and 2015 (44 samples). Platinum containing drugs and fluorouracil were chosen because both were administered in high amounts. The detection limit was 0.01 pg/cm2 for platinum and 0.1 pg/cm2 for fluorouracil. The detected contamination on specific locations in the pharmacy and in the day hospital was higher in 2010. More detailed sampling in 2015 confirmed that optimization of working procedures and introduction of closed transfer system resulted in lower contamination by platinum drugs and fluorouracil. But there is still a need for continuing those processes.