Ergonomic Assessment for Manual Materials Handling of Livestock Feed by Elderly Farmers in Korea

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Kyung-Ran Kim,Hye-Seon Chae,Sungwoo Kim 대한인간공학회 2015 大韓人間工學會誌 Vol.34 No.3

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate appropriate weight for aged farmers in manually handling livestock feed in bags using ergonomic methods. Background: In the livestock industry in South Korea, despite the trend of aging of labor manpower, heavy items are still manually handled in many farms. In particular, among stockbreeding works, the handling of feed in bags weighing 25~30kg is reported as a cause of frequent injuries and musculoskeletal system diseases. However, studies on the standard for recommended weight allowed considering the physical characteristics of aged farmers older than 60 years with greatly decreased physical strength and muscle strength are insufficient. Method: To evaluate appropriate weight for handling of heavy livestock feed in bags, physical techniques for measuring recognized levels of physical work loads, the NLE (NIOSH lifting equation) a method that is an observation type technique, and an ergonomic modeling technique to predict compressive force imposed on L5/S1 were used. Subjects who participated in the experiment were organized into two groups of males/females with mean age exceeding 60 years, and lifting tasks were evaluated for nine weight levels. Results: Based on the results of psychophysical measurement, females showed a tendency of more drastic increases compared to males when weight was over 19kg. The results of estimation of regression models for the weight, 18.0 kg (r²=0.97) and 15.3kg (r²=0.97) were evaluated as stable load for males and females, respectively. In addition, both the observation type evaluation and ergonomic model evaluation showed stable loads in a range of 15~18kg. Conclusion: Given the results of the study, the weight of the feed in bags currently distributed to farms can become a cause of not only overexertion but also farm work related disasters such as musculoskeletal disorders and safety accidents. Providing livestock feed in bags weighing not more than 19kg for aged farmers is judged desirable, and managerial improvement for this matter is considered necessary. Application: The results of the present study can be utilized as useful data for institutional improvement of the weight of livestock feed in bags.

Design of ICT-based Agricultural Safety Monitoring System Models

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Hye-Seon Chae,Min-Tea Seo 대한인간공학회 2016 大韓人間工學會誌 Vol.35 No.4

Objective: This study carried out base research to build an agricultural safety monitoring system through ICT convergence to reduce safety accidents and enhance welfare in life in the agricultural field. Background: The functions and values of rural villages as the space of living are recognized anew, but occupational accident rate due to farm work accidents is on the rise each year. Therefore, the seriousness of such a problem emerges. The convergence technology combining ICT is recently applied to industries overall, and therefore better services are offered. However, studies on ICT convergence has not yet been applied to the agricultural safety field. Method: This study identified ICT convergence service technology trends and representative serious accident types mainly occurring in agricultural activities. This study defined the major factors of farm work accidents and ICT to solve those accident factors including the sensor technology, wired/wireless communication technology and location information service, and applied them to prototype PCB for the development of an agricultural safety monitoring system. Results: This study proposed an emergency monitoring system for farmers and a harmful environment monitoring system. The ICT technology to prevent farm work accidents can be summarized as sensing technology, ICT and network technology and user interface technology. This study also designed PCB module configuration and situation judgment algorithm as basic research for proposed monitoring system development. Conclusion: The ICT-based agricultural safety monitoring research proposed in this study is expected to become the basis to build a future real time monitoring system, and also is expected to contribute to social safety and welfare service improvement for farmers. Application: The ICT convergence farmer accident prevention system will make contributions to the prevention of serious farm work accidents.

The Development and Ergonomic Evaluation of Work Clothes for Stock Farming Worker

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Min-Tae Seo,Hye-Seon Chae,Kyung-Su Kim,Dong-Phil Choi 대한인간공학회 2016 대한인간공학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2016 No.06

Objective: 본 연구에서는 축산 작업환경 개선을 목적으로 작업복을 개발하고, 인간공학적 평가를 수행하였다. Background: 최근 국내 축산업은 대규모화가 진행되고 있으나 유기분진, 유해가스, 온열 스트레스 등의 작업환경에 노출되어 개인위생 및 안전에 취약한 것으로 조사되었다. 특히 의복의 경우 헌옷과 일상복을 작업복 대신 착용하고 있어 신체보호를 보호하고 쾌적한 작업이 가능한 축산 전용작업복에 대한 개발이 요구된다. Method: 축산 작업복 설계를 위해 축산(한돈, 한우, 양계) 작업장의 안전보건실태 조사를 수행하였고, 이를 기반으로 개발된 작업복에 대하여 착의 관능 평가 및 생리적 반응 실험을 수행하였다. Results: 실험 분석결과, 개발된 작업복은 신체활동에 비교적 만족스러운 수준을 확인 할 수 있었고, 기존의 작업복 대비 의복내 온습도, 심박수, 산소섭취량, 착용감각이 높은 것으로 나타났다. Conclusion: 본 연구를 통해 개발된 축산 작업복이 기존의 작업복 보다 착용성 및 쾌적성이 향상된 것을 확인 할 수 있었다. 향후 현장적용평가를 통해 농작업 환경에 보다 적합한 작업복 개발이 진행되어야 할 것이다. Application: 본 연구결과는 농작업자 의복설계 분야에 활용될 수 있을 것으로 기대된다.

Safe Weight Assessment in Manual Materials Handling Livestock Feed Using Response Bias

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Hye-Seon Chae,Kyung-Su Kim,Dong-Phil Choi,Hyo-Cher Kim 대한인간공학회 2016 대한인간공학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2016 No.11

Objective: 본 연구는 신호탐지이론(Signal Detection Theory; SDT)을 적용하여 60대 이상의 고령 농업인의 사료포대 들기작업에 대한 심리적 안전하중을 평가하였다. Background: 최근 고령의 농업인의 증가에도 불구하고 농작업에서 취급하는 중량물 대한 권고표준무게는 50세 이상까지 제시되어 고령자에 적합한 무게기준은 없는 실정이다. 이에 인간공학적 평가를 통한 고령 농업인의 안전하중 제시가 요구된다. Method: 남녀 2개 그룹이 실험에 참여하여 7개의 표준무게에 대하여 각 9개 수준의 비교무게에 대한 들기작업을 수행하였다. 측정된 데이터는 선택반응 결과와 Borg’s CR-10 Scale로 분석하였다. Results: 실험결과, 민감도 지수(d")에 대한 회귀모형 추정결과 남자: 22.6kg, 여자: 21.4kg을 예측할 수 있었고, 반응기준(c) 분석결과 C=0이 되는 지점은 남자: 24.1kg, 여자: 23.3kg으로 가벼운 무게(c<0)에서 모험적(Liberal)인 반응을 보였고, 무겁다고 판단되는 무게(c<0) 에서는 보수적(Conservative)인 반응편향을 보였다. 이 결과는 Borg’s CR-10 Scale 측정 결과와 거의 일치하였다 Conclusion: 본 연구를 통해 들기작업 평가에 STD 적용 가능성을 확인할 수 있었고, 반응편향 확률값을 이용하여 심물리학적 변화량에 대한 예측 가능이 가능하였다. Application: 본 연구결과는 60세 이상이 고령 농업인을 위한 안전중량 제시에 활용 가능할 것으로 보인다.

Safe Weight Assessment in Manual Materials Handling Livestock Feed Using JND for Elderly Farmers

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Hye-Seon Chae,Kyung-Su Kim,Dong-Phil Choi 대한인간공학회 2016 대한인간공학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2016 No.06

Objective: In this study, an evaluation using just noticeable difference (JND) was performed to estimate a safe weight in livestock feed sack lifting among the manual materials handling (MMH) tasks performed by elderly farmers. Background: Since there is not a recommendation about weight handling despite the increase of the number of elderly farmers, they may be easily exposed to the risk factors of musculoskeletal diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to suggest a safety weight for weight handling. Method: Two groups of subjects consisting of male farmers and female farmers, respectively, participated in the experiment. The subjects performed lifting task with nine different levels of comparative weights with respect to seven standard weights. The measurement results were analyzed on the basis of JND and the Borg’s scale. Results: The JND evaluation showed a significant difference depending on the weight levels (p< .001). The regression model-based estimation showed that the maximum load was 20.69 kg in the male farmers and 20.08 kg in the female farmers. This result was consistent with the result based on the Borg’s scale. Conclusion: The present study showed that JND is applicable to the evaluation of lifting task, particularly, enabling to estimate the psychophysical change with respect to physical work load. Application: The result of the present study may be used to provide a recommendation of allowable weight load for elderly farmers.

Ergonomic Interventions to Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders incurred by the Weight Lifting Tasks in Livestock Feed Manual Material Handling

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Ran Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Hye-Seon Chae,Sungwoo Kim 대한인간공학회 2014 대한인간공학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2014 No.5

This study performs evaluation for manual materials handling (MMH) by ergonomic risk factors in handling livestock feed to prevent musculoskeletal disorders of the farmers, in order to reduce farmers’ accidents and improve the quality of life. Thus, the analysis of study was conducted based on the observation evaluation model, which is ergonomic analytic technique, and psychophysics evaluation model mainly on the heavy weight lifting work related to handling of livestock feed. As a result, the lifting index (LI) distribution of physical load degree, NIOSH lifting equation (NLE), was found to be around 2.0-5.0, which is risk high level for the workers. As for the psychophysics Borg’s rating of perceived exertion (RPE) analysis, slight uncomfortable degree was observed throughout the whole body, as in the neck, back, and leg, whereas arm, hand, and spine showed high level of uncomfortable degree. This result signifies the fact that the recommended weight (kg) for adequate heavy weight and the actual heavy weight handling work that farmers experience in the aging farming environment have disparity. The study is meaningful in that it provides practical alternative to lifting work during livestock feed handling through ergonomic analysis as well as the baseline data for institutionally setting safety criteria for farming work.

Ergonomic Interventions to Prevent Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders incurred by the Weight Lifting Tasks in Livestock Feed Manual Material Handling

( Insoo Kim ),( Kyung Ran Kim ),( Kyung Suk Lee ),( Hye Seon Chae ),( Sungwoo Kim ) 한국감성과학회 2014 춘계학술대회 Vol.2014 No.-

The aim of the current study was to develop a new coding method for smart devices. Though the grasp posture can be regarded as a static gesture, there are few studies on grasp coding methods compared to those on gesture coding methods. By integrating and extending previous studies, we suggested a new coding method that simultaneously considers ``hand information`` and ``object information``. The proposed new grasp coding method can effectively describe various types of grasp postures by using a 26 x 8 matrix per hand, hence can be used to develop PUIs (Physical User Interfaces) for various products including smart phones

Vitamin D-Cathelicidin Axis: at the Crossroads between Protective Immunity and Pathological Inflammation during Infection

Chae Uk Chung,Prashanta Silwal,Insoo Kim,Robert L. Modlin,조은경 대한면역학회 2020 Immune Network Vol.20 No.2

Vitamin D signaling plays an essential role in innate defense against intracellular microorganisms via the generation of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin. In addition to directly binding to and killing a range of pathogens, cathelicidin acts as a secondary messenger driving vitamin D-mediated inflammation during infection. Recent studies have elucidated the biological and clinical functions of cathelicidin in the context of vitamin D signaling. The vitamin D-cathelicidin axis is involved in the activation of autophagy, which enhances antimicrobial effects against diverse pathogens. Vitamin D studies have also revealed positive and negative regulatory effects of cathelicidin on inflammatory responses to pathogenic stimuli. Diverse innate and adaptive immune signals crosstalk with functional vitamin D receptor signals to enhance the role of cathelicidin action in cell-autonomous effector systems. In this review, we discuss recent findings that demonstrate how the vitamin D-cathelicidin pathway regulates autophagy machinery, protective immune defenses, and inflammation, and contributes to immune cooperation between innate and adaptive immunity. Understanding how the vitamin D-cathelicidin axis operates in the host response to infection will create opportunities for the development of new therapeutic approaches against a variety of infectious diseases.

Development and Ergonomic Evaluation of Spring and Autumn Working Clothes for Livestock Farming Workers

Insoo Kim,Kyung-Suk Lee,Min-Tea Seo,Hye-Seon Chae,Kyung-Su Kim,Dong-Phil Choi,Hyo-Cher Kim 대한인간공학회 2016 大韓人間工學會誌 Vol.35 No.5

Objective:In this study, we designed working clothes for livestock farmers to wear in spring and autumn to improve their work efficiency, conducted a physiological test on their performance, and evaluated their comfort. Background: In recent years, livestock farming in Korea has expanded, yet farmers" safety and sanitation levels remain low in hazardous environments that include organic dust, toxic gas, and heat stress, as well as the risk of accidents. Furthermore, most livestock farmers wear ordinary or dust-resistant clothes that are unsuitable for rearing livestock and compromise their safety and health. Thus, it is important to design specialized working clothes for livestock farmers that are comfortable and that minimize their health and safety risks. Method: To this end, we examined the literature on livestock (poultry, swine, and cattle) farmers" safety and sanitation issues, designed appropriate working clothes, and tested them in terms of sensory feel, physiological response, and subjective comfort. Results: The respondents expressed satisfaction with the new working clothes. The results of a physiological test showed a decline in temperature and humidity inside the clothes, a lower pulse rate, and a lower oxygen intake compared to the measurements taken when famers wore their previous working clothes. This indicates a fall in heat stress and fatigue, which was mostly consistent with the results of the assessment of subjective comfort. Conclusion: The results of the analysis show an improvement in the comfort of the new working clothes compared to the dust-resistant clothes that are widely worn. Based on this study, the new working clothes need to be further tested and evaluated to improve the design. Application: This study is expected to contribute to designing better working clothes for livestock farmers.

한우 사육자 작업환경 및 작업복과 보호구 착용 실태 분석

김인수(Insoo Kim),이경숙(Kyung-Suk Lee),채혜선(Hye-Seon Chae),김경수(Kyungsu Kim),최동필(Dong-Phil Choi),김효철(Hyo-Cher Kim) 한국지역사회생활과학회 2016 한국지역사회생활과학회지 Vol.27 No.4