Ergonomic design of head gear for use by rural youths in summer

Issue title: Children and Ergonomics, Part 2

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Mukhopadhyay, Prabir

Affiliations: Post Graduate Campus, National Institute of Design, GH-0 Extension Road, Gandhinagar 382007, Gujarat, India. Tel.: +91 79 23244515; Fax: +91 79 23244518; E-mail: prabirdr@gmail.com, prabir@nid.edu

Abstract: Two low cost ergonomically designed types of headgear were fabricated for youths working outdoor or exposed to the sun. The prototypes were tested on 11 male subjects. Subjective assessment through questionnaires revealed satisfactory results with head gears. Two dependent variables, discomfort score and forehead skin temperature were recorded. A One-Way repeated measures ANOVA as well as paired t-test, on both parameters showed significant headgear effect (p=0.001). Plots of forehead skin temperature and discomfort score showed marked decline with the use of headgears, compared to bare head.

Keywords: Ergonomics, heat stress, radiation, protection

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2009-0943

Journal: Work, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 431-438, 2009