HFS206

Timed Online Assignment – July Semester 2020

Occupational Biomechanics
Friday, 20 November 2020 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm

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Time allowed: 2.5 hours

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INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:

1. This Timed Online Assignment (TOA) contains THREE (3) questions and
comprises SEVEN (7) pages (including cover page).

2. You must answer ALL questions.

3. You MUST submit your answers via Canvas (similar to TMA submission) at the
end time of this TOA (as stated on this cover page). The 15 minutes grace period as
shown on Canvas is strictly meant for technical issues encountered during
submission. Thereafter, you will not be able to submit your answers and you will be
considered as having withdrawn from the course. No appeal will be allowed.

4. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: TOA Course Code,
SUSS PI No., and Your Name. Name your submission file as
TOACourseCode_FullName_StudentPI. Use underscore and NOT Space. Example:
TOAXYZ_RaphaelLee_T1923161 (omit D/O, S/O).

5. Your submission should consist of only one file and must not exceed 500MB in size.
The file must be a Microsoft Word file saved in .doc or .docx format. All answers are
to be typed. Flowcharts, graphs, sketches and diagrams may be scanned or
photographed and embedded in the Word file provided it does not exceed the file size
limit of 500MB. Images of handwritten answers will not be marked.

6. Please use the figure in Appendix B to answer Question 2(b). Appendix B can be
found in the “Modules” folder under “TOA Question Paper” in the
HFS206_JUL20_T01TOA or HFS206_JUL20_RESITTOA course site on Canvas.
Please incorporate Appendix B into your main answer document.

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TOA –July Semester 2020
7. If you have any queries about a question, or believe there is an error in the question,
briefly explain your understanding and assumptions about that question before
attempting it.

8. To prevent plagiarism and collusion, your submission will be reviewed by Turnitin.

The Turnitin report will only be made available to the marker and you will not be
able to view it.

9. The University takes plagiarism and collusion seriously, and your Turnitin report will
be examined thoroughly as part of the marking process.

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TOA –July Semester 2020
Answer all questions. (Total 100 marks)

Question 1

Figure Q1 shows 2 workers performing a torch cutting work at a shipyard. The person
on the left with outstretched arms tries to prevent the component from falling while the
other worker is cutting it from the hull of a ship with a blow torch.

Figure Q1: Cutting with blow torch.

(a) For better understanding of biomechanics in an activity, the posture and joint
motions involved need to be measured and analysed.

(i) Describe how you would monitor the motions of the workers while they are
carrying out their work at the shipyard.
(5 marks)

(ii) Explain your choice of method described in Question 1(a)(i). What are its
advantages as compared with other techniques?
(4 marks)

(b) Hip joints and shoulder joints are multiaxial joints of the lower and upper limb
respectively. They have different anatomical structures. Discuss why we should
not compel a joint to perform tasks that are meant for the other joint, such as asking
the shoulder to carry out activities normally done by the hip. (Hint: discuss from
the perspective of their different skeletal features.)
(10 marks)

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TOA –July Semester 2020
(c) Anthropometric incompatibility can seriously affect the biomechanical and
postural comfort of a person at work. Briefly explain how you would specify the
optimum height for a task to be performed in a standing posture. Your explanation
should be provided with respect to the anthropometric attributes of the intended
user. You should also take into account the type of task being performed. You may
use Figure Q1 as a reference.
(6 marks)

(d) Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) of the upper limb may occur
in situations where a person needs to work over prolonged durations with the wrist
in deviated postures.

(i) Identify and briefly describe the causation of ONE (1) such disorder.
(5 marks)

(ii) Propose how you would modify the task and/or workplace to ensure better
matching with the anthropometric characteristics of the person. Use a
specific example to explain how you would eliminate the ergonomics
problem. Where appropriate, use sketches to illustrate your points.
(8 marks)

Question 2

Lifting and handling tasks are frequently encountered in our workplaces and at home.

(a) Briefly describe ONE (1) situation where you will deploy two persons to lift or
carry an object. Give an example of the situation. (Note: You must describe the
object to be lifted, and the manner in which it will be handled by the 2 persons.)
(5 marks)

(b) Figure Q2 shows two persons using a set of forearm lifting straps to move a bulky
object. The straps go under the object, with its ends looping over the forearms of
each person. To maintain stability of the object, the carriers need to place their
hands against the sides of the object to counteract the swinging force.

By considering the person on the left of Figure Q2 as an entity of a free body

diagram (FBD), sketch the forces acting on the FBD using Figure Q2(b) in
Appendix B that has been uploaded to Canvas (refer to instruction no. 6 on the
cover page). The forces acting on each point of the FBD are to be indicated in their
horizontal and vertical components. You are not required to state the exact
magnitude of the forces. For clarity, you may use a different colour for forces acting
on each arm of the person.

You may assume that the weight (W) of the object is evenly distributed among
each of the 4 arm straps. (Hint: W needs to be resolved along the directions of the
arm straps.)
(15 marks)

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TOA –July Semester 2020
 Figure Q2: Moving an object with forearm lifting straps.

(c) After watching people using the forearm lifting straps as described in Question
2(b), you started to mull over its suitability for moving bulky objects. The method
still requires users to exert considerable amount of force. A trolley might be better.

Provide a tabulated comparison on THREE (3) biomechanical advantages and

drawbacks of using the forearm strap against a simple push trolley for a house
moving job. Explain them clearly. State your assumptions, if any. (Hint: use a
tabulated comparison approach).
(6 marks)

Question 3

Figure Q3 shows Tom working in a plastic container manufacturing plant. He is tasked

to lift and pour trays of raw plastic resin pellets into the hopper of a machine. Each tray
of pellets weighs about 30kg. He will lift the trays one at a time from the push trolley,
and stretches over to discharge its content into the hopper. Five trays of pellets are needed
for each 30-minute run cycle of the machine.

The inlet of the hopper is about the same level as Tom’s shoulder, while the protrusion
at the base of the machine (labelled as ‘A’ in Figure Q3) is about 1-metre-high and 0.5
metre deep. The platform of the trolley is about 0.1 metre from the floor.

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TOA –July Semester 2020
 Figure Q3: Worker lifting a tray of pellets to the hopper.

(a) Identify and briefly discuss TWO (2) undesirable aspects of his task.
(10 marks)

(b) Propose TWO (2) modifications to improve the biomechanical suitability of the
hopper workstation for Tom. Due to certain constraints, automation could not be
implemented at this workstation. Quantitative analysis is not required. However,
you must clearly identify the locations and type of changes proposed.
(8 marks)

(c) Analyse the above lifting task using the NIOSH Lifting Equation (see Appendix A
on page 7).

(i) What is the Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) at the beginning of the
lifting cycle? Show your calculations clearly. Discuss the potential negative
effects on Tom as he lifts the tray from the trolley.
(6 marks)

(ii) Similarly, calculate the RWL at the end of the lifting cycle. Discuss the
potential negative effects on Tom as he lifts the tray to the hopper.
(6 marks)

(d) Instead of having the pellets contained in the rigid trays, they now come in sacks.
Discuss how this will affect Tom. You may assume that the gross weight per unit
transferred (i.e. in either tray or sack) remains unchanged.
(6 marks)

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TOA –July Semester 2020
Appendix A: NIOSH Lifting Equation (NLE)

The NLE may be expressed as:

RWL = LC * HM * VM * DM * AM * FM * CM

where, HM is 25/H
VM is 1- (0.003 x |V-75|)
DM is 0.82 + (4.5/D)
AM is 1 – (0.0032A)

This equation follows the NLE metric unit convention.

Its terminology follows the established nomenclature.

For application to Question 3, you may use the following data:

Height of tray handle (origin) = 15 cm

Height of tray handle (destination) = 170 cm
Horizontal distance (origin) = 50 cm
Horizontal distance (destination) = 90 cm
Frequency Multiplier = 0.8
Coupling Multiplier = 0.9
Alignment Multiplier = 0.71 (for both origin and destination)

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TOA –July Semester 2020