88

Biomechanics as a
Specialty
AKBAR RIZAL NURHIDAYAT I0317006
DEFINITION OF OCCUPATIONAL
BIOMECHANICS
o Biomechanics is a muitidisciplinary activity that requires combining knowledge from the
physical and engineering sciences with knowledge from the biological and behavioral
sciences.
o A large variety of human disorders and performance limitations have been shown to be
amenable to biomechanical interpretation and resolution. When a person slips and falls or is
struck by moving equipment in industry, the impact force, often applied over a very short
period to a localized region of the body, can cause serious traumatic injury and even death.
o A thorough knowledge of occupational biomechanics is essential to understanding the
mechanism of injury, as well as devising scientifically valid and effective prevention
strategies that will allow workers to safely perform their jobs at or near their capacity for their
entire working lives.
Two different
types of
biomechanical
injury
mechanism
common in
industry
(Chaffin, 1987).
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
OCCUPATIONAL BIOMECHANICS
The general field of biomechanics has a long, distinguished history. Professor Y. C. Fung has listed
many contributors from both the engineering and life sciences (Fung, 1981).
o Galileo Galilei (1500s) - used the concept of a constant period of oscillation to measure heart
rates with a pendulum.
o William Harvey (1615) - followed Galileo's application of concepts from physics to measure
biological variables and, against great odds at the time, was able to demonstrate in 1615 the
necessity of capillaries connecting veins and arteries, even though capillaries could not be
seen under the microscope until Marcello Malpigi observed them in 1661.
o Stephen Hales (1677-1761) - was able to measure arterial pressure and correlate it with both
hemorrhage and ventricular forces in the heart. He also demonstrated how the elastic
properties of the aorta converted the pulsatile flow from the heart to a smooth flow.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF
OCCUPATIONAL BIOMECHANICS
Tichauer rationalized that the lack of concern for minimizing human mechanically induced
trauma in the workplace before 1900 was based on economics: A manual laborer was cheap
and easily replaced if injured. It must also be conceded that the biomechanical knowledge
needed to improve working conditions was limited and restricted to the aristocracy and
intellectuals of the time. The commercial class, which could have used the information to
improve its businesses, was rarely in formed of what went on in such a science.
Fortunately, the scientific knowledge and methodological basis for occupational biomechanics
has rapidly expanded to support the variety of applications required today. What follows is a
brief attempt to depict some of the more important methodological developments.
HISTORICAL Kinesiological Developments
o Kinesiology embraces the whole area of human movement.
DEVELOPMENT The subject can be divided into kinematics, which describes
OF the movement of the whole body or of major body
OCCUPATIONAL segments, independently of the forces that cause the
movement, and kinetics, which describes the forces related
BIOMECHANICS to the movement Kinematic variables include angular and
linear displacements, velocities, and accelerations; kinetic
variables include both internal and external forces and
moments.
 Developments in Biomechanical Modelling
HISTORICAL
o A direct result of kinesiological investigations of body
DEVELOPMENT kinematics is the development of quantitative
OF biomechanical models of the forces and moments
OCCUPATIONAL operating on the human body while a person is performing
common manual tasks.
BIOMECHANICS o Braune and Fischer (1889), for example, studied German
military populations carrying loads, and Dempster (1955)
described the mass and inertial properties of US. military
populations in various postures and motions.
o Comprehensive kinetic models of multiple body segments
of humans performing various lifting, pushing, and pulling
tasks have been published since the early 1960s and serve
as a major methodological development in occupational
biomechanics.
HISTORICAL Developments in Anthropometry
o Anthropometry is the empirical science that attempts to
DEVELOPMENT define reliable physical measures of a person's size and
OF form for anthropological comparison.
OCCUPATIONAL o Engineering anthropometry stresses the application of
BIOMECHANICS these measurements in developing and evaluating
engineering drawings and mock-ups to assure that reach,
clearance, and visibility requirements are met is various
strata of the population.
 Methods for Evaluating Mechanical Work Capacity
HISTORICAL
o In any discussion of mechanical trauma due to physical
DEVELOPMENT mismatching of a worker and the job demands, it must be
OF readily conceded that the physical capacities of a normal
OCCUPATIONAL population can vary greatly, depending on genetics, age,
fitness, skill, and many other factors.
BIOMECHANICS o It has been a traditional role of occupational medicine to
devise methods for determining a person's capacity to
perform certain types of work safely.
o Cardiopulmonary stress tests, a person's capacity to perform
sustained dynamic work (Astrand and Rodahl, 1977)
o Jorgensen (1997) has provided data describing back muscle
fatigue rates related to lifting various loads.
o Specialists in physical medicine and sports medicine have
developed methods to reliably evaluate a person's physical
strength and the flexibility of his or her joints (Miller and
Nelson, 1976)
HISTORICAL Developments in Bioinstrumentation
o A very important development in occupational
DEVELOPMENT biomechanics in recent years occured in the area of
OF bioinstrumentation, with regard to data acquisition as well
OCCUPATIONAL as analysis.

BIOMECHANICS o The development of:

o kinematic measurement and computer analysis techniques
o multidirectional force transducers and force plates
o electromyographic multichannel recording and processing
techniques to indirectly estimate muscle forces
 Developments in Motion Classification and Time Prediction Systems
HISTORICAL
o At the turn of this century, F. W. Taylor proposed that labor
DEVELOPMENT activities be standardized and coordinated to increase
OF productivity (Kanigel, 1997). Since then, managers have been
developing the scientific basis necessary to accomplish this
OCCUPATIONAL objective (Barnes, 1949). The effort has resulted in various
BIOMECHANICS motion classification systems that describe human activities as
a set of standard tasks or element
o For each element identified in a job, a "normal time" to
perform it has been assigned, based on observations of skilled
operators in different work situations. The sum of these
standard element performance times then becomes the
predicted standard time necessary for a skilled individual to
perform the job satisfactorily.
o Motion classification and time prediction systems provide a
means by which human activities in industry can be described
and modified (improved) as appropriate biomechanical
principles are developed.
 THE NEED FOR AN OCCUPATIONAL
BIOMECHANICS SPECIALTY
o Epidemiological Support for Occupational Biomechanics, Although people, of course, die from impact
trauma, the greatest concern is for the living: to prevent a variety of ensuing illnesses and injuries involving
the musculoskeletal system. Thus, mortality statistics are not as relevant as morbidity and disability statistics
in determining the relative importance of reducing mechanical trauma in the workplace.
o Social and Legal Support for Occupational Biomechanics, One major social (and often legislated) trend in
industrialized countries is an attempt to accommodate individual workers with diverse physical capabilities
and, sometimes, disabilities in the workforce. This trend has meant that simple rules denying people of a
certain age, gender, race, or apparent disability a fair opportunity to perform a job are no longer valid
(Miner and Miner, 1978).
o Ergonomic Support for Occupational Biomechanics, Ergonomics, which can be briefly defined as a
systematic and rational means of fitting the work to the people, maintain health and safety through the
study and development of general principles that govern the interaction of people and their working
environment. As such, ergonomics tends to be a much broader discipline than occupational biomechanics.
The two disciplines are highly complementary.
WHO USES OCCUPATIONAL
BIOMECHANICS?
A survey of job titles or functions of approximately 400 attendees of recent annual summer courses
in occupational ergonomics at the University of Michigan disclosed the following breakdown:
o Industrial/production/manufacturing/process engineer, 11%
o Industrial hygienist/occupational medicine physician or nurse, 16%
o Orthopedic or rehabilitation physician/physical or occupational therapist,45%
o Ergonomist/biomechanist, 4%
o Safety manager/labor relations manager, 8%
o Other, 16%
The following examples illustrate how occupational biomechanics can be useful in different
situations and who will use the information obtained from studies.
WHO USES OCCUPATIONAL
BIOMECHANICS?
o If a company is in an expansion phase or is redesigning its facilities or manufacturing processes,
occupational biomechanics expertise provides engineering guidelines regarding machines, tools, and
workplace designs to accommodate a variety of workers.
o If a company is not rapidly changing its processes, knowledge of occupational biomechanics is used
to
o evaluate the extent to which existing jobs place physical demands on the workers
o simulate alternative work methods and determine potential reductions in physical demands if new work
practices and designs are instigated
o provide a basis for employee selection and placement procedures.

o If an organization does not have a large, multifunctional staff, a professional ergonomist may be hired
or contracted to coordinate various plant functions and assist in engineering and administration
roles. Obviously, such an ergonomist must be broadly educated to serve effectively in this capacity,
with occupational biomechanics being only one of several disciplines in the person's training.