Joel Haight - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Joel Haight

ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition, Jun 19, 2017

Journal of Safety Research, Sep 1, 2020

IntroductionSlips, trips, and falls are a major cause of injury in the workplace. Footwear is an ... more IntroductionSlips, trips, and falls are a major cause of injury in the workplace. Footwear is an important factor in preventing slips. Furthermore, traction performance (friction and under-shoe fluid drainage) are believed to change throughout the life of footwear. However, a paucity of data is available for how traction performance changes for naturally worn, slip-resistant footwear. MethodThe presented research is a preliminary analysis from an ongoing, larger study. Participants wore slip-resistant footwear while their distance walked was monitored. Friction and under-shoe fluid pressures were measured using a robotic slip tester under a diluted glycerol contaminant condition after each month of wear for the left and right shoes. The size of the worn region was also measured.ResultsFriction initially increased and then steadily decreased as the distance walked and the size of the worn region increased. Fluid pressures increased as the shoes were worn and were associated with increased walking distance and size of the worn region.DiscussionConsistent with previous research, increases in the size of the worn region are associated with increased under-shoe fluid pressures and decreased traction. These trends are presumably due to reduced fluid drainage between the shoe-floor interface when the shoe becomes worn.ConclusionsTraction performance changes with natural wear. The distance walked in the shoe and the size of the worn region may be valuable indicators for assessing loss of traction performance.Practical ApplicationsCurrent shoe replacement recommendations for slip-resistant shoes are based upon age and tread depth. This study suggests that tools measuring the size of the worn region and/or distance traveled in the shoes are appropriate alternatives for tracking traction performance loss due to shoe wear.

ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition, Jun 12, 2011

Footwear Science, Nov 11, 2021

Applied Ergonomics, Oct 1, 2020

Worn shoes are known to contribute to slip-and-fall risk, a common cause of workplace injuries. H... more Worn shoes are known to contribute to slip-and-fall risk, a common cause of workplace injuries. However, guidelines for replacing shoes are not well developed. Recent experiments and lubrication theory suggest that the size of the worn region is an important contributor to the shoe tread's ability to drain fluid and therefore the under-shoe friction. This study evaluated a simple test for comparing the size of the worn region relative to a common object (AAA and AA battery) as a means of determining shoe replacement. This study consisted of three components involving slip-resistant shoes: Experiment #1: a longitudinal, mechanical, accelerated wear experiment; Experiment #2: a longitudinal experiment where the same shoes were tested after each month of worker use; and Experiment #3: a cross-sectional experiment that exposed participants to a slippery condition, while donning their own worn shoes. The COF (Experiments #1 and #2); under-shoe fluid pressure (all experiments); and slip severity (Experiment #3) were compared across outcomes (fail/pass) of the battery tests. Larger fluid pressures, lower coefficient of friction, and more severe slips were observed for shoes that failed the battery tests compared with those passing the tests. This method offers promise for assessing loss in friction and an increase in slip risk for slip-resistant shoes.

Journal of Safety Research, 2005

Introduction/Problem: Property damage incidents, workplace injuries, and safety programs designed... more Introduction/Problem: Property damage incidents, workplace injuries, and safety programs designed to prevent them, are expensive aspects of doing business in contemporary industry. The National Safety Council (2002) estimated that workplace injuries cost $146.6 billion per year. Because companies are resource limited, optimizing intervention strategies to decrease incidents with less costly programs can contribute to improved productivity. Method: Systematic data collection methods were employed and the forecasting ability of a time-lag relationship between interventions and incident rates was studied using various statistical methods (an intervention is not expected to have an immediate nor infinitely lasting effect on the incident rate). Results/Summary: As a follow up to the initial work, researchers developed two models designed to forecast incident rates. One is based on past incident rate performance and the other on the configuration and level of effort applied to the safety and health program. Researchers compared actual incident performance to the prediction capability of each model over 18 months in the forestry operations at an electricity distribution company and found the models to allow accurate prediction of incident rates. Impact on industry: These models potentially have powerful implications as a business-planning tool for human resource allocation and for designing an optimized safety and health intervention program to minimize incidents. Depending on the mathematical relationship, one can determine what interventions, where and how much to apply them, and when to increase or reduce human resource input as determined by the forecasted performance.

Mining, metallurgy & exploration, Jun 19, 2019

In the opinion of these authors, technology alone can never give an organization an edge over com... more In the opinion of these authors, technology alone can never give an organization an edge over competitors or provide an industry step change. However, history has shown that technology applied with correct logistics and strategy makes a significant difference. Never has the minerals industry faced such daunting challenges and been in such need of a step change. Application of autonomous systems has been steadily increasing in the minerals industry. Automation technology has changed the mining value chain from exploration to mineral processing and refining. The future state will only see additional inroads of automation into more processes and the whole system design. To better understand the near-future potential of automation, it is useful to explore and review the current state of automation in minerals development. A review of the state of automation research is given. The review will consider three critical areas: automation technology, system's engineering and management processes around automation, and the role of human factors engineering in automated and semi-automated systems. The review ends with a discussion on the social and political risks of automation in terms of shared value and sustainable development.

Chemical Health and Safety, Mar 1, 2004

A safety and health program is considered a suite of activities implemented at a worksite for pre... more A safety and health program is considered a suite of activities implemented at a worksite for preventing or reducing incidents. These include such activities as safety training, equipment and housekeeping inspections, safety meetings, safety observations, tailgate or tailboard meetings and the like. Optimizing safety and health intervention strategies to decrease rates of injury and property damage with less costly safety programs can contribute to improved productivity and economic vitality in all activities that involve such risks. This article details the results of research done to validate, improve, and extend a previously developed mathematical model that guides such optimization 21,22. The results show that improved safety practices and improved profitability in industry is possible when one understands the mathematical cause and effect relationship between incidents (trailing indicators) and program interventions (inspections, training, safety meetings, and the like) designed to prevent them (leading indicators). At power company, Hydro One Network Services, Inc.'s, forestry services, researchers have shown over the study's first phase (30 weeks) that a statistically significant relationship exists between incidents (injuries, fires, motor vehicle accidents, and the like) and the level of preventive intervention activity implemented (intervention application rate). Using this mathematical relationship and mathematical programming techniques, researchers developed an optimized ''recipe'' 51 for the appropriate level of effort and mix of safety and health program interventions that minimize incidents while concurrently minimizing the amount of human resources required to implement the interventions. During the verification phase (22 weeks), achieving the modelsuggested intervention program design proved to be difficult. Researchers were at least able to overlay actual performance input onto the model and found that consistent and accurate prediction of the incident rate was possible. Once a statistically significant mathematical relationship is identified, one can determine how, where and when to adjust specific safety and health program intervention activity.

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2005

As a simple solution to alleviate problems associated with manual material handling, manual vehic... more As a simple solution to alleviate problems associated with manual material handling, manual vehicles, such as carts, trucks, wheelbarrows, etc., are often provided to operators. This review was initiated by concern for the effects of design, task, environment, and operator factors on the usability of manual vehicles. The previous studies are summarized and then ergonomic recommendations are made for each factor. Most studies have been performed on four-wheeled carts and focused on wheel design, handle height, load weight, moving direction, motion phase, and floor type. Biomechanics, psychophysics, and work physiology have been used to help understand usability. For future research, the systematic classification of manual vehicles is necessary to make specific ergonomic recommendations for special-purpose manual vehicles. Relevance to industry Workers use manual vehicles to reduce physical stresses during manual material handling without the awareness of their factor effects on usability. This review paper would be useful for a manufacturer and ergonomist to design and select general manual vehicles.

ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exhibition, 2008

Safety Science, 2010

] have shown that in 2004 alone, on-the-job injuries to workers constituted 35% of total recorded... more ] have shown that in 2004 alone, on-the-job injuries to workers constituted 35% of total recorded injuries in the United States. This generated an associated cost of about $142.2 billion. Unfortunately, the safety intervention programs enforced at work places to mitigate such losses are driven mainly by intuition and experience of involved safety personnel. This paper details implementing a computer program to furnish safety personnel with an empirical basis for designing loss prevention programs based on historical safety data. The computer tool is driven by a dynamic mathematical model which adapts itself to variations in data patterns and explains the correlation between historical incident rates and corresponding resources committed to interventions. This study empowers the industry with a tool that is capable of forming the core of optimizing valuable human resource allocation in safety program designs.

Risk Analysis, Jan 28, 2014

Since the late 1980s, the U.S. Department of Labor has considered regulating a systems approach t... more Since the late 1980s, the U.S. Department of Labor has considered regulating a systems approach to occupational health and safety management. Recently, a health and safety management systems (HSMS) standard has returned to the regulatory agenda of both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Because a mandated standard has implications for both industry and regulating bodies alike, it is imperative to gain a greater understanding of the potential effects that an HSMS regulatory approach can have on establishment-level injuries and illnesses. Through the lens of MSHA's regulatory framework, we first explore how current enforcement activities align with HSMS elements. Using MSHA data for the years 2003-2010, we then analyze the relationship between various types of enforcement activities (e.g., total number of citations, total penalty amount, and HSMS-aligned citations) and mine reportable injuries. Our findings show that the reduction in mine reportable injuries predicted by increases in MSHA enforcement ranges from negligible to 18%. The results suggest that the type and focus of the enforcement activity may be more important for accident reduction than the total number of citations issued and the associated penalty amount.

Professional safety, Dec 1, 2018

Professional safety, May 1, 2014

Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) have become popular as agencies such as... more Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) have become popular as agencies such as OSHA expect to propose regulations and as consensus standards and industry programs such as ANSI/AIHA/ASSE Z10, OHSAS 18001 and National Mining Association’s (NMA) CORESafety are implemented. Other management-system-like processes have been implemented over the years as well, including OSHA’s Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (PSM) standard, promulgated in 1992, and American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care program, introduced in 1988. But what is the difference between an OHSMS and how occupational safety has traditionally been managed? Why do many practitioners and researchers perceive management systems to be a better way to manage occupational safety and health? How can one know that the content of these systems and the content mix are appropriate and that their implementation will be effective? With so many systems being promoted, it has become confusing. This confusion is tempered in industries guided either by regulations (e.g., OSHA PSM standard in process industries) or by their professional industry organization (e.g., NMA’s CORESafety). This article aims to identify differences between systems to provide readers with some basis for their selection of an OHSMS. Although Responsible Care has existed for more than 25 years and the PSM standard for more than 20, empirical evidence of their effectiveness is lacking. Furthermore, since many management system consensus standards are relatively new, not enough time has passed to let them work and to subsequently provide evidence to demonstrate whether and to what extent they effectively accomplish safety objectives (e.g., prevent injuries). So, why are regulators, consensus organizations and industry associations actively supporting the management system approach to safety? Why is more than one system available? How can the effectiveness of such a system be measured? The authors attempt to answer these questions by examining the similarities and potential differences in the content of various OHSMS models, and by discussing the benefits associated with their implementation and current thinking relative to measuring effectiveness. The goal is to help readers better understand IN BRIEF •Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) are receiving much attention in the safety community and among regulators and consensus industry groups. •Few differences exist between individual systems, but significant differences exist in their implementation. Differences also exist between the OHSMS approach and the traditional safety program approach. •If a company elects to implement an OHSMS, the challenge is not deciding which one to use; rather, it is implementing the many policies, processes, intervention initiatives and activities and protocols that make up the specific system used, then measuring its effectiveness.

ASTM International eBooks, May 2, 2013

ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition, 2006

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Sep 1, 2018

Slips and falls in the workplace are a major concern for injuries. Worn shoes are a known risk fa... more Slips and falls in the workplace are a major concern for injuries. Worn shoes are a known risk factor for slips and falls. The purpose of this pilot study was to analyze changes in shoe traction performance under fluid contaminant conditions as the shoes were progressively worn. Four subjects wore two different shoes with varying tread patterns. Shoes were tested after each month of wear. The two types of shoes responded to wear differently; one shoe experienced a substantial decrease in available coefficient of friction (ACOF) while the other shoe showed no substantive change. Loads supported by the fluid during slipping increased with wear of the shoes. Furthermore, ACOF was influenced by the shoe type and the walking distance. This study suggests that the impact of wear on shoe performance is dependent on the shoe design. Thus, future studies are needed to understand specific effects of shoe design.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Oct 1, 2003

From a kinematic standpoint, the objective of this study was to investigate forward pulling tasks... more From a kinematic standpoint, the objective of this study was to investigate forward pulling tasks that were rare in ergonomic studies, so handling carry-on luggage was determined as an application. Single-pole and traditional double-pole luggage was selected for the comparison under different conditions of load weights and walking speeds. Single-pole luggage had one curved and longer pole in the handle whereas double-pole luggage had two poles that were straight and aligned in parallel. Five male students participated in the study. Subjects walked on the specially fabricated doublewide treadmill at either self-chosen normal speeds or 20% faster than normal speeds with luggage of 15 or 23 kg load weights. During one stride, the peak angles, peak velocities and peak accelerations often segments including luggage were obtained from three-dimensional planes as kinematic parameters. The result showed that all three independent variables of luggage types, walking speeds, and load weights affected the motions of most segments. Due to a curved and longer pole in the handle, single-pole luggage was tilted more forward and gave more clearance between luggage and the body. This allowed the right leg to move more freely. The load weight of 23 kg carried with luggage caused the trunk to be slightly more flexed than 15 kg and the walking speeds typically affected the motions of the upper and lower extremities. The handle of luggage could be a potential design factor to be considered by luggage designers and other ergonomic evaluation approaches may be necessary for better understanding of pulling carry-on luggage.