A Human-Centered Approach to Designing Improved Fall-Arrest Equipment

摘要

A systematic human factors approach to designing fall protection equipment ensures improved performance, ease of use, comfort, and market acceptance. THE LEADING CAUSE OF INJURY in workplaces in New Zealand is falls or a loss of balance (Accident Compensation Corporation Report, 2004). New Zealand has the third highest number of fall-related fatalities in construction in the world and the second highest fatality rate in fall-related incidents or loss of balance during work per 100,000 workers (Government of New Zealand, 2004). This has prompted demand by construction companies for increased safety levels and equipment in the workplace. Legislative changes have introduced the compulsory use of fall-arrest safety harnesses when working at a height of 3 meters (about 9.8 feet) or more ("How to Avoid Falls From Heights," Health and Safety Construction Bulletin, No. 1,1998, available at http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdfs/consi001.pdf). However, a leading construction company noted that there was some resistance among workers to wearing these harnesses. In this case study, we describe how we explored the issues and subsequently designed an ergonomic, user-friendly overall-and-harness system and tested the designs with users. The outcome was a well-designed, commercially successful product that clearly demonstrates the value of a systematic development process incorporating users in both the design and evaluation phases.