NIOSH Program Portfolio : Traumatic Injury: Research to Practice

NIOSH Programs > Traumatic Injury > Research to Practice

Traumatic Injury

Outputs: Research to Practice

Historically, NIOSH has been a leader in applying research into workplace solutions that reduce injury and illness. Research to Practice (r2p) is a NIOSH initiative focused on the transfer and translation of research findings, technologies, and information into highly effective prevention practices and products that are adopted in the workplace.

The goal of Research to Practice is to increase workplace use of effective NIOSH and NIOSH-funded research findings. NIOSH continues to work with our partners to focus research on ways to develop effective products, translate research findings into practice, target dissemination efforts, and evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of these efforts in improving worker safety and health.

NIOSH prevention information is most readily found in publications such as NIOSH Alerts, Current Intelligence Bulletins, Hazard Controls and Hazard IDs, Fact Sheets, Criteria Documents, and other publications. If you are looking for prevention information for a particular problem area, you may find the appropriate publications listed on NIOSH Traumatic Occupational Injury Topics. If a topic page on the problem area does not exist, another way to search for appropriate information is to scan the list of publications that address traumatic occupational injuries. Finally, the investigative reports conducted as part of the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program each have preventive recommendations based on the investigation of specific fatal incidents.

Selected Research-to-Practice Efforts Addressing Traumatic Injury Problems

Enhancing the harness fit to worker population

Falls from height are the leading cause of death in the construction industry; in 2004, 433 American construction workers died due to falls-from-height incidents. In addition, more than 20,950 construction workers were disabled in work-related falls from heights in the same year. Fall-arrest harnesses provide the last line of defense to the 6.3 million construction workers in areas where fall-from-height hazards cannot be completely eliminated. Yet, comparatively little is known about the fit of these important safety devices for construction workers. The NIOSH Harness Research team has developed scientific theories to quantify human torso shape and size. Using these theories, the research team has further derived and tested practical harness design criteria to advance our knowledge about reducing the risk of injury that results from poor harness-user interface, improper size selection, or the failure to don the harness properly. The team has also worked with the harness manufacturing industry to formulate harness-sizing schemes and harness designs for various populations, especially women and minorities, to assure the required level of protection, productivity, and comfort of harnesses to workers. Several professional organizations and standards committees have testified, in various forms, to the urgent need for this line of Research to Practice effort. Two leading harness manufacturers in the United States have actively participated in the study with the NIOSH research team and are using the research results to modify their current harness designs and to develop the next-generation harnesses. A national committee on personal equipment for protection against falls has also expressed interest in incorporating the study results to possibly establish national harness-sizing standards.

Automatically deployed roll-over-protection structure (ROPS)

Farmer fatalities due to tractor overturns exceeded 990 from 1992 to 2000. Nearly all fatalities due to tractor overturn could be prevented with a ROPS and proper use of a seatbelt. However, about half of the 4.7 million tractors that are in service in the United States lack the appropriate rollover protection. Tractor operators have noted low clearance situations, such as orchards and buildings, as a reason for not having ROPS on their tractors. NIOSH has developed an Automatically Deploying Rollover Protective Structure (AutoROPS) to address these low clearance situations. The NIOSH AutoROPS is a passive control. It stays in a lowered position until a rollover condition is determined, at which time it deploys to a fully extended and locked position. Over the last few years, the NIOSH ROPS research team has worked with a ROPS manufacturer and a powered lawn care equipment manufacturer to facilitate technology transfer of the AutoROPS to industry. In addition NIOSH has worked with equipment manufacturers, academia, and national standards committees to begin the process of forming a performance standard for the AutoROPS. This research-design-standardization process is expected to streamline the commercialization of this AutoROPS technology and thus reduce tractor-and-lawn-mower rollover-related injuries and fatalities. This technology has a high potential to be transferred to the military as well to protect soldiers from combat-vehicle rollover incidents.

JamAlert—A Baler Safety System

Between 1986 and 2002, 43 fatalities occurred in the United States to operators of recycling industry balers. Of these fatalities, 29 involved horizontal balers that were baling paper and cardboard [Taylor, 2002]. Balers often become jammed while the baling process is occurring, and the only way to remove the jam is manually. This requires a worker to place a limb of their body into the jamming area and remove the material that is causing the jam. To better protect baler operators, NIOSH has developed the JamAlert. This system automatically terminates the power to the machine when a jam is detected by observing the strain that is experienced by the shear bar of the baler and the hydraulic pressure at which the ram is operating. A prototype JamAlert device has been designed and tested and is ready to be introduced into the workplace. To accomplish this, NIOSH has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with HJA International, a baler controls manufacturer. Through the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, NIOSH and HJA will work together to refine the JamAlert design, test the JamAlert on actual balers, and obtain feedback about the JamAlert from baler operators.

Patents/Inventions

Electrical injury protection system using radio frequency transmission, Zeng, S; Powers, JR; Jackson, LL; Conover, DL, U.S. Patent No. 6,897,783, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, May 24, 2005.

Significance of the patent: A personal electrical injury protection system is for use by a person working near a power circuit. The system detects the human proximity and electrical contact to the power circuit by using radio-frequency transmission between the human body and the power circuit. The system provides different degrees of visual/audible warnings as the worker is in proximity to, or electrically contacts the power circuit. In case of electrical contact, the system also immediately trips the circuit breaker or existing round fault circuit interrupter on the power circuit to protect the worker from the electrocution.

Page last updated: August 22, 2008
Page last reviewed: August 22, 2008
Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Division of Safety Research

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NIOSH Program Portfolio:

Traumatic Injury

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Program Description

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Review & Evaluation

	NIOSH Programs > Traumatic Injury > Research to Practice Traumatic Injury Outputs: Research to Practice Historically, NIOSH has been a leader in applying research into workplace solutions that reduce injury and illness. Research to Practice (r2p) is a NIOSH initiative focused on the transfer and translation of research findings, technologies, and information into highly effective prevention practices and products that are adopted in the workplace. The goal of Research to Practice is to increase workplace use of effective NIOSH and NIOSH-funded research findings. NIOSH continues to work with our partners to focus research on ways to develop effective products, translate research findings into practice, target dissemination efforts, and evaluate and demonstrate the effectiveness of these efforts in improving worker safety and health. NIOSH prevention information is most readily found in publications such as NIOSH Alerts, Current Intelligence Bulletins, Hazard Controls and Hazard IDs, Fact Sheets, Criteria Documents, and other publications. If you are looking for prevention information for a particular problem area, you may find the appropriate publications listed on NIOSH Traumatic Occupational Injury Topics. If a topic page on the problem area does not exist, another way to search for appropriate information is to scan the list of publications that address traumatic occupational injuries. Finally, the investigative reports conducted as part of the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program each have preventive recommendations based on the investigation of specific fatal incidents. Selected Research-to-Practice Efforts Addressing Traumatic Injury Problems Enhancing the harness fit to worker population Falls from height are the leading cause of death in the construction industry; in 2004, 433 American construction workers died due to falls-from-height incidents. In addition, more than 20,950 construction workers were disabled in work-related falls from heights in the same year. Fall-arrest harnesses provide the last line of defense to the 6.3 million construction workers in areas where fall-from-height hazards cannot be completely eliminated. Yet, comparatively little is known about the fit of these important safety devices for construction workers. The NIOSH Harness Research team has developed scientific theories to quantify human torso shape and size. Using these theories, the research team has further derived and tested practical harness design criteria to advance our knowledge about reducing the risk of injury that results from poor harness-user interface, improper size selection, or the failure to don the harness properly. The team has also worked with the harness manufacturing industry to formulate harness-sizing schemes and harness designs for various populations, especially women and minorities, to assure the required level of protection, productivity, and comfort of harnesses to workers. Several professional organizations and standards committees have testified, in various forms, to the urgent need for this line of Research to Practice effort. Two leading harness manufacturers in the United States have actively participated in the study with the NIOSH research team and are using the research results to modify their current harness designs and to develop the next-generation harnesses. A national committee on personal equipment for protection against falls has also expressed interest in incorporating the study results to possibly establish national harness-sizing standards. Automatically deployed roll-over-protection structure (ROPS) Farmer fatalities due to tractor overturns exceeded 990 from 1992 to 2000. Nearly all fatalities due to tractor overturn could be prevented with a ROPS and proper use of a seatbelt. However, about half of the 4.7 million tractors that are in service in the United States lack the appropriate rollover protection. Tractor operators have noted low clearance situations, such as orchards and buildings, as a reason for not having ROPS on their tractors. NIOSH has developed an Automatically Deploying Rollover Protective Structure (AutoROPS) to address these low clearance situations. The NIOSH AutoROPS is a passive control. It stays in a lowered position until a rollover condition is determined, at which time it deploys to a fully extended and locked position. Over the last few years, the NIOSH ROPS research team has worked with a ROPS manufacturer and a powered lawn care equipment manufacturer to facilitate technology transfer of the AutoROPS to industry. In addition NIOSH has worked with equipment manufacturers, academia, and national standards committees to begin the process of forming a performance standard for the AutoROPS. This research-design-standardization process is expected to streamline the commercialization of this AutoROPS technology and thus reduce tractor-and-lawn-mower rollover-related injuries and fatalities. This technology has a high potential to be transferred to the military as well to protect soldiers from combat-vehicle rollover incidents. JamAlert—A Baler Safety System Between 1986 and 2002, 43 fatalities occurred in the United States to operators of recycling industry balers. Of these fatalities, 29 involved horizontal balers that were baling paper and cardboard [Taylor, 2002]. Balers often become jammed while the baling process is occurring, and the only way to remove the jam is manually. This requires a worker to place a limb of their body into the jamming area and remove the material that is causing the jam. To better protect baler operators, NIOSH has developed the JamAlert. This system automatically terminates the power to the machine when a jam is detected by observing the strain that is experienced by the shear bar of the baler and the hydraulic pressure at which the ram is operating. A prototype JamAlert device has been designed and tested and is ready to be introduced into the workplace. To accomplish this, NIOSH has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with HJA International, a baler controls manufacturer. Through the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, NIOSH and HJA will work together to refine the JamAlert design, test the JamAlert on actual balers, and obtain feedback about the JamAlert from baler operators. Patents/Inventions Electrical injury protection system using radio frequency transmission, Zeng, S; Powers, JR; Jackson, LL; Conover, DL, U.S. Patent No. 6,897,783, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, May 24, 2005. Significance of the patent: A personal electrical injury protection system is for use by a person working near a power circuit. The system detects the human proximity and electrical contact to the power circuit by using radio-frequency transmission between the human body and the power circuit. The system provides different degrees of visual/audible warnings as the worker is in proximity to, or electrically contacts the power circuit. In case of electrical contact, the system also immediately trips the circuit breaker or existing round fault circuit interrupter on the power circuit to protect the worker from the electrocution. Page last updated: August 22, 2008 Page last reviewed: August 22, 2008 Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Division of Safety Research < Topic Pages and Publications \| Research to Practice \| Conferences >				NIOSH Program Portfolio: Traumatic Injury Program Description Inputs Occupational Risks National Research Agenda (NORA) NIOSH Strategic Goals Emerging Issues Partners NIOSH Contacts Activities NIOSH Research Projects NIOSH Funded Research Grants Outputs Topic Pages and Publications Research to Practice Conferences Outcomes Review & Evaluation Program Review National Academies Evaluation
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