Editor: Cheryl Bennett, MS

Email: bennett13@llnl.gov

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Message from the President

1999 Conference to be in Disney World; Abstracts due November 15

Conference a success!

Call for nominations

Ergonomist Profile: Col. Valerie Rice

Shrawan Kumar, Ph.D., DSc, FErgs

Welcome to the new year of the International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety. It was delightful to see many of you during the XIIIth International Conference of Occupational Ergonomics and Safety in Ann Arbor in June. Considerable effort and time was put into trying to make the Conference a worthwhile experience for our members and the attending delegates (potential members). I am delighted to report that overwhelmingly positive feedback was received from a large number of delegates with respect to the conference content and quality. Thank you for your participation and input.

As we return from our summer breaks we have a brand new year to look forward to which will culminate in our Annual Conference in Orlando under the able leadership and organization of Dr. Gene Lee. As you know the Society's journal, Occupational Ergonomics has been launched. It is your journal and you can make it as strong as you want by submitting your work for publication.

Furthermore, your involvement in the Society is of paramount importance. The Executive Committee is very receptive to your suggestions and concerns. We would appreciate hearing from you. Please drop us a line on what you would like to see us do. You have an active and energetic Executive Council who will be happy to get involved in new endeavors for the Society. So please share your ideas and share our enthusiasm.

I would like to take this opportunity to suggest you start thinking about being able and willing candidates to serve in elected capacity for the Society. A call for nomination will be issued soon. Also, I want to bring to your attention that several Society and Conference Awards have been underused due to lack of active nominations. Please take initiative. It is your Society, get involved.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Shrawan Kumar, President

The resort is an official Disney hotel located on 13 landscaped acres within Disney Village. Complimentary transportation is provided every 30 minutes to the Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, Pleasure Island Entertainment complex and the Disney VillageMarketplace. Recreation facilities include two heated swimming pools, whirlpool, tennis, basketball, volleyball, children's pool and playground, electronic gameroom, and fitness center. Make plans now!

Abstracts should be submitted by 11/15/98. Please send five copies (English) of about 300 words (including names, addresses, phone and fax numbers of all authors) on a single sheet of paper (use both front and back if necessary). Mail to:

Professor Gene H. Lee, Ph.D., PE

Conference Chair

Dept. of Industrial Engineering

University of Central Florida

4000 Central Florida Blvd.

Orlando, FL 32816-2450 USA

Tel: 407-823-2308 Fax: 407-823-3413

GLEE@mail.ucf.edu

The XIII Annual International Occupational Ergonomics and Safety Conference held in Ypsilanti, Michigan in June 1998 was attended by 227 people. Papers from 26 countries were entered in the proceedings, Advances in Occupational Ergonomics and Safety, edited by Shrawan Kumar. (Additional copies are available for $100; contact ISOES Administrator at 703-385-7217 for more details.)

Alvah Bittner, 1997-1998 President, opened the conference with his thoughts on expanding the use of statistical tests for more powerful human factors.

Keynote speaker Don Chaffin discussed strength prediction in human CAD systems. Colin Drury discussed how aircraft maintenance and inspection can reflect strategic corporate decisions.

Banquet speaker, Hal Hendrick described how a systems approach can dramatically improve occupational health, safety and productivity.

During the conference, some of the delegates experienced the human factors elements of retreating to a basement shelter during a Midwest tornado watch. Fortunately, the tornado passed without incident.

During the awards ceremony, Shrawan Kumar was honored as Meeting Chair; Colin Drury for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Ergonomics; Alvah Bittner for contributions to the Society as President; and Paul Champney for continuing contributions to the Society.

Now is the time to submit nominations for ISOES awards. Nominations should be sent to Jacob Chen (see below) and will be accepted until November 1, 1998. The awards will be presented at the annual conference in June 1999.

Award Types

1. Distinguished Achievement Award

The recipient must:

a. Be a member of the SOCIETY

b. Have made significant contributions towards promoting the goals and objectives of the SOCIETY over a sustained period of time (at least 5 years).

c. Be prominent in the field of Industrial Ergonomics and Occupational Safety.

2. Outstanding Industrial Ergonomics Application Award

a. The work must be presented at 1999 Annual International Industrial Ergonomics and Safety Conference in Orlando and submitted for inclusion in Advances in Industrial Ergonomics and Safety XI.

b. The recipient(s) must not belong to the research and development arm of the organization and his/her organization must be engaged in industrial activities.

c. The duration of recipient's employment at the organization where this work was done will not be a factor.

d. The award will be given for a specific "piece of work" instead of the "body of work" a person has done over years or a lifetime.

Award Guidelines

1. Any SOCIETY member can nominate an individual(s) for these awards.

2. It is the responsibility of the nominator to furnish all supporting evidence (vitae, 3 reference letters, other supporting evidence). The supporting documents (10 copies) should permit complete and unbiased evaluation of the contribution.

3. Nomination of a person(s) is understood to mean that the nominee(s) has agreed to all the terms and conditions described in the award guidelines. It is the responsibility of the nominator to inform the nominee of the award guidelines.

4. Nominations must be received by

November 1, 1998:

Jacob Jen-Gwo Chen, Ph.D., P.E.

Dean

College of Science and Engineering

1201 W. University Drive

Edinburg, TX 78539-2999

Tel: (956) 381-2404

Fax: (956) 381-2428

Email: chen@panam.edu

The second issue of Occupational Ergonomics, Volume 1 (2), 1998, is expected to be distributed soon. It will contain the following articles:

S.S. Chiou, A. Bhattacharya, P.A. Succop and C.F. Lai, "Effects of environmental and task risk factors on workers' perceived sense of postural sway and instability."

D. Imbeau, J.-J. Paques, S. Bergeron and R. Bourbonniere, "Crane movement limiting device design for safe operation near power lines."

K.W. Al-Eisawi, C.J. Kerk and J.J. Congleton, "Wrist strength limitations to manual exertion capability."

L. Hernandez, A. Genaidy, S. Davis, A. Alhemoud and L. Guo, "A study of musculoskeletal strain experienced by nurses."

D. Krumwiede, S. Konz and P. Hinnen, "Standing comfort on floor mats."

R.S. Foster, L.P. Adams, B.A. VanGeems and R.S. Bridger, "Postural adaptations to standing VDT work."

ISOES ergonomist profile: Col. Valerie Rice The International Society for Occupational Ergonomics and Safety is blessed with many remarkable members. In the upcoming issues one or more members will be spotlighted to illustrate some of the variety and substance of the membership. The first featured member is Colonel Valerie J. Berg Rice. Colonel Valerie Rice serves at the United States Army Medical Department Center and School, located at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. She entered the Army in 1977 and continued her education while on active duty. She completed a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Puget Sound in 1978 and a Master's in Health Care Administration from Baylor University in 1984. In 1990 she earned a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (with Human Factors option) from Virginia Polytech and State University. Col. Rice became aware of the field of ergonomics through her undergraduatecollege roommate, as they corresponded about their "first jobs." She reflects: "Occupational therapists (OTs) intervene to help people from childhood to old age. They help people who have been injured, experienced an illness, or have any other intervening factors that keep them from being able to assume their life roles to their fullest ability. This suggests that OTs help people learn to do the physical, cognitive, and emotional tasks/functions to be able to assume their roles as workers, family members, friends, etc. I realized that as occupational therapists, we were returning people to their work, home, and leisure lives and we didn't study ergonomics 'the study of work.' It seemed to me that connection made a lot of sense, so I endeavored to find a way to attain this type of education." As an individual who does not take theories, including those in rehabilitation and patient treatment, as facts, Col. Rice found, "Many of the patient treatment methodologies I was using in the clinic were based on sound neurological and behavioral theories, but no one could prove to me that they worked. Little or no research results were available." The scarcity of research results about medical care and about preventing injuries motivated her to seek a research-based degree and to conduct research herself. "Therefore, I wanted to receive enough education to be able to do the research necessary to prevent injuries, and to show that treatment methodologies were or were not effective." There is no doubt that Col. Rice would recommend human factors/ergonomics as a career, "to anyone who wants to make a difference." She states, "I frequently encourage others to enter the field and focus on the areas that mean the most to them. There is such versatility in human factors/ergonomics that most people can find a portion that interests them. I do note that it is a research based field, and anyone who is interested should become comfortable with statistics. Since many folks who ask me about the field are already health care professionals, I also emphasize that it is not a patient treatment field. If they love helping people one-on-one, they will not get the same level of satisfaction they do from rehabilitation, counseling, or health care. If, on the other hand, they have a logical mind/ approach and they like answering questions in an applied manner, and they think they'd like 'making the world user friendly'...then they should consider a career in human factors/ ergonomics." Col. Rice is currently involved with a variety of ergonomic projects. These include: Being a project consultant to demonstrate the effectiveness (or non-effectiveness) of ergonomic assessment and intervention within field military applications. Writing research results on lifting and on decision-making in acceptability of loads. Directing the initial stages of research on an intervention project with hospital based laboratory workers and plans to begin a second project on imaging of cumulative trauma injuries. Col. Rice has recently edited a new book, titled Ergonomics in Health Care and Rehabilitation. Col. Rice is also the current President of the Directors of the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics (BCPE), establishing certification standards for ergonomics and human factors professionals. (Please contact Cheryl Bennett to suggest member profiles.)

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