Biomedical subjects

B T Karsh

Publications and source records attributed to B T Karsh.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Musculoskeletal discomfort, injuries, and tasks accomplished by children and adolescents in Wisconsin fresh market vegetable production.

Little or no research is available about the tasks that children and adolescents perform in small scale, fresh market vegetable production. A mail questionnaire was administered in an exploratory study to an age-stratified, convenience sample of children and adolescents age 5 to 18 (n = 81) who were working on Wisconsin fresh market vegetable operations. Children and adolescents reported averaging 349 hours of farm work last year. Youths completed over 1/5 of all the tractor operation and produce loading and unloading that was completed by adults or children on their farms; 1/7 of the weeding, produce washing, and packing; and 1/12 of the hand harvesting during typical weeks when they worked. Fifty percent of 15-18 year olds reported experiencing low back discomfort in the last year, and 25% reported disabling discomfort. Children and adolescents performed the same range of tasks and often the same scope of work as adults. Further investigation with larger, more representative youth samples is needed to confirm these findings.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

Applying quality improvement principles to achieve healthy work organizations.

BACKGROUND: Health care has used total quality management (TQM)/quality improvement (QI) methods to improve quality of care and patient safety. Research on healthy work organizations (HWOs) shows that some of the same work organization factors that affect employee outcomes such as quality of life and safety can also affect organizational outcomes such as profits and performance. An HWO is an organization that has both financial success and a healthy workforce. For a health care organization to have financial success it must provide high-quality care with efficient use of scarce resources. To have a healthy workforce, the workplace must be safe, provide good ergonomic design, and provide working conditions that help to mitigate the stress of health care work. INTEGRATING TQM/QI INTO THE HWO PARADIGM: If properly implemented and institutionalized, TQM/QI can serve as the mechanism by which to transform a health care organization into an HWO. To guide future research, a framework is proposed that links research on QI with research on HWOs in the belief that QI methods and interventions might be an effective means by which to create an HWO. Specific areas of research should focus on identifying the work organization, cultural, technological, and environmental factors that affect care processes; affect patient health, safety, and satisfaction; and indirectly affect patient health, safety, and satisfaction through their effects on staff and care process variables. SUMMARY: Integrating QI techniques within the paradigm of the HWO paradigm will make it possible to achieve greater improvements in the health of health care organizations and the populations they serve.

Health Services Administration↗

PubMed1999

Occupational stress in human computer interaction.

There have been a variety of research approaches that have examined the stress issues related to human computer interaction including laboratory studies, cross-sectional surveys, longitudinal case studies and intervention studies. A critical review of these studies indicates that there are important physiological, biochemical, somatic and psychological indicators of stress that are related to work activities where human computer interaction occurs. Many of the stressors of human computer interaction at work are similar to those stressors that have historically been observed in other automated jobs. These include high workload, high work pressure, diminished job control, inadequate employee training to use new technology, monotonous tasks, por supervisory relations, and fear for job security. New stressors have emerged that can be tied primarily to human computer interaction. These include technology breakdowns, technology slowdowns, and electronic performance monitoring. The effects of the stress of human computer interaction in the workplace are increased physiological arousal; somatic complaints, especially of the musculoskeletal system; mood disturbances, particularly anxiety, fear and anger; and diminished quality of working life, such as reduced job satisfaction. Interventions to reduce the stress of computer technology have included improved technology implementation approaches and increased employee participation in implementation. Recommendations for ways to reduce the stress of human computer interaction at work are presented. These include proper ergonomic conditions, increased organizational support, improved job content, proper workload to decrease work pressure, and enhanced opportunities for social support. A model approach to the design of human computer interaction at work that focuses on the system "balance" is proposed.

Boredom↗

PubMed1998

Effects of a split keyboard design and wrist rest on performance, posture, and comfort.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in experienced typists' performance, posture, and musculoskeletal pain when using a split, adjustable (SA) computer keyboard and when using a standard flat keyboard. In addition, the use of a wrist rest was examined for performance, posture, and musculoskeletal pain effects. Eighteen participants were exposed to the SA keyboard and a flat keyboard in a laboratory study of text typing for four consecutive hours on five days. The results indicated that after just 2 h of orientation and practice, the participants could perform as well on the SA keyboard as on the flat keyboard. The SA keyboard provided advantages for reduced wrist/hand pronation. There was no difference between the keyboards in the level of musculoskeletal pain reported by participants after typing. However, they reported increased pain in the back, neck, shoulders, and wrists from the beginning to the end of each of the experimental periods for both keyboards.

Adolescent↗