Chaffin champions creation of ergonomically sound workplaces

The cost of musculoskeletal injuries due to workplace conditions is estimated at more $50 billion, says a University professor and biomechanics expert. All told, these account for over 66 percent of injuries reported annually in the United States.

(Photo by Eyvind Claxton)

Don Chaffin, the G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Environmental Health Sciences, will discuss this trend and ways to use biomechanics to improve the workplace in his Distinguished University Professor lecture April 5.

Chaffin is a renowned investigator in the field of occupational biomechanics and work physiology. A scientist and educator, he is known for his groundbreaking and pioneering research in areas of ergonomics and occupational health.

"Ergonomic changes provide the means to employ more women, older workers and physically impaired workers who are routinely discriminated against by the high exertion requirements of many jobs today," Chaffin says. "Digital human simulations of people at work are beginning to be used to design workplaces."

He is widely recognized as the originator of detailed musculoskeletal models of the effects of human work on the back.

"Mechanical principals from the past and present are being used to understand how the human musculoskeletal system is injured during the performance of common high exertion tasks in industry," he explains. "When combined with the advanced biomechanical models, a designer of a job can more effectively practice human-centered design."

Chaffin's lecture, "Biomechanical Basis for the Ergonomics of High Exertion Tasks," will be at 4 p.m. April 5 in the Rackham Amphitheatre. A reception will follow in the Rackham Assembly Hall.

As part of his distinguished professorship, Chaffin was named the Richard G. Snyder Distinguished University Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering in the fall. Snyder, a professor emeritus who established and directed the Life Science Division of the Transportation Research Institute, is highly regarded for research which has improved the scientific basis for many national safety standards, such as regulations related to crib slat spacing, the amount of force required to pull apart small parts of children's toys, and aircraft and automotive restraint systems.

"I had the honor of working with Snyder in the 70s, and learned a great deal about how one must combine large field studies with laboratory and analytical modeling to make a strong case for changing public safety policies and regulations," Chaffin says.