IRSST - Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail

Expert/novice comparison of handling injury risks

Abstract

It has already been demonstrated that experienced handlers, known as experts by their coworkers, have developed different practices from those of novices that could be both safe and more efficient. The authors believe that these practices could promote the development of training programs that are better adapted to the work.
For the purposes of this study, handling experts and novice workers were invited to reproduce in the laboratory their ways of doing things under various working conditions. This enabled the researchers to collect biomechanical data and to make ergonomic observations in order to try to understand what differentiates experts from novices.
The results clearly show that experts adopt postures that are different from those of novices during handling tasks. Moreover, this study validated several handling principles that could be used to improve training programs.

Additional Information

Type: Project
Number: 0099-3670
Status: Completed
Year of completion: 2010
Team:
  • André Plamondon (IRSST)
  • Alain Delisle (IRSST)
  • Denys Denis (IRSST)
  • Denis Gagnon (Université de Sherbrooke)
  • Marie St-Vincent (IRSST)
  • Christian Larivière (IRSST)
  • Christian Larue (IRSST)
  • Bernard Caron (IRSST)
  • Denise Chicoine (IRSST)
  • Érik Salazar (IRSST)