Jack Tigh Dennerlein

Northeastern University | NEU · Department of Physical Therapy

Measuring the physical demands of work is important in understanding the relationship between exposure to these job demands and their impact on the safety, health, and well-being of working people. However, work is changing and our knowledge of job demands should also evolve in anticipation of these changes. New opportunities exist for noninvasive...

Objective This study developed, implemented, and evaluated the feasibility of executing an organizational capacity building intervention to improve bus driver safety and well-being in a Chilean transportation company. Method Through an implementation science lens and using a pre-experimental mixed methods study design, we assessed the feasibility...

The labor market is undergoing a rapid artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. There is currently limited empirical scholarship that focuses on how AI adoption affects employment opportunities and work environments in ways that shape worker health, safety, well-being and equity. In this article, we present an agenda to guide research examining the...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121712.].

The primary aim of this laboratory-based human subject study was to evaluate the biomechanical loading associated with mining vehicles’ multi-axial whole body vibration (WBV) by comparing joint torque and muscle activity in the neck and low back during three vibration conditions: mining vehicles’ multi-axial, on-road vehicles’ vertical-dominant, an...

Background: Tablets are ubiquitous in workplaces and schools. However, there have been limited studies investigating the effect tablets have on the body during digital writing activities. Objective: This study investigated the biomechanical impact of writing interface design (paper, whiteboard, and tablet) and orientation (horizontal, 45, and ve...

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of work in shaping population health and wellbeing. This Viewpoint applies a multilevel systems framework to assist in understanding the diverse and complex interactions of forces affecting worker health and wellbeing, and how trending changes in employment and working conditions have been accele...

Through a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the effects of an electro-magnetic active seat suspension that reduces exposure of a long-haul truck driver to whole body vibration (WBV) on low back pain (LBP) and disability. Among 276 drivers recruited from six trucking terminals of a major US trucking company, 135 eligible drivers were assigne...

The conditions of work for professional drivers can contribute to adverse health and well-being outcomes. Fatigue can result from irregular shift scheduling, stress may arise due to the intense job demands, back pain may be due to prolonged sitting and exposure to vibration, and a poor diet can be attributed to limited time for breaks and rest. Thi...

Falls in the aging population are a major public health concern. Outdoor falls in community-dwelling older adults are often triggered by uneven pedestrian walkways. Our understanding of the motor control adaptations to walk over an uneven surface, and the effects of aging on these adaptations is sparse. Here, we study changes in muscle co-contracti...

Objective: Identify work-related factors associated with the mental health and well-being of construction workers. Methods: We completed eight key informant interviews, six worker focus groups, and a survey, informed by the interviews and focus groups, of 259 construction workers on five construction sites. Negative binomial regressions examined...

Background: With the growth the food service industry and associated high injury and illness rates, there is a need to assess workplace factors that contribute to injury prevention. Objective: The objective of this report is to describe the development, application, and utility of a new instrument to evaluate ergonomics and safety for food servi...

Objectives: To describe the process used to build capacity for wider dissemination of a Total Worker Health® (TWH) model using the infrastructure of a health and well-being vendor organization. Methods: A multiple-case study mixed-methods design was used to learn from a year-long investigation of the experiences by participating organizations....

Work plays a central role in health. A conceptual model can help frame research priorities and questions to explore determinants of workers’ safety, health, and wellbeing. A previous conceptual model focused on the workplace setting to emphasize the role of conditions of work in shaping workers’ safety, health and wellbeing. These conditions of wor...

Background: Evidence supports organizational interventions as being effective for improving worker safety, health and well-being; however, there is a paucity of evidence-based interventions for subcontracting companies in commercial construction. Methods: A theory-driven approach supplemented by formative research through key stakeholder interviews...

Gait analysis has traditionally relied on laborious and lab-based methods. Data from wearable sensors, such as Inertial Measurement Units (IMU), can be analyzed with machine learning to perform gait analysis in real-world environments. This database provides data from thirty participants (fifteen males and fifteen females, 23.5 ± 4.2 years, 169.3 ±...

Objective The aim was to recommend an integrated Total Worker Health (TWH) approach which embraces core human factors and ergonomic principles, supporting worker safety, health, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background COVID-19 has resulted in unprecedented challenges to workplace safety and health for workers and managers in essent...

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between mental health stigma and wellbeing in a sample of commercial construction workers. Methods: A sequential quantitative to qualitative mixed methods study was conducted. First, 264 workers were surveyed and logistic regression examined the associations between mental healt...

Background While assessment of subcontractors' safety performance during project bidding processes are common in commercial construction, the validation of organizational surveys used in these processes is largely absent. Methods As part of a larger research project called Assessment of Contractor Safety (ACES), we designed and tested through a cr...

Objective: To investigate the association between the breakroom built environment and worker health outcomes. Methods: We conducted this study in a mass transit organization (rail). We collected a user-reported breakroom quality score (worker survey), a worksite health promotion score (validated audit tool), and self-reported worker health outco...

This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of 3D L5/S1 moment estimates from an ambulatory measurement system consisting of a wearable inertial motion capture system (IMC) and instrumented force shoes (FSs), during manual lifting. Reference L5/S1 moments were calculated using an inverse dynamics bottom-up laboratory model (buLABmodel), based on data...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of multi-axial (lateral + vertical) active suspension in reducing multi-axial WBV exposures and related biomechanical loading in the neck and low back as compared to an industry standard single-axial (vertical) passive suspension seat. In a repeated-measures laboratory study with 13 subjects, w...

Introduction: This study investigates the associations between perceived workplace health and safety climates and a variety of worker and employer outcomes. Methods: Self-reported data were collected from an employee health assessment offered at 3 companies (n=959) in 2014. Independent variables included 2 climate variables: perceived safety cli...

Background: Through a randomized controlled trial, we tested the hypotheses that truck drivers with low back pain who received a new electromagnetic active seat will 1) have reduced WBV exposure and 2) report reduction in low back pain (LBP) and related disability compared to drivers who received a new version of their current seat model (passive a...

Background: Mining vehicle operators are exposed to high levels of whole body vibration (WBV) due to rough terrain in the mining environment. WBV has been associated with work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Mining vehicle operators' WBV exposures consist of highly impulsive and substantial non-vertical components (e.g., lateral vibratio...

Background: Running is a popular physical activity that benefits health; however, running surface characteristics may influence loading impact and injury risk. Machine learning algorithms could automatically identify running surface from wearable motion sensors to quantify running exposures, and perhaps loading and injury risk for a runner. Resea...

Objective To determine the association between several whole-body vibration (WBV) exposure estimates and back pain-related work absence. Methods Exposures (based on the weighted daily root mean square acceleration, A(8); the daily vibration dose value, VDV(8); and the daily equivalent static compression dose, S ed (8)) of 2302 workers during 4 yea...

Background: Muscle co-contraction is an accepted clinical measure to quantify the effects of aging on neuromuscular control and movement efficiency. However, evidence of increased muscle co-contraction in old compared to young adults remains inconclusive. Research question: Are there differences in lower-limb agonist/antagonist muscle co-contrac...

Highlights  Turning while walking can be performed using either a step or spin turn.  Step turns were preferred during pre-planned turns.  Steps turns were preferred as stride regularity and acceleration decreased.  Turn strategy selection should be evaluated during gait analyses of older adults. Abstract Turning while walking is a crucial comp...

Introduction: The 2.5 h Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program teaches construction supervisors the leadership skills they need to strengthen jobsite safety climate and reduce adverse safety-related outcomes. Methods: Using a quasi-experimental prospective switching replications study design, we examined (1) if FSL-trained jobs...

This paper addresses a significant gap in the literature by describing a study that tests the feasibility and efficacy of an organizational intervention to improve working conditions, safety, and wellbeing for low-wage food service workers. The Workplace Organizational Health Study tests the hypothesis that an intervention targeting the work organi...

Objectives: To test whether a comprehensive safe patient-handling intervention, which successfully reduced overall injury rates among hospital workers in a prior study, was differentially effective for higher-wage workers (nurses) versus low-wage workers (patient care associates [PCAs]). Methods: Data were from a cohort of nurses and PCAs at 2 l...

Background Safety prequalification assessing contractors’ safety management systems and safety programs lack validation in predicting construction worker injuries. Methods Safety assessments of leading indicators from 2198 construction contractors, including Safety Management Systems (SMS), Safety Programs (e.g., falls, hearing protection), and Sp...

This study examined the effects of 4 micro-travel keyboards on forearm muscle activity, typing force, typing performance, and self-reported discomfort and difficulty. A total of 20 participants completed typing tasks on 4 commercially available devices with different key switch characteristics (dome, scissors, and butterfly) and key travels (0.55,...

This study characterizes safety prequalification surveys currently in use in the construction industry to identify approaches that include leading indicators of worker safety performance. We collected prequalification surveys available in the public domain from internet searches, construction company websites, published literature, and construction...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to measure diagnostic imaging safety events reported to an electronic safety reporting system and assess steps at which they occurred within the diagnostic imaging workflow and contributing sociotechnical factors. Methods: The authors evaluated all electronic safety reporting system reports related to diagnosti...

This study evaluated the efficacy of an integrated Total Worker Health® program, “All the Right Moves”, designed to target the conditions of work and workers’ health behaviors through an ergonomics program combined with a worksite-based health promotion Health Week intervention. A matched-pair cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted on te...

Background: The incidence of reported concussions in the adolescent population is increasing, yet research on the effects of concussions in this population is minimal and inconclusive. Purpose: To assess the association between concussion and performance on a cognitive test battery. Study design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. M...

Mobile computing devices are often designed with a one-size-fits-all approach, and consumers purchase devices based off of technical specifications rather than whether the devices fit them. Female gender is associated with higher risks of upper extremity repetitive injury, which may be caused by the generally smaller anthropometry of women (Cote, 2...

As mining vehicle operators are exposed to high level of Whole body vibration (WBV) for prolonged periods of time, approaches to reduce this exposure are needed for the specific types of exposures in mining. Although various engineering controls (i.e. seat suspension systems) have been developed to address WBV, there has been lack of research to sy...

Objective: To assess information sources that may elucidate errors related to radiologic diagnostic imaging, quantify the incidence of potential safety events from each source, and quantify the number of steps involved from diagnostic imaging chain and socio-technical factors. Materials and methods: This retrospective, Institutional Review Board...

This randomized controlled trial study was conducted to determine whether two different seating interventions would reduce exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and improve associated health outcomes. Forty professional truck drivers were randomly assigned to two groups: (i) a control group of 20 drivers who received a new, industry-standard air-s...

This randomized controlled trial study was conducted to determine whether two different seating interventions would reduce exposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) and improve associated health outcomes. Forty professional truck drivers were randomly assigned to two groups: (i) a control group of 20 drivers who received a new, industry-standard air-s...

Introduction: Turning while walking (online turn) accounts for 50% of daily steps [1]. Two biomechanically different turning strategies have been identified: step (turning away from the outside limb) and spin (turning toward the inside limb) [2]. When negotiating an environment, pedestrians often perform turns over irregular surfaces and in respons...

Background: Changing directions while walking (turning gait), often with little planning time, is essential to navigating irregular surfaces in the built-environment. It is unclear how older adults reorient their bodies under these constraints and whether adaptations are related to declines in physiological characteristics. Research question: Th...

Objective We examined relationships between organizational policies and practices (OPPs) (safety practices, ergonomic practices, and people‐oriented culture) and work limitations in a sample of hospital workers. Methods We used the 6‐item Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) to assess workers’ perceptions of health‐related work limitations. Self‐r...

Stairs represent a barrier to safe locomotion for some older adults, potentially leading to the adoption of a cautious gait strategy that may lack fluidity. This strategy may be characterized as unsmooth; however, stair negotiation smoothness has yet to be quantified. The aims of this study were to assess age- and task-related differences in head a...

Tablet computers' hardware and software designs may affect upper extremity muscle activity and postures. This study investigated the hypothesis that forearm muscle activity as well as wrist and thumb postures differ during simple gestures across different tablet form factors and touchscreen locations. Sixteen adult (8 female, 8 male) participants c...

Introduction Employee safety incentive programs are a form of communicating to engage employees to increase the use of safety controls ranging from the use of proper tools, pre-task planning, to the use of personal protective equipment. We developed a safety communication and recognition program designed to encourage improvement of physical working...

Whole body vibration (WBV) exposures are often predominant in the fore-aft (x) or lateral (y) axis among off-road agricultural vehicles. However, as the current industry standard seats are designed to reduce mainly vertical (z) axis WBV exposures, they may be less effective in reducing drivers' exposure to multi-axial WBV. Therefore, this laborator...

Objective: To present a measure of effective workplace organizational policies, programs and practices that focuses on working conditions and organizational facilitators of worker safety, health and wellbeing: the Workplace Integrated Safety and Health (WISH) Assessment. Methods: Development of this assessment used an iterative process involving...

Background: Little is known about how mobile populations of workers may influence the ability to implement, measure, and evaluate health and safety interventions delivered at worksites. Methods: A simulation study is used to objectively measure both precision and relative bias of six different analytic methods as a function of the amount of mobi...

Objective: The aim of this study was to characterize the current state of surgical ergonomics education in the United States. Background: The burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in surgeons is high and no overarching strategy for redress exists. Twelve distinct specialties describe an unmet need for surgical ergonomics educat...

Background: Outdoor falls in community-dwelling older adults are often triggered by uneven pedestrian walkways. It remains unclear how older adults adapt to uneven surfaces typically encountered in the outdoor built-environment and whether these adaptations are associated to age-related physiological changes. Research question: The aims of this...

The aim of this study was to investigate if a machine learning algorithm utilizing triaxial accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer data from an inertial motion unit (IMU) could detect surface- and age-related differences in walking. Seventeen older (71.5 +/- 4.2 years) and eighteen young (27.0 +/- 4.7 years) healthy adults walked over flat and...

Importance Physicians in procedural specialties are at high risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). This has been called “an impending epidemic” in the context of the looming workforce shortage; however, prevalence estimates vary by study. Objectives To estimate the prevalence of work-related MSDs among at-risk physicians and to ev...

Objectives: Duration of tasks in a job is an essential interest in occupational epidemiology. Such duration is frequently measured using self-reports, which may, however, be associated with both bias and random errors. The present systematic literature review examines the correctness of self-reported durations of tasks, i.e. the extent to which th...

Objectives: Alternative techniques to assess physical exposures, such as prediction models, could facilitate more efficient epidemiological assessments in future large cohort studies examining physical exposures in relation to work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate two types of models that predict arm-wrist-ha...

Background: Variability in patient care settings and the range of patient handling tasks present challenges in developing and evaluating safe patient handling and mobilization (SPHM) programs. Objective: We performed a systematic meta-analysis of SPHM program evaluations. Methods: Systematic literature review identified published SPHM program...

Hand forces (HFs) are commonly measured during biomechanical assessment of manual materials handling; however, it is often a challenge to directly measure HFs in field studies. Therefore, in a previous study we proposed a HF estimation method based on ground reaction forces (GRFs) and body segment accelerations and tested it with laboratory equipme...

Objectives: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are highly prevalent and put a large burden on (working) society. Primary prevention of work-related MSD focuses often on physical risk factors (such as manual lifting and awkward postures) but has not been too successful in reducing the MSD burden. This may partly be caused by insufficient k...

A dearth of practical resources is available for evaluating ergonomic risk factors in dynamic health care work environments. Of particular need are tools for inspecting patient care environments for hazards. The goal of this study was to describe the development and application of an inspection tool and a process for identifying hazards inherent in...

This study characterized whole-body vibration exposures in a set of vehicles that operate in open-pit mines and compared three different daily exposure parameters based on the ISO 2631-1:1997 and ISO 2631-5:2004 standards. Full-shift, 6 to 12-hour, continuous whole-body vibration measurements were collected from 11 representative types of vehicles...

The Joint Commission provides accreditation standards for staging hospital waste, but there are no federal lifting safety standards for linen bags. We evaluated hospital laundry bag lifting using the Revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Lifting Equation. We hypothesized that the permitted 32-gallon linen container c...

Aims: To test the associations of safety practices as reported by nurses and their respective unit supervisors with job satisfaction. Background: Psychosocial workplace factors are associated with job satisfaction; however, it is unknown whether nurses and supervisors accounts of safety practices are differentially linked to this outcome. Metho...

A standing computer workstation has now become a popular modern work place intervention to reduce sedentary behavior at work. However, user's interaction related to a standing computer workstation and its differences with a sitting workstation need to be understood to assist in developing recommendations for use and set up. The study compared the d...

Objective Job rotation is an organisational strategy widely used on assembly lines in manufacturing industries to mitigate workers' exposure so as to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of job rotation for reducing working hours lost due to sick leave resulting from musculoskeletal diseases. Methods Th...

Background: Trunk flexion and occupational physical activity are parameters that have been used to assess and characterize jobs with high physical demands. Objective: Characterize the physical load of trunk flexion and physical activity of patient care unit (PCU) workers during a single work shift. Methods: Participants wore an accelerometer t...

This study aimed to quantify differences in 7 touchscreen gestures. Eighteen participants performed index finger tapping, sliding in 4 orthogonal directions, and index finger and thumb pinch and stretch gestures on a touchscreen tablet computer. We hypothesized that two finger gestures would require longer task completion time and greater finger jo...

Unlabelled: To better understand job rotation in the manufacturing industry, we completed a systematic review asking the following questions: 1) How do job-rotation programs impact work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and related risk control for these MSDs, as well as psychosocial factors? and 2) How best should the job rotation programs...

Objective With increasing emphasis on early and frequent mobilisation of patients in acute care, safe patient handling and mobilisation practices need to be integrated into these quality initiatives. We completed a programme evaluation of a safe patient handling and mobilisation programme within the context of a hospital-wide patient care improveme...

Ergonomics is the practice and research of the interaction between the human and the physical environment with the goal of optimizing human well-being and overall system performance. For public health ergonomics programs, the major goal is the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). These prevention efforts encompass many diffe...

Background Whole body vibration (WBV) has been related to back pain in professional vehicle operators; however, more evidence is needed to better establish the direct link between WBV exposure and back pain-related absenteeism. Aim We tested the association between WBV exposure and absenteeism in a population of mining heavy equipment vehicle (HEV...

Exposure to whole body vibration (WBV) is known to be associated with various adverse health outcomes among professional truck drivers. As a part of a randomized controlled trial, this study evaluated WBV exposures and various health outcomes from 96 professional truck drivers. The WBV was measured and analyzed per International Standards Organizat...

Due to rough terrain, agricultural tractor drivers are likely exposed to a high level of whole body vibration, especially impulsive shocks. These WBV exposures are often predominant in the fore-aft (x) or lateral (y) axis. However, the current industry standard seats are designed to reduce mainly vertical (z) axis WBV exposures, and therefore, may...

This study aimed to characterize and contrast the ISO 2631-1 daily average-continuous A(8) and cumulative-impulsive VDV(8) whole body vibration (WBV) exposures during the operation of mining heavy equipment vehicles (HEVs). In a cross-sectional study, WBV measurements were collected from six different types of HEVs. For each HEV, the daily A(8) and...