Research

We have worked with a number of industries to conduct lab and field research for the purposes of determining acceptable efforts for a wide variety of occupational tasks. These studies generally involve biomechanical and psychophysical methodologies and can be used to evaluate specific tasks common to an industry, but for which there are no current published guidelines. Below is a list of some of this research.

Publications From Research with Industrial Partners

Papers in Refereed Journals

Potvin, J.R., Chiang, J., McKean, C., Stephens, A. A psychophysical study to determine acceptable limits for repetitive hand impact severity during automotive trim installation. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics. 26:625-637, 2000

Potvin, J.R. Agnew, M.J., Ver Woert, C. An ergonomic comparison of  pneumatic and electrical pistol grip hand tools, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 34:467-478, 2004

Cort, J.A., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. A biomechanical and psychophysical examination of fastener initiations in automotive assembly. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics.36: 837-845. 2006

Potvin, J.R. Calder, I.C., Cort, J.A, Agnew, M.J., Stephens, A. Maximal acceptable forces for manual insertions using a pulp pinch, oblique grasp and finger press. International Journal of Industrial. Ergonomics. 36:779-787, 2006

Andrews, D.M., Potvin, J.R., Calder, I.C., Cort, J., Agnew, M., Stephens, A. Acceptable peak forces and impulses during manual hose insertions in the automobile industry. 38(2):193-201International Journal of Industrial. Ergonomics. 2008

Technical Reports

Potvin, J.R., Chiang, J., McKean, C., Drouin D. “A psychophysical study to determine acceptable limits for tasks involving repetitive hand impacts: with specific applications to the door trim panel installation process” submitted to Ford Motor Company, 1998 (39 pages)

Potvin, J.R., Fraser, D., Murphy, M. An evaluation of the hand impact severities associated with various trim installation tasks. submitted to Ford Motor Company, 1999 (16 pages)

Potvin, J.R., Dawson, D., MacPherson, M., Jones, J. Low Force/High Frequency Work: Evaluating the ACGIH TLV Guideline. Submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2001 (60 pages).

Potvin, J.R., Agnew, M., Ver Woert, C., Cercone, A., Schuster, M. An Ergonomic Comparison of Air and DC Pistol Grip Hand Tools: Effects of Tool Type, Joint Hardness, Torque and Gender on Upper Extremity Muscle Loads and Hand. Submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2001 (32 pages)

Potvin, J.R., Agnew, M.,Siffer, L. An Ergonomic Evaluation of Pistol Grip Hand Tools: Part Ii: Establishing Maximum Torque Limits for Dc Tools. Submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2003 (31 pages)

Potvin, J.R., Calder, C., Cort, J., Agnew, M.J. Tolerance Limit Values for Manual Electrical Connector Tasks. Submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2004 (27 pages)

Andrews, D.M., Potvin, J.R., Calder, C., Cort, J., Agnew, M.J., Loree, H. Tolerance Limits for Manual Hose Insertions. Submitted to Ford Motor Co. via Sandalwood Enterprises Inc., 2004 (25 pages)

Cort, J.A., Potvin, J.R., Acceptable human tolerance limits for maximal finger pull force. submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2005
Cort, J.A. & Potvin, J.R., Acceptable human tolerance limits for manual initiation of fasteners in automotive assembly. submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2004

Cort, J.A. & Potvin, J.R., Electromyography investigation of ingress & egress tasks during assembly of the Ford Econoline Van. submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2005

Cort, J.A., Potvin, J.R., Ergonomic analysis and  recommendations for the redesign courtroom Clerk and Recorder workstations. submitted to Architecttura Inc. 2006

Potvin, J.R. Chiang, J., Haumman, M., McInnes, B. Houston, A., Stephens, A. Proactive Ergonomic Analyses with Virtual Reality and Static Jack and Motion Capture: A Validation Study. Submitted to Ford Motor Company, 2007 (61 pages)

Articles in Refereed Conference Proceedings

Potvin, J.R. Chiang, J., Stephens, A., Vitek, M. A psychophysical study to determine acceptable limits for hand impact severity during automotive trim installation. Assoc. of Canadian Ergonomists, Hull, Quebec, 1999

Potvin, J., Dawson, D., MacPherson, M., Joseph, B. Evaluating the ACGIH TLV guideline for low force/high frequency work, International Society of Occupational Ergonomics and Safety, Toronto, Ontario, June 2002

Murphy, M., Potvin, J., Stephens, A. Effects of hand posture and impact gloves on maximal acceptable hand impact forces in automotive manufacturing. International Society of Occupational Ergonomics and Safety, Toronto, Ontario, June 2002

Potvin, J., Dawson, D., Jones, J., MacPherson, M., Joseph, B. Comparing Risk Scores from the ACGIH TLV Guideline When Obtained  from Live Observation and Video Records. International Society of Occupational Ergonomics and Safety, Toronto, Ontario, June 2002

Potvin, J., Agnew, M., Ver Woert, C. Muscle demands and torque reactions associated with air and electric hand tools. World Congress on Biomechanics, Calgary, Alberta, August 2002.

MaPherson, M., Grondin, D., Potvin, J. Determination of the optimal forearm muscles to monitor with EMG in ergonomic studies. World Congress on Biomechanics, Calgary, Alberta, August 2002.

Longo, N., Potvin, J.R., Stephens, A. A psychophysical analysis to determine acceptable forces for repetitive thumb insertions. Association of Canadian Ergonomist. Banff, 2002.

Potvin, J.R., Agnew, M.J., Siffer, L. The ergonomic demands of using pistol grip transducerized electric tools up to 12 Nm,  Assoc. of Canadian Ergonomists, London, Ontario, 2003 

Potvin, J.R., Cort, J.A., Calder, I.C., Agnew, M.J. Tolerance limit values for manual electrical connector tasks. Canadian Society of Biomechanics Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 2004.

Cort, J.A., Potvin, J.R., Stephens, A., An electromyographic and psychophysical examination of fastener initiations in automotive assembly. International Society of Biomechanics, Cleveland, Ohio, August 2005.

Andrews, D., Potvin, J.R., Calder, I,C., Cort, J.A., Loree, H., Agnew, M., Stephens, A.. Acceptable peak forces and impulses during manual hose insertions. International Society of Biomechanics, Cleveland, Ohio, August 2005.

Potvin, J.R., Agnew, M.J., Ver Woert, C., Siffer, L., Stephens, A. A method for assessing the ergonomic demands of pistol grip hand tools. accepted 16th World Congress on Ergonomics, Maastricht, Netherlands, July 2006.

Teigrob, K., Cort, J.A., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. Maximal inline push force during hose installation. accepted 16th World Congress on Ergonomics, Maastricht, Netherlands, July 2006.

Cort, J.A., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R.  Maximal finger pull strength. accepted 16th World Congress on Ergonomics, Maastricht, Netherlands, July 2006.

Godin, C., Chiang, J., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R.  Assessing the accuracy of ergonomic analyses when human anthropometry is scaled in a virtual environment. SAE Digital Human Modelling Conference, Lyon France, 2006

Chiang, J., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. Retooling Jack's Static Strength Prediction tool. SAE Digital Human Modelling Conference, Lyon France, 2006

McInnes, B. , Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. Static Jack human simulation software for the ergonomic analysis of manufacturing tasks: within and between-subject reliability. Ontario Biomechanics Conference, Barrie, On, 2007

Cort, J.A., Potvin, J.R. Neuromuscular control as it relates to joint stability. Ontario Biomechanics Conference, Barrie, On, 2007
Potvin, J.R. HandPak ergonomics software: Quantifying maximal acceptable loads for hand intensive tasks. Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (PREMUS) Conference, Boston, MA, 2007

Potvin, J.R. Correcting strength data to estimate maximum acceptable forces for repetitive tasks. Association of Canadian Ergonomists, Toronto, Ontario, 2007

McInnes, B. , Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. Within and Between-Subject Reliability Using Static Jack for Ergonomic Assessments. Accepted Society of Automotive Engineers – Digital Human Modeling, Pittsburg 2008

Godin, C., Cashaback, J., Cort, J., Potvin, J.R., Stephens, A. An estimation of supporting hand forces for common automotive assembly tasks. Accepted Society of Automotive Engineers – Digital Human Modelling, Pittsburgh 2008

Jones, M., Chiang, J., Stephens, A., Potvin, J.R. The use of physical props in automotive assembly motion capture studies. Accepted Society of Automotive Engineers – Digital Human Modelling, Pittsburgh 2008