{"id":96169,"date":"2024-10-02T16:08:22","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T20:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=96169"},"modified":"2026-05-08T16:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T20:15:43","slug":"crc-spotlight-striving-to-make-work-a-safer-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2024\/10\/crc-spotlight-striving-to-make-work-a-safer-place\/","title":{"rendered":"CRC Spotlight: Striving to make work a safer place"},"content":{"rendered":"

The federal government\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Canada Research Chairs<\/em><\/a>\u00a0program invests up to $311 million per year to attract and retain some of the world\u2019s most accomplished and promising minds. Chairholders are recognized to be national and international experts in the fields of engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences. Brock University has\u00a0<\/em>12 active Canada Research Chairs<\/em><\/a>. This\u00a0<\/em>monthly series<\/em><\/a>\u00a0profiles the work, and lives, of Brock\u2019s Chairholders.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the centre of Michael Holmes\u2019 workplace safety research are the people working on shop floors, at desks or in other on-the-job settings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe workers who come in to participate in our research studies reinforce the fact that these jobs are hard and that they\u2019ve had friends and colleagues who have gotten injured,\u201d says the Brock University Associate Professor of Kinesiology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are passionate and curious; they want us to come up with solutions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Mechanics and Ergonomics<\/a>, Holmes and his team examine how muscles in the hand, arm, shoulder and neck \u2014 known as the upper extremity \u2014 interact with signals from the brain and nervous systems during workplace tasks.<\/p>\n

These tasks could include automotive assembly, manufacturing, cutting trees with chainsaws, typing on a keyboard or handling warehouse materials, among many others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use our hands for just about every task imaginable, so understanding how we control movement and pinch and grasp tools is critical for workplace safety,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Holmes says three primary factors influence stress on muscles and joints: the load being manipulated, how many times a movement is repeated and the body\u2019s posture during the movement.<\/p>\n

These three factors are interdependent and need to be studied as a system. Posture influences strain on tissues, for example, and repetition can lead to fatigue and reduce capacity to perform tasks, he says.<\/p>\n

But there are also other factors, such as extreme temperatures<\/a>, that contribute to workplace injury, leading Holmes and his team to collaborate with a variety of experts in different disciplines.<\/p>\n

To record and analyze workplace demands, Holmes\u2019 Neuromechanics and Ergonomics Lab<\/a> uses highly sophisticated technologies such as markerless motion capture cameras, electromyography and force measurement equipment including a unique \u201cwristbot<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A number of companies and organizations \u2014 including Airbus, the Ontario Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture, Niagara Health and General Motors \u2014 have asked Holmes and his team to analyze the physical demands of their workers\u2019 tasks so that changes could be made to equipment and workplace procedures.<\/p>\n

Holmes\u2019 arboriculture work, for example, demonstrates that chainsaws and other tools marketed as reducing or eliminating vibrations don\u2019t always do so when tested in the lab. His team is using this information to improve hand-arm vibration exposure during tool use by recommending personal protective equipment or optimal work-to-rest guidelines.<\/p>\n

Other highlights of his research include:<\/p>\n