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A Test Bed to Examine Helmet Fit and Retention and Biomechanical Measures of Head and Neck Injury in Simulated Impact
Published on: September 21, 2017
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Head Impact Location, Speed and Angle from Falls and Trips in the Workplace
Xiancheng Yu1, Claire E Baker2, Mazdak Ghajari2
1HEAD Lab, Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK. x.yu16@imperial.ac.uk.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
|February 6, 2023
Summary
Workplace head impacts from trips and falls are not adequately addressed by current safety helmets. This study simulated various fall scenarios to define new impact conditions for improved helmet design and worker protection.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics and Injury Prevention
- Occupational Safety and Health
- Human Factors Engineering
Background:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant workplace hazard, primarily caused by trips and falls.
- Existing industrial safety helmets are designed for falling object protection, not for impact conditions during trips and falls.
- Limited understanding of head impact dynamics in workplace falls hinders effective helmet design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To predict head impact location, speed, and angle during workplace trips, forward falls, and backward falls using validated human multi-body models.
- To investigate the influence of factors like worker size, posture, walking speed, and fall parameters on head impact conditions.
- To establish representative head impact conditions for improving industrial safety helmet standards.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 1692 simulations using validated human multi-body models to analyze head impact dynamics.
- Varied parameters including worker size, initial posture, walking speed, tripping barrier dimensions, bracing, and falling height.
- Grouped impact data by angle and determined representative conditions based on speed, angle, and location.
Main Results:
- Falls generated higher head impact speeds than trips, with backward falls being the fastest.
- Trips resulted in smaller impact angles compared to falls.
- Significant percentages of impacts occurred outside current helmet coverage regions (41% for backward falls, 19% for trips/forward falls).
- Identified five representative impact conditions across trips, forward falls, and backward falls, with speeds up to 9.4 m/s and angles up to 75°.
Conclusions:
- Current industrial helmets may not adequately protect against head impacts from workplace trips and falls.
- The study defines specific, representative head impact conditions derived from simulated falls and trips.
- These findings provide crucial data for revising and enhancing industrial safety helmet standards to better protect workers.
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