The Effects of Different Tactile Sensations on Pinch Effort

Abstract

Failure in proper design of ergonomic hand tools can lead to the prevalence of hand-related injuries. In order to improve the ergonomics of hand tools, numerous studies have been done on causal factors related to these injuries such as grip postures, grip forces and torque directions. Nevertheless, there appears to be limited studies concerning how pinch effort can change with different types of tactile sensations. Therefore this study aims to determine the effects of different tactile sensations on pinch effort. A total of 110 manual workers from the wooden pallets and furniture manufacturing firm participated in the study. The descriptive analyses were conducted in Microsoft Excel 2010 and the reliability of data was verified using Cronbach's alpha reliability analyses. The results show that individuals can produce a greater pinch effort while gripping objects that have a high friction coefficient between the fingers and the grip surface. This study improves our understanding on the implications of different tactile sensations and potentially decreases workplace hazards for eventual improvements on safety, health and medical costs.