The effect of bench drill laboratory hand tool on muscle activity and heart rate measurement

Abstract

This study analyzed muscles that react significantly to vibration due to few measurements taken such as heart rate, electromyography (EMG), and vibration acceleration. The study investigated all possible factors relate to the degree of risk such as total time tool usage, individual susceptibility and method. Ten healthy subjects were participated in this experiment. Subjects were required to drill work piece material of two different types; wood and mild steel using bench drill. The study indicated that bench drill mild steel gave higher vibration acceleration and heart rate but smaller RMS than bench drill wood. Thus it implies higher potential for muscle fatigue. For, harder materials, it required subjects to exert extra forces in order to drill the work piece especially the first initial point. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.