Principles of Machine Safety and Software Solutions

This unit in the Accident Prevention: Digitalisation - Technologies department is concerned with new technologies and methods in the areas of accident prevention and machine and product safety. In particular, it examines the influence of technology on people, and how they deal with conventional and new technologies. The unit works as a team of individuals drawn from the disciplines of occupational psychology, science, technology and engineering.

The foci of activities in the field of new technologies & machine safety are:

• Development of methods for assessing the safety of new technologies in the area of product safety
• Consulting on the functional safety of control systems for machinery and installations
• Development of test specifications and work on relevant standards committees
• Development and support for two software applications: SISTEMA, for safety-related machine control systems, and SOFTEMA, for project planning and documentation of safety-related application software (SRASW) on machinery
• Calculation of the safety-related reliability of complex and conventional control technologies
• Support for centres for field implementation, such as rokit, the Robot Competence and Interaction Cluster
• Study of and consulting on new physical principles for the detection of persons

Areas of focus in the fields of human-system interaction and technologies for virtual reality:

• Research and consulting on human factors in safety technology, and on its usability
• Setup and operation of the SUTAVE laboratory for the use of virtual reality for OSH purposes
• Performance of studies in the SUTAVE laboratory and work on research projects
• Virtual training tools for raising awareness of sources of hazards presenting a high risk of falling due to tripping, slipping or missteps
• Projects and consulting concerning the ergonomic and informational design of machinery, installations and control rooms
• Involvement in work relating to tampering with safeguards
• Development of test specifications and work on relevant standards committees

Areas of focus in the fields of mechanical stresses upon the body and simulation for accident prevention purposes:

• Research and consulting in the area of mechanical stresses upon the body at human-machine interfaces, for example in relation to collaborative robots, elevating work platforms, trolleys on airliners
• Studies and simulations of mechanical hazards (e.g. practical guidance for risk assessment at workplaces involving cobots), including the determination of biomechanical corridors or the injury mechanisms of lacerations
• Methodology for estimating and determining the pull-in forces at the entry points of foiling machines
• Development of test specifications and work on relevant standards committees
• Involvement in research work in the area of long-term stresses upon the body, such as stress upon the lumbar spine during shovelling tasks or service work performed by airline cabin crew
• Development of measurement apparatus for the recording of mechanical stresses upon the body, such as triaxial hand-force measurement systems, biofidelic measurement apparatus for the recording of collision magnitudes at workplaces involving collaborative robots, decelerometers for goods vehicle seat-belt sleds, algometers for the determining of pain thresholds

Areas of focus in the field of personal protective equipment (PPE) against falls from a height:

• Research into safety-related issues associated with the use of PPE against falls from a height, for example stresses upon the body when it is caught by such PPE, strain upon components of PPE on edges when used horizontally
• Participation in research into procedures with rope assistance for rescue and recovery from a height or underground

In addition, the unit supervises the Children explore safety and health program for kindergarten and primary school teachers, in which children explore safety and health. The programme serves to promote children’s awareness for prevention by encouraging them to conduct research of their own.