Maf for Males Performing Drilling Tasks

Abstract

A laboratory experiment was conducted using the psychophysical approach to determine maximum acceptable frequency (MAF) for a simulated sheet metal drilling task under varying angles of wrist flexion. Fifteen male students served as subjects for this study. The subjects were asked to perform a simulated drilling task in five different wrist flexion postures. Results indicated that MAF was significantly reduced (p<0.001) for deviated wrist postures in the transverse plane. It was noted that there was a 33% decrease in MAF values from 0 degree wrist flexion (neutral posture) to 40 degree wrist flexion. These results imply that industrial guidelines for drilling operations involving wrist flexion must consider the MAPs in order to reduce the risk of cumulative trauma disorders.