Keeping Workers Safe

"Studying workers' sizes and shapes and how they perform tasks can prevent injury on the job. CDC offers manufacturers, employers, and others important resources and research findings for improving the workspaces, machines, vehicles, and personal protective equipment of workers.

What is engineering anthropometry?

Engineering anthropometry (an″thro-pom´ĕ-tre) is the science of defining a person's physical measures, such as their size and shape. CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conducts engineering anthropometric research to prevent work-related injuries and deaths by studying how work spaces and equipment fit today's diverse worker population. This includes the fit of tools, machines, vehicles, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Before NIOSH began anthropometry research in the early 2000s, anthropometric data from the surveys of military personnel collected in the 1950s and 1970s were used. These decades-old data do not represent the sizes and body types of today's workers who are much more diverse in age, gender, and ethnicity..."
Worker safety

Revisions to the Worker Protection Standard

"EPA is announcing stronger protections for the nation’s two million agricultural workers and their families working on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. These revisions to the 1992 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard will afford farmworkers similar health protections that are already afforded to workers in other industries.

Read the revised Worker Protection Standard..."
Worker safety