Safety of the Segway Human

¶ … safety of the Segway Human Transport vehicle according to the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluations and perform a critical analysis of the report. The study was conducted in Norman, OK, and followed four mail carriers who used the Segway to deliver mail, instead of carrying a bag of mail on their route. The research conducted included the viability of the Segway over a variety of terrains, which tended to jolt the rider (whole body vibration), ergonomic issues, interviews with the participants, and evaluation of data.

There are several ergonomic issues involved in this report. The major issue is the height of the handlebars of the Segway, and the height of the postal workers using the devices. The handlebars are adjustable, and so, the Segway can be made ergonomically correct for just about any rider. Other ergonomic issues include the whole-body vibration that occurs when the vehicle encounters bumps or other hazards in the roadway, and when adjusting to different types of roadways, such as streets, sidewalks, lawns, paths, and such, as well. Ergonomically, the researchers were most worried about the whole-body vibration aspects of the transport, and the ramifications this could have on postal workers' health. They mentioned often that no real studies have been done in this area, and so it is difficult to know what ramifications the whole-body vibration could have on workers in the future.

The findings and recommendations included discussion on the whole-body vibration problem, and recommended that the post office, if it chooses to use the Segway, should do more studies on this vibration and its long-term affect on workers. They also recommend that more study should go into accident and injury reports, as they are a good measure of how the Segway is performing, and how postal workers health is affected by the transport. They also recommended redesigning the carriers on the front and sides of the vehicles to make them more accessible and user friendly, because the side carriers were difficult to access for many of the postal workers.

Unfortunately, the report does not come to a concrete opinion about the Segway, it simply presents the study results and makes no real conclusion saying "yes" the Segway is a good idea for postal workers, or "no," it is not. It gives many recommendations for addition studies if the use of the transport is continued, but it does not advocate the use of the transport one way or another, and that seems to be something missing and inadequate in this report. It also seems rather short, and leaves the reader wondering if the researchers could have done more to create a more vital and important document. They did not find the Segway was unsafe, however, and many of the comments of the postal employees who used it were very positive.