Overhead drilling device reduces worker fatigue, risk of injury: study

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley have developed an overhead drilling device that reduces fatigue and the risk of injury to workers, according to a press release from the Silver Spring, MD-based Center for Construction Research and Training.

In a field evaluation, workers used the device for three hours and experienced significant reductions in physical stress without losing productivity, according to the release. On average, the force applied by the workers' hands while drilling was 6 pounds with the new device, compared with 55 pounds with the traditional drilling method. Drillers also spent less time with their arms overhead and their head tilted back.

The drilling device is the result of a five-year research project funded by CCRT. The study was published in the April issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.