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Abstract White, Melissa Mae ABSTRACT WHITE, MELISSA MAE. Biomechanical Implications of Duty Belt Use by Police Officers. (Under the direction of David B. Kaber and Xu Xu). In the course of law enforcement duties, police officers carry various pieces of equipment on their person to maintain public and personal safety. Duty belts provide a mechanism for carrying such equipment; however, a full duty belt loaded with all recommended equipment can weigh up to 20 to 30 lbs. Related to this, each law enforcement department can select the type of duty belt to be used by officers and identify requirements for equipment layout on the belt (e.g., having the gun near the dominant hand). This lack of standardization can lead to an unbalanced belt, equipment being inconvenient to access, and compromises in officer performance and safety. A loaded duty belt can also lead to officer muscle fatigue and overexertion injuries, and reduced officer performance resulting in injuries from violence. The combination of the distribution of items on the belt and decreased officer mobility can also lead to slips and falls. Some studies have found that officers perceive duty belts and the seats of patrol cars as primary contributors to low-back pain. Officer discomfort from duty belts is driven by the weight/amount of equipment on the belt, the placement of the equipment, and the force exerted on the body from the equipment. Few investigations have examined biomechanical implications of duty belt design, and no research has studied biomechanical implications of officer equipment placement on duty belts. This research was divided into two major phases. The first phase involved interviews with officers to determine equipment usage patterns, officer preferred placement of equipment on belts, and identify types of musculoskeletal pain experienced by police officers. In addition, this phase included observing police officers in daily activities and reviewing literature to develop an ergonomic recommendation for equipment placement on duty belts to reduce the impact of the belt on the officer’s low-back. This phase of the research culminated in the development of a design framework that departments can use with new officers to develop a balanced belt. An ergonomic configuration was developed and tested in the second phase of the research. The second phase of the research involved a study to assess the biomechanical impact of current duty belt designs (with and without suspenders) and various equipment configurations (police preference, one from the literature, and ergonomic) on an officer’s body during physical task performance. This phase was split into two experiments. The first experiment involved participants walking across an overground platform embedded with force plates to collect ground reaction force (GRF) data. Results of this experiment demonstrated the utility of the ergonomic belt configuration in comparison to the other two configurations for reducing biomechanical loading. During the second experiment, electromyography (EMG) was used to measure officer muscle activity levels. The second experiment revealed potential benefits from suspender use with belts in terms of reduced muscle activation in the external obliques. In addition, subjective feedback from officers revealed a majority to favor suspenders and would recommend implementing undershirt suspenders to their departments. With many departments hesitant to implement load-bearing vests or thigh holsters due to appearance, the ergonomic belt configuration and undershirt suspenders appear to be promising solutions to help reduce the incidence of low-back pain across law enforcement officers. © Copyright 2018 Melissa Mae White All Rights Reserved Biomechanical Implications of Duty Belts Used by Police Officers by Melissa Mae White A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Industrial Engineering Raleigh, North Carolina 2018 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. David B. Kaber Dr. Xu Xu Committee Co-Chair Committee Co-Chair _______________________________ _______________________________ Dr. Ola Harrysson Dr. David Dickey _______________________________ Dr. Andrew DiMeo External Member DEDICATION “You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” -Frederick Buechner To my wonderful family and friends, those who are still with us and those who have passed on, this would not have been possible without your support. ii BIOGRAPHY Melissa Mae White grew up in Central Florida and graduated from Trinity Preparatory School in 2009. She enrolled at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, in August 2009 and studied Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Anthropology. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in May of 2012. After her undergraduate studies, Melissa enrolled in the Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship program at the University of Notre Dame in August of 2012 and received her Master of Science in August of 2013. Upon completing her Master of Science degree, Melissa worked in consulting with various health systems where she noted design flaws of various electronic medical record interfaces. This experience led her to pursue a doctorate program and she began her studies at North Carolina State University in 2014 studying Industrial and Systems Engineering. She was awarded a traineeship through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) with research interests including biomechanics, medical device usability, health systems engineering, and human center design. She received a certificate in health systems engineering form North Carolina State University in 2016. In 2016, she also co-founded the non-profit the Medical Innovators Collaborative (MEDIC). Upon completion of her degree, she will join the Engineering Innovation Institute as a Lecturer at the University of Florida. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research and my doctoral journey could not have been completed without the help of many people who provided assistance and support along the way. I would like to begin by thanking my adviser, Dr. David Kaber, for his guidance and support. I am also grateful for his understanding and patience in handling all of the personal challenges that have arisen in my life over the past few years. Second, I would like to thank my co-chair, Dr. Xu, for all of his support in the biomechanics aspects of this project and for always having his door open when I needed help working through this research. I would also like to thank the remaining members of my committee, Dr. Ola Harrysson, Dr. David Dickey, Dr. James Brunet, and Dr. Andrew DiMeo for sharing their knowledge and expertise in their respective areas. I would also like to thank the entire faculty and staff of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering for the guidance and support that I have received during my four years at NC State. I sincerely appreciate the support of Hakan Sungur for helping to make this project a reality and ensure that no financial issues would hold up the project. I would also like to thank Chief Jack Moorman and the North Carolina State University Police Department for their support during the entirety of this study and for allowing me to participate in their Citizen’s Police Academy in order to better understand the duties of a law enforcement officer. In addition, I would like to thank the following police departments in the following North Carolina municipalities for their support with the lab- based study: Cary, Rolesville, Wake Forest, Zebulon, Fuquay-Varina, and Youngsville. I iv would not have been able to complete this study without the support of all of these police departments. Moreover, I would like to thank my fellow researchers on this project: Yulin Deng and Matthew Hutmacher. Both were instrumental in the implementation of this research project. I also appreciate their patience and willingness to step up while I was recovering from my surgery. I want to thank Matt for his support during the last two years for numerous research studies and his eager attitude to always take on a new challenge. I am excited to see what you accomplish when you transition to graduate school. Additionally, I would like to thank past and present members of the Ergonomics Lab for their support throughout my journey at North Carolina State. I truly appreciate the guidance of those who finished before me, namely Isabel Zhang and Maryam Zahabi, for sharing their experiences with me and for their support on other research projects during my doctoral journey. I would also like to thank the following members of the lab for their support over the last few years: James Shirley, Amy Wadeson, David Feltner, CK Choi, Shijing Liu, Mei Lau, Olivia Morejon, and Carl Pankok Jr. The support of my family and friends both near and far has meant the world to me during my studies and I cannot ever fully express my gratitude to them. The friends that I have made at NC State have been my “rock” during my journey and my sanity may have been compromised long ago without them. In particular, Lena Abu-el-Haija, Kendall McKenzie, Siddhartha Nambiar, Joseph Agor, Katy Smith, Ismail Lekorchi, Kyle Hovey, James Shirley, Amy Wadeson, Pedro Huebner, and Lee Jones, have been with me for most of my graduate school journey and I am so grateful to have taken this journey with them. I am v also grateful for the support of Elicia Mabunga who was there for me through the trials and tribulations that arose throughout my time in Raleigh and for her unwavering support. I also cannot say enough for the help my family has provided during this journey particularly their support with my health issues and my subsequent surgery. Lastly, my journey at North Carolina State University would not have been possible without the support of a fellowship through the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health) Southeastern Education and Research Center (Grant No.
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