Reaction arms and operator well-being

The results of the Fiam-University of Padua research presented in Vicenza at the Ergonomics Conference

On October 17, Fiam hosted the conference “Ergonomics Applied to Industrial Assembly”, a day entirely dedicated to ergonomics organized by Fiam and patronized by Confindustria Vicenza.

The event was attended by over 100 people, who showed great interest and attention to the topics covered, presented by the speakers from a multidisciplinary and practical perspective on the evolution of ergonomics for the manufacturing industry.

The topics discussed included the benefits of collaboration with universities on business innovation, Lean applied to ergonomics, guided conduct software, and the new frontiers of humanoid robotics. There was a clear common thread: ergonomics as a strategic lever for businesses and a means for worker well-being.

The focus on worker well-being was at the center of the presentations by Fiam and Gym HUB—a spin-off of the Department of Medicine at the University of Padua—which focused on the analysis of biomechanical overload and the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders, offering an overview of how to create ergonomic work layouts, thanks also to the reaction arms used in industrial assembly phases.
Of particular interest was the presentation of an important applied research project and the analysis of the results obtained.

The study, which is unique in its kind and currently awaiting publication in medical journals, aimed to objectively evaluate the role of reaction arms in reducing counterblow and vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system when using hand tools and to provide concrete and measurable data on their effectiveness. All this goes beyond current regulatory guidelines, which only recommend their use above threshold levels.

The experimentation, conducted by researchers at the University of Padua (ergonomists, occupational physicians, biomechanical engineers), involved 30 operators and 10 workstations with different combinations of screwdrivers and reaction arms, for a total of 4,800 tightening actions analyzed using inertial sensors and computer vision algorithms.

Thanks to these technologies, it was possible to calculate the variation in the amount of the counterblow using an innovative calculation method developed specifically for this purpose, taking one of the conditions as a reference point and comparing it to the alternatives.

The results on the reaction to the hand-arm system (counterblow) with reaction arms were significant and demonstrated how effective they are: compared to the operating condition without the aid of the arm, it was shown that the use of any reaction arm reduces the reaction torque transmitted to the hand-arm system by more than 70%.

This is therefore a scientifically significant validation that clearly shows that the use of a reaction arm is recommended in all operating conditions.

The conference provided an opportunity to share concrete and objective data useful for raising awareness among companies about the value of ergonomic aids and their essential use for the health of operators.

To continue in this direction and respond to the growing number of requests from companies for more information on these issues, the event will be repeated in 2026, not only in Italy but also in France and Spain branches.

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