Richard Wells is a Professor in the
Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of
Waterloo. He was educated as a Mechanical Engineer at the University of
Manchester, England and McMaster University, Canada where he specialized in
Applied Mechanics with application to human function and injury; head injury in
boxing and description of human gait using assistive devices. Since joining the
Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, Richard has pursued similar
work concerning seat belt loads and neck injury in head-first impacts. For the
last two decades his main research and teaching interests have been work related
musculoskeletal disorders of the upper extremity and low back in industrial and
office settings.
His interests are in work-related
musculoskeletal disorders of the back and upper limbs; their causes,
pathophysiology and prevention. He address these issues using anatomical and
functional anatomical studies in cadavers and volunteer, by biomechanical
modeling of the structures affected, by development of measurement, recording
and processing approaches to document exposure at work, by participating in
epidemiological studies to assess the work-relatedness of various workplace
exposures and by the development of workplace processes to implement changes to
prevent musculoskeletal disorders and monitor their health effects
He is an Adjunct Scientist at the
Institute for Work and Health. He was a member of the Scientific Panel on
Repetitive Strain Injuries of the National Research Council of Canada and the
Quebec Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (IRSST). He was on the Board
of Directors of Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW). He is
Director of the newly created, WSIB funded, Centre of Research Expertise for the
Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeltal Disorders(CRE-MSD).
He has been involved in standards and regulations with CSA and OHSCO in Canada and ACGIH and OSHA in the USA. He also
acts as a consultant and speaker on ergonomic issues.
PDF Library
This section provides acess to copies of older and hard-to-get conference proceedings.
Wells, R., Ranney, D., and Keeler, A. (1985) The Interaction of Muscular and Elastic Forces During Unloaded Finger Movements: A Computer Graphics Model, in: S.M. Perren and E. Schneider (eds.) Biomechanics: Current Interdisciplinary Research, Martinus Nijhof Publishers, Dortrecht, Netherlands, pp743 748, 1985.
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Miller, M., and Wells, R. P. (1988) The Influence of Wrist Flexion, Wrist Deviation and Forearm Pronation on Pinch and Power Grasp Strength, in: Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics, Spodym Publishers, London, Ontario, pp112 113, 1988.
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Wells, R. P. (1988) The Influence Of Wrist Flexion And Extension on Pinch Strength; A Comparison of Experimental and Computer Simulation Results, in: Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Canadian Society for Biomechanics, Spodym Publishers, London, Ontario, pp168 169, 1988.
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Wells, R., Moore, A.E*., and Ranney, D. (1989) Musculoskeletal Stresses In Light Assembly, in: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Human Factors Association of Canada, Toronto, Canada, pp167-172, 1989
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Wells, R., Moore, A*., and Cholewicki, J*. (1990) Evaluation of Upper Limb Stresses Using Musculoskeletal Loads During a Rotating Light Assembly Task, in: Das, B. (ed), Advances in Industrial Ergonomics and Safety II, Taylor and Francis, pp183-190, 1990.
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Wells, R. P., Moore, A*., and Ranney, D. (1990) Evaluation of Hand Intensive Tasks Using Biomechanical Load Factors, in: Haslegrave, C., Wilson, J., Corlett, N. And Manenica, I. (eds), Work Design in Practice, Taylor and Francis, London, pp 67-73, 1990.
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Wells, R., Orr, S*., and Moore, A. (1992) Selection of Jobs for a Job Rotation Program., in: Hagberg, M. and Kilbom, A. (eds.) Proceedings: International Scientific Conference on Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, (PREMUS), Arbets Miljo Instituet (National Institute of Occupational Health), Stockholm, pp327-329, 1992.
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Wells, R., and Moore, A.E*. (1992) A Framework For Computer Assisted Approaches To The Prevention Of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Involving Workplace Design And Modifications, in: Mattila, M., Karwowski, W. (eds), Computer Applications in Ergonomics Occupational Safety and Health, North Holland, Amsterdam, pp55-62, 1992.
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Wells, R., and Moore, A.E*. (1992) Towards A Definition Of Repetitiveness In Manual Tasks, in: Mattila, M., Karwowski, W. (eds), Computer Applications in Ergonomics Occupational Safety and Health, North Holland, Amsterdam, pp401-408, 1992.
Orr, S*., and Wells, R. (1994) The Effect of Work Pace and Task Precision on Perceived Exertion and Muscle Activation in the Arms and Shoulders, in: Proceedings of the 12th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, Volume 5, pp318-320, 1994.
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Wells, R. P., Keir, P.J*., Moore, A.E*. and Ranney, D. (1996) A. Muscle Activity in the Hand and Forearm using a Traditional and a Chording Keyboard, in: Rempel, D. and Armstrong T., (eds) Proceedings of the 2nd Marconi Keyboard Research Conference, San Francisco, (no page numbers), 1996.
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Xiao, L*., and Wells, R. (1996) The Interaction Of Muscular Forces During Unloaded Finger Movement: A Forward Dynamic Model, in: Proceedings of NACOB II, Second North American Congress on Biomechanics, pp453-454, 1992.
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R. Wells , R. Norman, P. Neumann, J. Frank, H. Shannon, and M. Kerr and the OUBPS Working Group, (1999) Can the Biomechanical Exposure to the Spine Be Estimated in Epidemiologic Studies Using Post injury Measurements? In: Proceedings of the XVIIth Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics, Calgary, Aug. 1999.
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Neumann, W.P*., Wells, R.P., Norman, R.W. (1999) 4DWATBAK: Adapting research tools and epidemiological findings to software for easy application by industrial personnel. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Aided Ergonomics and Safety, Barcelona, Spain.
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Wells, R. and Sogaard, G. (2001) Is it the peak that matters or is it the cumulative exposure? in: Proceedings of: "X2001, Exposure Assessment in Epidemiology and Practice", June 10-13, 2001, National Institute for Working Life,
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Mathiassen SE, Wells RP, Winkel, J., Forsman, M. (2001) Tools for integrated engineering and ergonomic assessment of time aspects in industrial production, in: Caldenfors, D. Eklund, J and Kililoog, L. (eds) Proceedings of the 34th Nordic Ergonomics Society, Kolmården, Sweden October, 2002, 579-584.
R.P. Wells, S.E. Mathiassen, J. Winkel, L. Medbo, (2001) Risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in industry- a changing pattern? in: Caldenfors, D. Eklund, J and Kililoog, L. (eds) Proceedings of the 34th Nordic Ergonomics Society, Kolmården, Sweden October, 2002, 811-816.
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Neumann, W.P, Forsman, M., Kihlberg, S., Mathiassen , S.E, Wells, R.P, Norman, R.W., Frazer, M.B, Cole, D., Winkel, J., (2001) Initiating an ergonomics process - tips, tricks and traps. commentary from focus groups and case studies, in: Caldenfors, D. Eklund, J and Kililoog, L. (eds) Proceedings of the 34th Nordic Ergonomics Society, Kolmården, Sweden October, 2002, 597-602.
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Wells R.P Frazer M. B. And Laing A. C., (2002) Participatory ergonomics in an industrial setting facilitates proactive design, in: Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists, Banff, October, 2002.
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Reid, M.J., Enns, J., Frazer, M., Wells, R. (2003) A case study on the impact of an ergonomic change to the mall delivery trailer and redesign of a mall cart used for delivery in the transportation sector, in: Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists, London, ON, October.
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Reid, M.J., Frazer, M., Cole, D., Wells, R., (2003) A case study on the impact of reducing belt speed in the warehouse of a company in the transportation sector, in: Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Association of Canadian Ergonomists, London, ON, October.
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Contact Information
Telephone:
519 888-4567 Ext 33069 OR Support
Staff; Mariana Ostache Ext 35513.
FAX:
519 746-6776
Postal address:
Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200, University Ave W., Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada
E-mail wells@uwaterloo.ca
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Copyright © 2004 Richard Wells,
Ergonomics and Occupational Biomechanics Laboratory
This page last updated June, 2008
