Ergonomics I

1. Compare the 2 different workplaces, state your observations.


The person at the 1st workplace have difficulties in adjusting the height of the chair to suit himself at the table. He also had some difficulties finding a comfortable distance from the chair to the table as he is fidgeting. The person at the 2nd workplace is comfortable with his chair as he can lean back on the chair when he is typing. It seems to be a comfortable distance from the chair to the table. The metal part of the chair allow the person to lean back easily.

The person at the 1st workplace also had trouble reading the monitor's screen. He could not move the monitor on the table nearer to him. The person at the 2nd workplace could make use the monitor's arm to adjust the distance of the monitor nearer to him. It allows comfort for the 2nd person as he does not need to scrunch his eyes just to read off the monitor.

The 1st person could not find the perfect lighting for him. It is either too glaring or too dim. The design of the lights focused the lights onto the person's face while the lights at the 2nd person's workplace focused the lights at the object. Hence, the 2nd person would not have to endure the glaring light while still have sufficient light to see. 

The chair at the 1st person's workplace does not allow the person to move freely. He almost spilled his drink onto himself. The chair at the 2nd person's workplace has a adjustable armrest so that the person can move the armrest down when he is not using it. He will not have to worry that he will knock into the armrest. When he needs a support for his arms, then he will lift the armrest up. The design of the armrest allows the user to use armrest when needed without the armrest being a nuisance when it is not needed.

My Last Observation

I am going to do my observation on the uncle who sells newspaper. Uncle always has to wake up at 5am. Then he will go to his booth. Normally, he will have to wait until about 5.30am before the newspaper are delivered. Some newspapers are even later. As Uncle was rather fit, he was able to lift the huge stack of newspaper from the ground to the table. So. generally, Uncle's routine is just wake up, got to booth, arrange the newspaper (including lifting) and sell the newspapers. I think the part that I can help him is the lifting. Although he is rather fit, he is still an elderly. I might want to help him to design something that can help him do the lifting.

My observation 3

This time, I am doing my observation about the old uncle who is working at the vegetable stall at the market. He wakes up every day 4.30am and work to about 12.30pm. He will go to the stall and start to pick the vegetables. As he is rather old, he will have some difficulties carrying the vegetables from the lorry  to the stall. Even with the help of the trolley, he still seemed to need help.

My floorplan for elderly

This is a floorplan for elderly. As you can see, most of the furniture are by the side to prevent the elderly from falling.

This is the bed.

This is the toilet. There will be hand rails inside for the elderly and non-slip tiles.

This is the door.

This is the dining table. I positioned near the stove so that if the elderly cooked hot soup, they would not have to walk very far.

This is the stove. The green box is the refrigerator where the elderly can put all the groceries in.

My (late) observations 1 and 2

Observation 1
I choose my grandmother to be the elderly in the limelight. As my grandmother saved up quite a bit of money when she was young so her elderly life is not that difficult. As my grandmother fell down 2 years ago, it has restricted her walking now. She can walk without the walking aid but it will be more comfortable for her with it. In my grandmother's house, most of the furniture are all by the side. The others are mostly movable. The toilets have the non-slippery tiles to prevent my grandmother to slip and fall again. So, the main point is to prevent my grandmother to fall.

Observation 2
How my grandmother does her daily routines

Before she fell down, she will walk to the back of my aunt's house which is 2 apartments away to pluck the chilli padi. Then she will start to prepare to go the market. At 8, she will cook for my uncles. After that, then she will start the household chores.

After she fell down, she will wake up later. Then she will ask my cousin to go to the market to buy groceries. Then she will start to cook.

Before my grandmother fell down, she was a person who likes to travel or just go out. Now, she will not go out as often as before unless somebody is driving a car. We still play mahjong with her to prevent her from getting dementia. So, after she fell down, her life did not change much as she would still be willing to go out.

Holiday work - Part 1: Understanding "The Elderly Challenge"

• Explain in your own words, the FOUR key recommendations of the report.
• Housing for seniors, accessibility for seniors, caring for seniors and opportunities for seniors.
• State ONE way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly
• We can provide the elderly with more choices of housing by giving different length of land leases.
• State TWO ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable.
• We can try to make sure that the food prices do not increase too much.
• We can try to provide some fun activities for the elderly that will not need the elderly to spend a lot of money.
• After reading the CAI report, what do you are the THREE things that you can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges
• I can help out in elderly centers.
• I can donate money to the elderly.
• I can help by doing charity fairs to help elderly.

Personal Reflection (NEwater visit)

1. What are the 3 key takeaways from today’s visit?
The 3 key takeaways from today's visit are about the reservoirs in Singapore, the treatment process of the NEWater and the technology involved in the process.

2. Name 2 concepts that you have learnt today during the visit.
I have learnt about ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis.

Ultrafiltration uses a "case-like" thing to purify the water.

Reverse osmosis is like a thin string which has a lot of pores that only allow water molecules to pass through.

3. What is the 1 interesting thing that you have learnt today?
The interesting thing that I have learnt today is that if the pores in reverse osmosis is the size of a tennis ball, a water molecule will be like a ping pong ball. A mineral would be a soccer ball. A virus would be the size of a truck and a bacteria would be the size of the water plant.

4. What are the things that you can do to help with water conservation in Singapore?

I can help by carrying out the 3Rs. I can use the water after washing the rice to water the plants.