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The understanding of the types of knee disorders, the affected occupations, and the job related risk factors will allow ergonomic practitioners and researchers to create and adjust work environments for the detection and lessening of knee work-related musculoskeletal risk. Further studies need to be conducted to (1) justify the presence of risk from certain risk factors and (2) enhance the understanding of risk factor dose-response levels and their temporal development.

IoT (Internet of Things) has suppressed technology to utmost level by sensing a situation through sensors and reacting to that situation via actuators without human intervention. The term coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999 but the actual development started taking place a few years back. It is predicted that by 2020 billion of devices will be connected with each other seeming truer by now. Urban regions are growing steadily and urban living stances genuine challenges in our ordinary lives. Beginning at 2007, half of the aggregate people were living in urban networks rather than nation ranges. The United Nations Population Fund gauges that by 2030 around 60% of the aggregate people will live in an urban area. In this particular situation, Information and Correspondence Technologies (ICT) together with adjacent governments and exclusive organizations accept a key part to execute creative courses of action, organizations and applications to make astute urban territories a reality. In this conmessage, the Internet of Things (IoT) perspective is expecting a basic part as an engaging specialist of a wide extent of usage, both for ventures and the comprehensive network. The growing pervasiveness of the IoT thought is moreover a direct result of the ceaselessly creating number of skilled gadgets like cell phones, tablets, portable PCs and brings down fit gadgets like sensors that can join the Internet.

Locomotives produce vibrations and mechanical shocks from irregularities in the track, structural dynamics, the engines, the trucks, and train slack movement (Mansfield, 2005). The different directions of the irregularities give rise to car-body vibrations in multiple axes including the following: • longitudinal, or along the length of the train (x); • lateral, or the side-to-side direction of the train (y); • vertical (z). The structural dynamics of rail vehicles give rise to several resonances in the 0.5–20Hz frequency range (Andersson, et al., 2005). Resonances are frequencies in the locomotive that cause larger amplitude oscillations. At these frequencies, even small-amplitude input vibration can produce large output oscillations. Further exacerbating the vibration environment, coupling of the axes of movement occurs: Motions in one direction contribute to motion in a different direction. The magnitude of vertical vibration in rail vehicles is reportedly well below many other types of vehicles (Dupuis & Zerlett, 1986; Griffin, 1990; Johanning, 1998). However, a lack of data from long-haul freight operations prevents an adequate characterization of the vibration environment of locomotive cabs. The authors describe results from 2 long-haul whole-body vibration (WBV) studies collected on a 2009 GE ES44C4 locomotive and a 2008 EMD SD70ACe. These WBV studies sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) examined WBV and shock in locomotives over 123 hours and 2274 track miles. The researchers recorded vibration data using 2 triaxial accelerometers on the engineers’ seat: a seat pad accelerometer placed on the seat cushion and a frame accelerometer attached to the seat frame at the base. The research team collected and analyzed vibrations in accordance with ISO 2631-1 and ISO 2631-5. ISO 2631-1 defines methods for the measurement of periodic, random and transient WBV. The focus of ISO 2631-5 is to evaluate the exposure of a seated person to multiple mechanical shocks from seat pad measurements. Exposure to excessive vibration is associated with an increased occupational risk of fatigue-related musculoskeletal injury and disruption of the vestibular system. While this is not an established causal relationship, it is possible that vibration approaching the ISO 2631-1 health caution guidance zones may lead to an increased occupational risk. The results from these rides show that the frequency-weighted ISO 2631 metrics are below the established health guidance caution zones of the WBV ISO 2631 standards. The goals of these studies are to: • collect data in accordance with international standards so results can be compared with similar findings in the literature for shorter duration rides as well as vibration studies in other transportation modes, • to characterize vibration and shock in a representative sample of locomotive operations to be able to generalize the results across the industry, and • collect benchmark data for future locomotive cab ride-quality standards.

Proper training of emergency responders is essential to safely and effectively respond to a train accident. While there are several existing programs that address training with respect to passenger trains and hazardous materials, training focused on rescuing entrapped crew members from the locomotive cab is lacking. To address this need, the Federal Railroad Administration is sponsoring QinetiQ North America to develop a multi-modal training program to better prepare firefighters to respond to locomotive-involved accidents. The training emphasis is on freight locomotive crew rescue and encompasses three main topics: 1. locate the scene of the incident, 2. access the interior of the cab to rescue personnel, and 3. maintain scene safety. One of the challenges involved in developing this program is the deficiency of knowledge with respect to the tools and techniques that should be utilized in locomotive rescue operations. For this, QNA conducted structural analysis of locomotive cabs and experiments with rescue tools on locomotives. The experiments involved fire rescue personnel and rescue tool manufacturers. Tools ranging from a standard Halligan bar to specialized tools such as hydraulic cutters were tested for effectiveness, speed, and safety. This paper discusses the experimental methodology and lessons learned.