The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has developed a new wrench aimed at preventing serious and costly injuries among gas-meter technicians.In some cases, the injuries have required shoulder surgery and have resulted in up to $100,000 in medical bills and lost work days, according to the UWM researchers who designed the new wrench through the Consortium for Advanced Research in Gas Industries headquartered at the university.The UWM Research Foundation has entered into a license agreement with Kenosha-based toolmaker Snap-on Inc. to commercialize and manufacture the specialty tool developed by faculty members Naira Campbell, Benjamin Church, and a student research team led by Patrick Dix, a graduate student in industrial engineering.
The wrench's design has a lot of potential to prevent injuries when technicians replace gas meters, and there could be ways to adapt it to other industries, said Andrew Lobo, director of product management and development in Snap-on's industrial tool division.The company expects to have the wrench available for purchase in late 2014. It's still unknown how much the university or the gas industries consortium will benefit from the Snap-on agreement,To keep things interesting
but it meets a workplace need, according to Lobo and Campbell."We noticed that a significant percentage of injuries to the gas mechanics occurred when they were using wrenches," said Campbell, professor and chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering.
Currently, technicians use a variety of tools when replacing gas meters, including adjustable pipe wrenches that sometimes slip when a lot of force is applied and result in serious shoulder injuries.None of the tools is ideal for the job, according to Campbell.The new tool's longer handle and slightly larger hand grip, along with the fact that it's designed not to slip, all aid in its safety.The tool also allows for the use of different wrench ends on one handle, eliminating the need to carry a heavy bag of specialty wrenches.Campbell is a researcher in biomechanics and ergonomics. She lost her brother in a work-related accident and has since devoted her career to workplace issues."I realized, as a scientist and a researcher, that I had done nothing to prevent those types of injuries. So one day I just decided to make a difference for people and switch to applications and outreach. That's how I ended up in this field," Campbell said.