FACULTY
Peter W. Johnson, PhD, MS
Associate Professor, Env. and Occ. Health Sciences
Adjunct Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering Program
Peter Johnson, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Occupational and Environmental Exposure Sciences program, specializing in ergonomics. He earned his Doctorate in Bioengineering from the University of California - Berkeley and has worked as a researcher at the National Institutes of Occupational Health in the United States, Sweden and Denmark. In cooperation with Harvard University, he has developed and validated an exposure assessment system for measuring physical risk factors during computer work; he has worked on two large-scale studies in Sweden measuring and characterizing upper-extremity hazards associated with computer and cell phone use; is conducting studies evaluating ways to reduce whole body vibration exposures in bus drivers and forklift operators; and with the University of British Columbia, has assisted in developing tools for assessing low back exposures within five heavy industries in British Columbia. In addition, has also worked with Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Logitech assisting with the design and evaluation of new keyboards and mice and is conducting work to determine whether kids may benefit from input devices specifically designed to match their smaller stature. Finally, he is working with Harvard University to determine whether muscle fatigue occurs with intensive computer use by using electrical stimulation of the muscle and a specially designed computer activity monitoring program to simultaneously measure changes in the physiological state of the muscle and changes in specific components of computer activity.
Contact Information
Box 3572344225 Roosevelt Way NE
Suite 100
Seattle, WA 98195-7234
Tel: 206-221-5240
petej@u.washington.edu
Research Interests
Ergonomics, bioengineering, computer-related disorders, developing hardware and software technologies for assessing exposures to physical risk factors
Education
PhD, Ergonomics, University of California (Berkeley) 1998
MS, Ergonomics, University of California (Berkeley) 1998
Projects
1. Tools for exposure assessment of physical risk factors
Project with Dr. Jack Dennlerlein, School of Public Health, Harvard University to develop and validate an exposure assessment system for measuring multiple physical risk factors during work with the computer.
2. Assessment of fatigability differences between computer mouse users with and without pain
Project with Dr. Gert Thompson of the Department of Occupational Medicine, University Hospital of Aarhus, Denmark measuring the muscle's response to electrical stimulation in order to determine whether there are differences in fatigability between computer mouse users with and without pain.
3. Measuring muscle fatigue during simulated industrial tasks
Project with Dr. Jack Dennlerlein and Dr. Kirsty Bennie, School of Public Health, Harvard University and Vincent Cirello, Liberty Mutual Research Center to measure muscle fatigue resulting from simulated industrial tasks using electrical stimulation of the muscle.
4. Effects of vibration exposure on muscle fatigue and manual dexterity
Project with Dr. Bernard Martin, Department of Industrial and Operation Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor to measure muscle fatigue, using electrical stimulation of the muscle, during simulated industrial tasks with vibration.
5. Intermittent and sustained hand grip contractions and fatigue
Project with Dr. Bernard Martin, Department of Industrial and Operation Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor to measure muscle fatigue, using electrical stimulation of the muscle, during various static and dynamic hand grip contractions.
