National Safety Council funds innovative Auburn biomechanical research into occupational injury prevention
Published: Aug 5, 2025 9:00 AM
By Jeremy Henderson
The National Safety Council (NSC) apparently got the memo — there's little risk in investing in Auburn's injury risk research.
The council recently named a team working out of Auburn University's Biomechanical Engineering (AUBE) Lab as a 2025 recipient of the MSD Solutions Lab Research to Solutions (R2S) grant, a national initiative supporting innovative strategies for preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace. The award includes up to $50,000 to support the lab’s development of its Plant-Layout Organizational Tool for MSD Control and Mitigation, or PLOT, an innovative software platform integrating three validated fatigue failure-based ergonomic assessment tools.
Led by principal investigator (PI) Iván Nail-Ulloa, a mechanical engineering postdoctoral fellow working within the AUBE Lab, the project aims to revolutionize the way safety professionals assess injury risk on factory floors and similar industrial settings.
“Job rotation has been a go-to strategy for MSD prevention, but the data shows it’s not enough when high-risk tasks remain part of the rotation,” Nail-Ulloa said. “We need a better way to identify and mitigate those risks early."
Enter PLOT, which analyzes injury risks related to lifting, upper extremity movements and shoulder-intensive tasks.
What sets PLOT apart, Nail-Ulloa said, is its spatial approach. Input your task-specific data such as load weight, frequency and exertion levels, and PLOT handles the rest, overlaying the injury risk onto a map of the facility.
“The real power of PLOT lies in its ability to visualize MSD risk across an entire plant layout,” said project co-Pi and AUBE Lab director Michael Zabala, Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “It’s not just about identifying dangerous tasks — it’s about seeing where they are, who’s at risk and how to prioritize redesign in a way that truly protects workers.”
The tool provides cumulative risk summaries for each worker, station and production line, empowering safety professionals to make informed decisions about job redesign and rotation schedules.
The AUBE Lab team is also working closely with human factors experts at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries to ensure the platform is intuitive and practical for real-world applications. The first functional iteration of the software will be presented at the 69th Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting in October.
“This isn’t just theoretical,” said Zabala, who feels that Auburn’s selection for the R2S grant underscores Auburn Engineering's growing reputation in applied biomechanics and occupational safety research. “We’re building something that companies can use right away to create safer, smarter workplaces.”
Other team members are ergonomics and MSD expert Sean Gallagher, the Hal N. and Peggy S. Pennington Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Mauricio Henriquez, who earned his doctorate in industrial engineering from Auburn and now teaches at the Austral University of Chile.
“MSDs remain one of the leading causes of workplace injury,” Nail-Ulloa said. “Our goal is to turn advanced ergonomic science into tools that engineers and safety professionals can use every day. With NSC support, we’re one step closer.”
Software developed through Auburn University's Biomechanical Engineering (AUBE) Lab aims to revolutionize the way safety professionals assess injury risk on factory floors and similar industrial settings.
