Each
company has differing methodologies
and priorities about how, where, or
what the impetus of starting an
ergonomics program is. Some
ergonomics programs are driven
primarily through the medical
department, which results in ergonomic
analyses being completed on
workstations where injuries have
occurred.
Other companies take a somewhat more
proactive stance by evaluating every
workstation in their facility,
prioritizing those workstations which
have the highest risk of injury and
then “fixing” them. Whatever the drive
for the development and implementation
of an ergonomics program is, some of
the factors/processes involved in
establishing an effective program
include:
-
Current state
mapping of the physical demands
and/or ergonomic risk of the
operations/jobs in your facility
-
quantification of
risk and prioritization
-
support and
“buy-in” of management
-
education and
training of employees about ergonomics
-
interaction with
the medical department on
ergonomic-related injuries
-
proactive
involvement in design/set-up/planning
of workstations and/or equipment
Current state
mapping can be as simple as a
physical demands analysis (PDA) of all
of the current workstations at your
facility. A PDA is documentation
of what a person must physically do in
order to complete their work. This
includes observing the degree of trunk
flexion, shoulder abduction, or neck
flexion for example, as well as the
frequency and duration of these
postures.
Forces
required are also documented (i.e.
amount of weight lifted, or force
exerted to push something). The
PDA can also be used as part of your
return to work program with the
medical department to ensure employees
with restrictions are able to complete
a specific job.
In
addition to, or instead of, completing
a PDA on each workstation, an
ergonomic analysis can be completed to
quantify the risk of injury. This
analysis can include using such tools
as NIOSH (for lifting tasks), Snook
(for lifting or push/pull tasks),
ACGIH TLV (Hand activity), or even
JACK (for complex, asymmetrical
tasks).
Quantification -
Once the current state mapping is complete, focus in on the operations
with the highest risk of injury.
Prioritization of these identified
operations allows you to
systematically address the operations
with the highest risk of injury by
modifying/changing them as needed to
eliminate the ergonomic risk factor(s)
identified. In addition to
prioritizing based on ergonomic risk,
understanding the number of repetitive
strain injuries can also help in
identifying the jobs which need to be
improved first.
The
support of management, and/or union
officials, is crucial in a
successful ergonomics program.
If management and/or union are not
willing to support this process
(through simple time to complete an
ergonomic analysis, to implement a
“fix”, or by purchasing the necessary
“fixes” to resolve the ergonomic
concern) then an ergonomics program
cannot be successful.
Documentation that clearly
communicates the risk of injury and
the cost associated with that risk of
injury (i.e. Cost justification) is
important when obtaining management
support for an ergonomics program.
Providing awareness and education
to all employees is also an important
component of a successful ergonomics
program. Including ergonomics in
regular “safety talks” or “team
rallies” prior to the beginning of
shifts may be a good way to provide
ergonomic awareness to employees.
Other opportunities may involve
classroom time to educate employees on
basic anatomy, mechanisms for injury,
how to prevent injury, and what to
watch for to reduce ergonomic risk of
injury. Regardless of how employees
become aware of ergonomics, empowering
them to be able to identify risk
factors and to be part of the solution
to making their job better (and likely
more efficient) will lead to a smooth
and productive ergonomic process.
Education and awareness for management
and union officials may also be
necessary to ensure they understand
the benefits of implementing an
ergonomics program and assist in
obtaining their “buy-in” and support
for the process.
Keeping updated on the types of
injuries employees are reporting at
medical can assist in the
prioritization of which
operations/jobs should be evaluated
further for ergonomic risk.
Obviously a cut finger would not
necessarily require an ergonomic
assessment, however a report of low
back pain, associated with work,
could.
If part of your medical facility’s
procedures were to signal the
ergonomics team to evaluate a certain
job because of a report of injury, the
team could then complete an ergonomic
assessment of the job in question and
help to identify the risk of injury
and potential solutions to eliminate
that risk.
Working toward developing a
proactive process, with the goal
of designing jobs to minimize or
eliminate the risk of injury, can be
made possible by incorporating
ergonomics during the planning and
design stages of all workstation
changes, modifications or even
equipment purchases.
This involvement can range from simply
including an ergonomic section of
requirements in the purchasing of new
equipment documents, to including
ergonomic review of all design
proposals of equipment, tooling and
workstations.
As
you begin to develop, or look to
refresh, your ergonomics process you
may find the internet web sites listed
below helpful.
Informative Links:
Example of a Physical Demands Analysis
(PDA) template (Workplace Safety &
Insurance Board Ontario):
http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/LookupFiles/DownloadableFilePDIFSample2/$File/PDIFSample2.pdf
National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH):
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ergonomics/#ergo
NIOSH publication No. 2007-131:
Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual
Material Handling (see appendix B for
tools to quantitatively evaluate jobs
for ergonomic risk):
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-131/
OSHA Ergonomics information web page:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ergonomics/index.html
International Organization for
Standardization (IS) - can search for
various standards regarding specific
ergonomic tasks:
http://www.iso.org
International Ergonomics Association:
http://www.iea.cc/
UAW
Ergonomics:
http://www.uaw.org/node/1924
