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Industrial ergonomists know through hard experience the pushback that human factors professionals face in the field. The Interpersonal Skills Teaching Centre at Ryerson University specializes in teaching social skills to students. The core concept is to immerse the student-learner in a simulated social environment with live actors who portray relevant stakeholders. Apart from being a great learning opportunity, this technique has proven to be fun for both instructor and students, according to this March 2012 cover story from Industrial Engineer.
According to a study by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, tornadoes that devastated parts of Alabama on Jan. 23 caused not only physical and financial losses, but also changes in thinking and reaction time.
A Connecticut man, inspired by a musician friend injured in a car wreck, has designed an ergonomic guitar for people who like to play sitting down or have to play sitting down because they are in a wheelchair, according to ctpost.com.
IIE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics & Human Factors (OEHF), a new journal publishing in 2012, is devoted to compiling and disseminating knowledge on occupational ergonomics and human factors theory, technology, application and practice across diverse areas and using a variety of approaches.
According to this Jan. 16, 2012, article on gizmag.com, a Swiss research group is working with an ergonomics firm to develop a new type of wheelchair seat that periodically causes users to change the way they're sitting.
This January 2012 article from Industrial Engineer suggests companies can derive a number of benefits from internal competitions that aim to remedy problems. The true merit of project worthiness, however, comes from implementing the submitted idea or solution at another business unit or company site. Regardless of the tangible cost, labor savings or contest standing, implementing an entry can have a multiplying effect. The benefit for a company is obvious, especially in its ability to reduce potential ergonomic risks.
By integrating ergonomics into sustainability and repackaging successes from ergonomics programs, there is a huge opportunity for ergonomics professionals to capture attention in the boardroom, according to this article from the September 2011 issue of Industrial Engineer.
Safety engineering, or occupational safety and health engineering to be exact, is a field that needs IEs more than ever, according to this feature from the July 2011 issue of Industrial Engineer.
At a conference in May 2011, a corporate environmental health and safety manager for Baxter Healthcare Corp. discussed the audit of the company's nonregulated fleet program, focusing on how the vehicles are used and who is allowed to drive them.
MSDs among veterinarians represent a serious work problem that needs to be addressed through ergonomic interventions in workplace and task design. In this March 2011 cover story of Industrial Engineer, a small animal emergency vet clinic is in the process of designing a larger veterinarian hospital near Raleigh, N.C.
Recipients of the Ergo Cup® and the Creativeness in Ergonomics Awards were recognized March 24, marking the end of the 14th annual Applied Ergonomics Conference in Orlando, Fla. Click on this headline for a complete list of award recipients as well as conference commentary and photos.
A university dental school wants dentists and dental hygienists to learn ergonomically correct practices, according to a Front Line article in the February 2011 issue of Industrial Engineer.
On Jan. 25, 2011, OSHA announced that it has temporarily withdrawn its proposal to restore a column for work-related musculoskeletal disorders on employer injury and illness logs.
According to a Jan. 22, 2011, report by Gulfnews.com, about 80 percent of people suffer from lower back pain due to improper body positioning when sitting at their desks.
Joint Genome Institute, Honda of America MFG Inc. and GE Energy were named the winners of the prestigious Ergo Cup at the Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo 2010 in San Antonio in March.
As employees get older, the work environment can affect their ability to perform work, according to this story from the November 2010 issue of Industrial Engineer.
In the March 2010 issue of Industrial Engineer, contributing author Juan Martinez discusses how ergonomics in fast food began with the (Burger) King. He says industrial engineering and ergonomics principles have proven to maximize the output while minimizing the inputs for many concepts.
According to the 2009 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index (WSI), the most disabling workplace injuries and illnesses cost U.S. businesses $53 billion in direct workers’ compensation costs, an average of more than $1 billion per week.
Rough economic waters and an aging work force, both in the U.S. and around the world, are beginning to shape how office and factory environments facilitate ergonomics solutions for workers. Shifting demographics are propelling changes in health and safety measures that also maintain and improve productivity.
In the December 2009 issue, Industrial Engineer columnist Marenda Caldwell discusses data on Americans living with arthritis and the ergonomic conditions that must be considered to reduce limitations for those who suffer from it.
A report by the International Labour Organization has proposed special recruitment incentives for older persons in Thailand to enter the work force. Some of the steps may help to reduce taxes and eradicate poverty.
Today's office workers never need to leave the office. But does that necessarily mean they shouldn't? Mark Benden, an assistant professor at Texas A&M’s Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health, examines the dangers of obesity in today’s work force in a Member Forum column for IE magazine.
Since the dawn of designer furniture, have people been trading their health for whatever chair or couch looks best? A history lesson can provide a window to modern solutions in safety, comfort and, yes, aesthetics.
Learn the skills needed to put together strong ergonomics teams beyond a single site in this free webinar.
Kevin Tesh, ergonomics manager at Ethicon Franchise, discussed the development and implementation of ergonomic standards in the European Union in his keynote address at the 2009 Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo.
A look at how Australia works ergonomics into building design.
Marenda Caldwell discusses how children are affected by ergonomic risk factors in her June column in IE.
Companies have to learn to address mental fatigue as well as physical fatigue to improve performance, according to Kevin McManus in his May IE column.
Ergo Cup® 2009
View the problem, solution and outcome of the submissions for the three categories of the 2009 Ergo Cup competition.
Terry Mathis, a former director of training for Coca-Cola and founder of ProAct Safety Inc., describes how behavior-based safety has evolved.
The design of transport means has progressed considerably, mainly in the area of the comfort and security of the passengers. In many countries there are standards in place to prevent accidents and assure the minimum conditions of comfort.
See some of the sights of the 2009 Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo in Reno, Nev.
In her March IE column, Marenda Caldwell asks whether employees be efficient and safe at the same time.
This presentation addresses incident investigations at a midsize pharmaceutical R&D facility that led to the development of mandatory supervisor ergonomics awareness training. Discover tips for integrating ergonomics with occupational health and upper management, developing training content and disseminating information.
Julia Greenwald, a senior ergonomist at The Ergonomics Center of North Carolina, provides six steps for moving ergonomics programs forward.
The authors of this paper have developed a simulator that evaluates the stability and ease of a human’s ability to grasp hand-held data appliances such as digital cameras.
This presentation identifies the measures companies are using to describe project-specific as well as organizationwide success in ergonomics and to what degree they are reporting success.
This case study evaluates the impact of incorporation on participatory ergonomics within a kaizen event at a local brake manufacturer.
This presentation explains the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation Safety Grant and provides information regarding the implementation of the safety grant in 140 company work areas that purchased lift table and material handling ergonomic equipment.
The ergonomic design of a work schedule can have a significant impact on productivity and safety. This presentation provides an overview of research regarding work scheduling factors and modeling.
This study compares the specifications of OHSAS 18001, the International Labour Organization (ILO) guidelines and Oregon state OSHA guidelines and concludes that their integration will lead to a comprehensive and easy to implement safety management system. The approach was adopted by the Nuqul Group (one of the Middle East’s leading industrial groups).
Paramedics in emergency response services often experience a high rate of shoulder and back injuries due to their duties and equipment designs. This case study describes a consultation with a large ambulance service to identify hazards or conditions that could be contributing to these injuries.
This presentation reviews ergonomic interventions in large commercial nurseries and vineyards using the NIOSH lifting equation, the lumbar motion monitor, estimates of energy expenditure and other approaches to assess risk factors and symptom levels before and after introducing new tools and equipment.
This presentation explains how the Washington Ergonomics (WE) assessment method and the strain index can work together to provide useful information for managerial teams looking to minimize injury risks in manufacturing shops while minimizing the time needed to perform assessments.
A vital ingredient to a successful ergonomics program is statistics. This paper describes a unique system designed to make promoting proactive ergonomics an easy process using detailed programming to collect data – data that is helping companies lower their health care costs and look at prevention in a whole new light.
Find out how a classic industrial engineering tool, time studies, can be used concurrently with ergonomic analysis.
This presentation involves the evaluation of the effectiveness of a new ergonomic pipette for use in laboratory work.
Post-offer screening can improve productivity and profitability, but there are legal issues related to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA). This presentation reviews the EEOC and ADA considerations and describes a process for developing a defensible post-offer screen.
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