What is ergonomics and what can it do for your employees?
The rehabilitation ergonomist’s perspective

By Mark Hank, OTR/L, CEA

Ergonomics, or human factors, as it is also known, is about ensuring that the environment, tools and machines used in a work process are well-suited to the people using them. In doing so, ergonomics provides cost reductions through decreased loss experience and improved employee safety, productivity and physical comfort, as well as improved product and service quality.

Although ergonomics is commonly associated with the setup of computer work stations, it is actually applicable to every aspect of the work environment, regardless of the job, with some jobs requiring more ergonomics design than others. Some examples include assembly and manufacturing, maintenance or service-related jobs, healthcare delivery and patient care, and of course, computer–intensive environments such as call centers. Proper job and environmental design is integral to injury prevention in all industries.

So, what does this have to do with the injured worker and successful return to work? Inefficient work processes or poorly designed workstations may require many excessive and wasted motions, adoption of awkward postures or application of excessive and forceful exertions, which can lead to soft tissue strain and injury, ultimately manifesting as any number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Additionally, various industries are known to foster hazards for certain types of musculoskeletal injuries. For example, low back injuries are associated with nursing, truck driving and warehousing, and jobs that require intensive computer use or manipulation of small components are associated with higher rates of cumulative hand and wrist injuries. Knowing what risks are typically associated with your client’s industry and performing a thorough and objective job site assessment can help prevent injuries, and return your client to work sooner and more successfully than medical and therapeutic care alone. Therefore, job site analysis is a critical piece of case management and should be performed in return to work situations where the diagnosis is musculoskeletal injury or disorder. From the perspective of the rehabilitation ergonomist, ergonomics is part of injury care. Therefore, anyone who is recovering from a musculoskeletal disorder should have a jobsite assessment as part of the return to work plan. By addressing workstation design and set up as well as work flow, risk factors for musculoskeletal strain can be identified and corrected. This promotes recovery and healing by improving the client’s physical comfort.

A thorough job site assessment needs to include the following:

1.) A review of the diagnosis and typical risk factors for that diagnosis, including the effect certain tasks and postures may have.

The client’s work practices should also be observed to analyze for awkward postures, excessive and repetitive reaching, forceful exertions (measured objectively, if possible), contact or compressive stress to soft tissues and other practices that can contribute to musculoskeletal strain.

Coaching in safe work practices and neutral posture and movement is also important, and often is more beneficial than new equipment or furniture.

2.) Objective and thoughtful analysis: All measurements should also be analyzed using relevant industry-standard data tables for interpretation as to whether the task is safe.

3.) Assessment of the workstation itself with a comparison to the client’s physical dimensions or anthropometrics is important to obtaining a proper fit between the worker and the jobsite.

4.) Perform necessary workstation, tool or furniture modifications and determine whether additional accommodations are needed. Ideally, the workstation will be modifiable for the client, so that adjustments for height and viewing and reaching distances can be customized to the individual’s needs. Modifications can also be made to accommodate any remaining medical restrictions.

5.) Objective documentation is needed to serve as a record of the job site analysis or workstation assessment. The evaluator should be sure to include all observations, pertinent measurements and recommendations. This author makes it a practice to provide copies of the report to all pertinent parties such as the physician, QRC, employer or supervisor, adjuster, and of course, the client. Proper releases are secured when necessary.

A well documented job site analysis provides a clear roadmap which, when followed by the employer and employee, promotes successful return to work by insuring that the workstation and job meet objective safety criteria and need for specific accommodations, if required. Successful return to work requires a team effort, and the rehabilitation ergonomist can be an important part of the team.

References:

Ergonomic evaluation: Part of a treatment protocol for musculoskeletal injuries
By: Deborah Grayson, Ann Marie Dale, Paula Bohr, Laurie Wolf and Bradley Evanoff AAOHN Journal October 2005, vol. 53 no.10 pp 450-457

Chronic Pain in the workplace
By: Julia Faucett and Dolores McCarthy
The Nursing Clinics of North America (38) 2003 pp 509-523

About the author:

Mark Hank is the owner and Principal Consultant of Eucentra Consulting, LLC, a specialty advising firm focusing on ergonomics consultation and injury prevention with an emphasis on individual return to work. Mr. Hank utilizes his experience as an occupational therapist with emphasis on treatment of the whole person, not treating a condition, but rather a person with a musculoskeletal condition or disability, and combines this with knowledge and application of ergonomics to provide an effective blend of rehabilitation science and occupational rehabilitation called ErgonomicareTM.
Eucentra Consulting also provides job analysis, ergonomics hazard assessment and a full complement of training resources for individuals and groups of any size. While he provides many services, his focus is on safely returning injured employees to work. The practice also specializes in helping both employers and employees develop and implement ergonomics programs that enhance the safety and efficiency of their work environments.