By Jane E. Sleeth
Many employers struggle with determining objectively if ergonomic hazards are present in the workplace as part of their ergonomic program. A common complaint of many employers is that the compensation boards and ministries of labour will have in place ergonomic regulations or legislation but not provide the employers with guidelines or standards to determine if ergonomic problems actually exist. With this in mind our firm developed a tool to assist employers to determine if ergonomic hazards exist and to what degree they exist for specific jobs in the work environment. This tool is unique in that it has been ³married² with a software program to make the data collection phase of an ergonomic study easier.
The ergonomic hazard identification software referred to as the OPC Ergo Hazard ID TM will have direct application for employers, insurance companies and compensation boards across North America and is set for release for early 2003. The Hazard ID software will allow the end user to objectively determine what, if any, ergonomic hazards exist in an office or industrial environment. Since the software is compatible with handheld personal computing devices, such as a Palm Pilot, data can be collected and entered directly onsite. This eliminates the re-keying of information, and minimizes the potential for field data entry errors.
The design of the software, integrating the field mobility of a hand held computer module, can ensure that ergonomic standards receive the highest level of validation as part of the hazard identification process. This not only helps to make the hazard assessment a time and cost effective solution (reducing the hazard assessment process up to 75% over traditional, paper-based data collection exercises) but it also enables for time-based trend analysis to determine if specific ergonomic interventions are have the desired positive effect.
Once collected, the end user can download the data onto a computer and generate reports and trend data within seconds. Rather than the ergonomics expert spend non-value added time in report writing and number crunching, the software and Palm interface virtually eliminates the need for any manual data entry. Time, energy and expertise is focussed on the critical task of ergonomic risk management . . . not paper data compilation or report writing.
This past year, the research consultants at our firm developed written ergonomic guidelines and standards based on over 12 years of qualitative and quantitative fieldwork, validity studies and research, and two reliability studies with employers in Ontario and British Columbia. This process is described later in the article.
All of our consultants across Canada are obligated to use these developed standards and guidelines in order to ensure standardization of the approach for each province as well as to ensure reliability of the data collected. This data has provided us with information that was incorporated into software programs: the, Ergo Hazard ID Office TM, Ergo Hazard ID Industrial TM.
It is a our strong belief as professionals that all ergonomic assessments and design recommendations should be based on evidence, which has been field-tested amongst large population samples. If an employer is going to have to spend any time or money improving the engineering of a workstation, equipment, or tools there needs to be a sound and objective reason as to why this should occur. Within our firm, this approach and system is used when assessing ergonomic hazards and risks in the workplace such as repetition, static loads and mechanical stressors.
We developed the Ergo Hazard ID TM software to help employers understand the application of ergonomic risk and hazard assessments in the workplace, as well as to help them quantify ergonomic hazards in their own workplace for the purpose of prioritizing which jobs need to be improved first.
Before the software was released it needed to be validated. This ensured that all end users of the Ergo Hazard ID TM software will quantify the same type of hazard as another person using the same tool. As well, this means the tool should provide consistent results each time it is used prior to it being released for use in the field.
To help us determine we had developed a tool that was both valid and reliable, we hired Lori Ross, MSc. Ergonomics, who, at the time, was completing her Masters Thesis at the University of Windsor in Ergonomics. Lori's mandate was to design a field-testing method using the software.
Extensive research took place in order to ensure that every item in both the office and industrial checklist was validated and supported in the current ergonomic literature. Lori Ross undertook a large review of the literature, interviewed each of the OPC Inc. consultants and reviewed the Ministry of Labour's ergonomic guidelines and standards. Some of the review included the CSA Ergonomic Standards, the OSHA and ANSI ergonomic guidelines as well as other North American and European ergonomic guidelines (for example the new ISO 18001 series). The ergonomic software tool was also designed to be compatible and complimentary to these international guidelines and requirements. The next step was the design of a research project in order to test the software and the Ergo Hazard ID TM software in the field.
As part of the research we targeted two potential purchasing employers to participate in the study. A number of participants assessed one job, each independent of one another. Results were reviewed by Lori Ross. Our on-going research has yielded positive results. The engineers, Ergonomists, union representatives, and health & safety personnel who have tested the Ergo Hazard ID TM software all found it to be objective, user friendly and effective in determining the presence and degree of ergonomic hazard. Lori Ross presented the results of her research at the University of Windsor in January 2002 to a committee of peers and professors.
The research revealed that it is important for all users to receive standardized training in two areas:
1) a basic understanding of ergonomics and how to identify ergonomic hazards - such as the Nuts & Bolts of Ergonomics course and;
2) understanding the use, application and interpretation of the OPC Inc. Ergo Hazard ID TM software.
This approach marks a unique Canadian application of marrying the latest and best in ergonomic research and science, with leading edge technology tools. This first-of-its-kind approach to ergonomic technology will enable ergonomic specialists to focus quickly and accurately on critical ergonomic risks, and solutions, in a fraction of the time, but with far greater accuracy than ever before.
