On Jan. 15, 2014, Robert Pater, the managing director of
SSA/MoveSMART, presented Leading a
Concentric Ergonomic Culture to Achieve Multiple Returns, his 22nd
webinar for ASSE.
According to Pater, ergonomic principles of preventing
cumulative trauma can be applied to overall safety and to organizational
change. In terms of ergonomics, cumulative trauma is generally caused by a
concentration of pressure on one part of the body during work activities and
results in weakness of joints and muscles. For example, when one’s occupation
involves continuous sitting, cumulative trauma can be prevented by periodically
shifting positions during the day.
Cumulative trauma also applies to other areas of safety,
such as hearing loss and eye injury. If one is exposed to loud noises without
wearing the needed protective equipment only a few times, the hearing loss
experienced will be less severe than if s/he is exposed to damaging noises on a
regular basis. Similarly, workers often overlook the importance of eye protection
based on the infrequency of severe eye injuries, yet even small particles of
dust entering the eyes can cause serious damage if a worker’s eyes are exposed
to dust often and over long periods of time.
To create a concentric ergonomic culture, Pater says an
organization must focus on increasing leverage; using few actions to gain
multiple results that will affect many people over long periods of time. He
explains that there are four levels of ergonomic culture:
- Forced. Safety is done to workers by top management with a minimal amount of effort exerted.
- Protective. Safety is done for workers, and managers view safety as important but treat workers like children by underestimating worker competencies in regard to ergonomics and blaming workers for incorrect approaches.
- Involved. Safety is done with workers and viewed as very important.
- Leadership. Everyone practices ergonomics and views himself or herself as an ergonomics expert. People are made responsible for their own actions and check in with themselves to ensure that they are carrying out tasks in the safest manner possible.
Achieving level four requires focusing on internalized
ergonomics as well as training workers on how to become more aware of their own
actions, reporting incidents and avoiding blaming individuals. Additionally,
organizations must make use of the safest equipment possible. Many times,
organizations invest in safer equipment but fail to take the time to implement
its use.
Because strains and other ergonomic injuries often result
from work objects being located too far away from the worker, engineering
approaches to ergonomics often involve moving work objects closer to the
worker. Another approach is to move the worker closer to his or her work and
train workers on ergonomic skills regarding decision making. However, Pater
suggests that the most effective approach is to simultaneously move work closer
to the worker and the worker closer to his or her work while also encouraging
workers to take responsibility for their own actions. This coordination
approach yields the best results because it gives workers control over their
own movements but also allows workers to gain comfort at work by controlling
their work environments.