Methods to Using Human Factors and Ergonomics to Break Down Obstacles and Barriers

“It’s impossible for me to this because….”

“There’s no way I can do it that way”

“It’s difficult for me to do it that way because…”

“If I did it that way, ____ would happen”

If you’ve heard statements similar to these it’s probably because your employees have obstacles or barriers in their way of performing and doing things the way they’ve been trained or instructed.  In this final blog series I’m going to discuss how to approach obstacles and barriers that get in the way of employees doing what they’ve been trained to do.

I’m going to continue to use safe patient handling (SPH) as an example for obstacles and barriers as it represents one of the most challenging changes in culture and how the work is done.  Similar situations in which employees are trained to use new “safety” equipment can occur in other industries and organizations.  Those situations can fall to the same lack of or inconsistent use of new equipment or policies.  In the case of SPH, the use of equipment by caregivers on a regular and consistent basis requires not only a change in how the work (in this case moving and transferring of patients) is done but also a change in culture—from decades of manually moving patients as a profession to the use of equipment.  SPH programs routinely face and struggle to overcome all four reasons—habits, perceptions, obstacles and barriers.

Many obstacles and barriers can occur in SPH.  The most common ones include: equipment not at the point of use, not enough equipment, the wrong type of equipment needed for the task, lack of equipment, limited amount of hands-on training and lack of buy-in and support from supervisors and managers.   Let’s look specifically at how ergonomics and human factors figures into a few factors in the usage (or non-usage) of SPH equipment.

All equipment should be evaluated based upon the task(s) it is required to perform.  If a facility purchases floor based lifts but the patient room size doesn’t allow them to be used easily by caregivers then that automatically creates an obstacle.  If the weight capacity of the equipment doesn’t match the patient’s weight then the equipment can’t/won’t be used, i.e. a barrier.  The placement and storage of equipment away from the point of use can create another obstacle and perhaps even a barrier.   Another important consideration should involve how easy the equipment is to operate.  It should be intuitive for the user so errors in equipment operation are kept to a minimum.  After all, the purpose of SPH is to reduce employee injuries and patient discomfort not to cause injuries.  Another area that can be overlooked is the accessory items associated with the equipment, i.e. the slings, sheets, etc.  Those items should be just as intuitive to use and easy to place under the patient as well as attach to the device.   The accessory items must fit the task, the patient and the caregiver.  One other potential equipment barrier is not having enough, either by not purchasing enough or by not having appropriate systems in place to clean and maintain the equipment so it is always available to use.

All of the above can lead to employees not being able to follow policy and training.  An effective ergonomics system anticipates and addresses issues proactively as well as continually fine-tune the human-machine-workflow interface in order to optimize employee safety and performance.