Ergonomic Assessment: Questioning Guidelines Part 1

Asking the right questions and getting the correct answers are necessary in order to do a thorough ergonomic assessment.  In my previous blog I laid out the 5 components of an ergonomic assessment.  Let’s do a brief overview of the type of questions to ask in the first and second components.

The first step was to gather background information and data.  The questions to ask at this point is simple the 5 Ws and H—Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.  This is then followed by asking at least 5 “Whys?”  The goal at this stage is to gather all of the data as to what happened, if the assessment was done after an incident or what will happen, if the assessment is done proactively.

The second step was to ask questions that relate to the 3 categories of ergonomics—Physical, Cognitive and Organizational.  Let’s first focus on Physical.  I my opinion there are 5 topic areas regarding physical ergonomics:

1. Task
2. Load
3. Environment
4. Equipment
5. Individual capabilities

Here are some examples of questions that you can use that relate to each topic area:

Task:

• What is the task duration?
• Is it as short as possible?
• Is there a route involved?  If so, is the route as short as possible?
• Is the route clear of obstacles?
• Is it a one or two handed operation?
• Is there pushing/pulling involved?
• Is there lifting/carrying involved?

Load:

• How heavy is the load?
• How much force is exerted?
• In what posture is the load handled?
• Is it pushed/pulled?  If so, with what device?  Is the device regularly used?  When isn’t it used?
• Are there good handholds?

Environment:

• Does the task take place in hot or cold conditions?
• Is lighting adequate?
• Are there constraints on body positioning?
• Is the floor level and free from slip and fall hazards?

Equipment:

• What equipment/tool is used?
• Does the device fit the purpose well?
• How does it operate—user interface?
• Any chance of hitting the wrong buttons?
• Is it well maintained?

Individual Capabilities:

• Does the worker have to be a certain age or of certain experience to perform the task?
• Is vision/hearing required?
• Is there a need for special training?
• Does the worker have to remember sequences/numbers?
• Does the task require any unusual capabilities?

Obviously there are many more questions that can be asked as these are just a few to get your mind thinking about what to ask in order to address physical ergonomics.  In my next blog I’ll look at the questions to ask that relate to Cognitive and Organizational ergonomics.