workplace safety

In an article I wrote last year, “To Stretch or Not To Stretch”, I concluded that stretching programs for the purpose of reducing injuries were not shown to be or not be effective.  As such, businesses should closely evaluate the costs of devoting time and resources to stretching programs compared to the supposed benefits.  I’d like to follow up that article with research done by Hess and Hecker on Workplace Stretching Programs:  The Rest of the Story.  In their research

How many people or friends do you know who work 12+ hour shifts or work long shifts several days in a row with little sleep?  How many professions do you whose work requires the same?  I can name at least 12 friends that I know who long hours.  I also know the toll those hours take on them professionally and personally.  As for professions, probably the first ones that come to mind are doctors, nurses, police, firefighters and military personnel.  There are other workers who have similar work demands, although they may occur when production demands (i.e.

It’s common for people to make New Year’s resolutions that address their fitness and health.  It’s also the time of year that companies develop goals and strategic initiatives for the year ahead as well.  One resolution that companies should consider pertains to Total Worker Health™.  It used to be that companies only had employee health and safety programs.

Are you aware of the National Prevention Council?  Its formation was part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.  The council is chaired by the US Surgeon General and the other members are the leaders of 17 federal departments, agencies and offices.  The council’s purpose is to promote prevention and wellness.  The council released its National Prevention Strategy in June 2011.  According to Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, the strategy will “move us from a system of sick care to one based on wellness and prevention”.  She goes on to say, “We also know that many of the strongest predictors of

If I had a penny for every time I’ve heard that ergonomics is “expensive” I wouldn’t be writing this blog but instead sitting on a beach somewhere.  The perception that ergonomics is expensive seems to be a widely held belief in many people I’ve talked to whether they are clients, potential clients or at people I’ve met at conferences, meetings or networking events.  I’ve seen this perception prevent the implementation of ergonomic programs at more companies that I’d care to admit.  The question that must be asked is, “Is the perception true or false?”  The answer is both, true and false, d

In this blog series I’ve been focusing on ergonomic assessments.  The first one dealt with the 5 components of an assessment.  The second dealt with the type of questions to ask for the gathering background information and physical ergonomics.  In this blog I want to provide some examples that relate to understanding and examining the impact of the mind and the organization.

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.

One of the things I frequently do as a consultant for my clients are ergonomic assessments because of this I often get asked about what an ergonomic assessment is and what does it involve?  Well, I hope to answer this question and some others about ergo assessments in this blog series.  Of course, ergo assessments can vary as what I look at and analyze depends on what it is I’m specifically assessing but the nuts and bolts of an assessment are the same.

Basic components of an assessment

The second phase of creating a project brand, in our case an injury prevention (IP) project, is planning.  This is the four blog in the series on Branding:  Why All Projects Need One.  In the last blog I discussed the first phase in the brand campaign which was the pitch.  Phase 2 is the PLAN.  This is fairly self-explanatory—the Plan identifies the project goals, activities and steps involved.  It is also defines who is involved from the key stakeholders to those who will have minimal but necessary involvement.  The roles and responsibilities of each person/group involved defined as well a

One of my recent clients that had me analyze the design of their products also asked to me assess the human factors of the brand and associated marketing and instructional material.  What was very interesting for me was to learn about the process they undertook when developing a brand campaign for their products.  That experience serves as part of the basis for this blog.  There is much to be learned and can be applied from an external customer focused branding/marketing campaign to an internal project branding/marketing campaign.  The framework and phases involved serve as the foundation o