Light—it’s necessary for humans. It effects people mentally, physically, physiologically and their overall performance. The impact of lighting in the workplace is very important to understand—not only to achieve energy savings but also to influence worker performance. Intuitively we know that lighting is of value but it is often overlooked in the workplace, especially the value related to productivity.
The challenge for balancing productivity and safety exists for all industries but especially in the tree care industry where there are many variables that impact both. Tree care companies experience costs related to incidences involving damage to their own property and/or that of the client as well as employee injuries. Often times these incidences are accepted as the normal cost of doing business. The bills are paid and business continues as usual. However, these costs have a significant impact on the amount of extra business a company has to bring in in order to cover these costs. Th
Productivity and efficiency—two buzz words that are talked about and heard continually from large to small businesses. Why? The productivity and efficiency of people and operations can make or break a business. Unfortunately we can’t snap our fingers and make high productivity happen all by itself. However, significant improvements are common when you apply the right principles, guidelines and tools to your business systems and processes.
Last month I attended the Ergonomics Applied to Retail and Distribution conference in Minneapolis. It was my first conference I attended that was strictly devoted to this sector. While I was attending I was thinking that there could almost be an ergonomics and human factors conference devoted to each industry and/or sub-sectors because there are enough unique work tasks, needs and nuances that could support what occurred at this conference—that was speakers specific to the industry presenting their current challenges, attempted changes and full or partial solutions to their issues.
This is the final blog in the 4 part series on the 4 M’s to effective ergonomics systems. The 4th M stands for Momentum! Momentum or energy is continually needed to drive the system on a continual basis. First, momentum is needed in you (me) both inwardly and outwardly. The keys to inward momentum are:
This is the third part out of four in the article series on the 4 M’s to effective and sustainable ergonomics systems. The third M stands for Mindset. According to the Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, mindset means “mental inclination, tendency, or habit”. Another definition is offered by thefreedictionary.com, “A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations.” Mindset is the third key principle on which successful ergonomics systems are built. One must determine whose mindset must be understood.
This is the second of the 4 part blog series on the 4 M’s to Effective Ergonomics Systems in the Short and Long Term. The second “M” is Marketing. By marketing I mean that the ergonomics systems and associated projects should have a brand. Consider the following: What company name comes to mind based on the following: a Swoosh and the tagline “Just Do It”? Or what company comes to mind if I tell you the logo is a red bullseye? If you said Nike and Target you’d be correct. What about the company you work for? Does it have a brand—a logo and/or tagline?
In my previous blog I described the how behavioral based safety and ergonomics are not the same and definitely do not utilize the same approach. That being said, companies are really good at identifying “bad” employee behavior and using policy, observations and enforcement to correct it. So the question becomes how do companies who aren’t versed in ergonomics learn how to change behavior through workplace design? Let’s start with a simple framework on which built upon.
There are basically 7 steps to determining design solutions to change behavior.
I recently attended a presentation in which the speaker was trying to make the case that behavioral safety and ergonomics are virtual the same and go hand in hand together. He started off by saying that bad behaviors are caused by bad ergonomics and that good ergonomics can produce wanted (good) behaviors. I totally agreed with him but then he gave the following example:
This hasn’t been the week for me in terms of health. It started last weekend with a nasty sore throat and by Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I had a fever of 102. Not being accustomed to being sick, especially having a fever, I decided to go into an Urgent Care clinic. Despite having a fever, chills and body aches I was able to focus on the incorporation of ergonomics into the design and equipment of the exam room. Here are a few observations that caught my attention for meeting/fitting the needs of the patients and caregivers alike:
