human performance

In part two of this blog series I gave an overview of Lean. Now we’re moving onto the second component of L.E.S.S.™ which is Ergonomics.

Ergonomics (synonymous with Human Factors) Defined

In part 1 we looked at current business disciplines, their associated strengths and weaknesses and the reason for why a new strategy and approach is need for proactively and reactively solving productivity, efficiency and safety issues.  In part 2 we are going to explore the power of L.E.S.S. ™

 The Power of L.E.S.S. ™

Part 1:

Normally communication is a good thing, actually a necessary thing in order for work to get done properly and in a timely manner.  In fact, I encourage my clients to evaluate and improve their communication and communication processes with their employees.  This makes rolling out new initiatives (such as Lean, Ergonomics, etc.) as well as general everyday work go smoothly with minimal frustrations, misconceptions or “mis-work”.

The above title was the headline from an article that appeared on EHS Today online.  The article gave an overview of a study conducted by Duke Medicine (Duke National University of Singapore) researchers that found the costs associated with medical and prescription drug claims gradually rose with each unit increase in BMI (body mass index), specifically the increases began with a BMI above 19 (A healthy or normal BMI is 19 to 24, while overweight is 25 to 29 and obese is 30 and above, i.e.

Psychosocial factors are present in every job; however, they are commonly overlooked as a contributor or cause of low performance or injuries in workers. Employers that ignore them can miss the root or adjoining cause of productivity and safety issues.  Psychosocial factors can include:

“Sitting is the new smoking”   “Sitting is going to kill you”  “Stand Up!”