injury prevention

“To Err is Human.”  That statement is known and appreciated by quality, production and safety managers.  That we all make mistakes is certainly nothing new.  Operational failures occur across all industries but the impact of errors can vary greatly between industries and companies.  The healthcare industry has perhaps the best known impact of errors.  Medical errors resulting in patient injury or death are quite costly.  The Institute of Medicine published are report back in 2000 (To Err is Human) that stated these errors cost the in

Why does there still remain a chasm between productivity and prevention?  In the great majority of companies I’ve worked for and others I’ve known they maintain separate departments and personnel on productivity and prevention, i.e. operations, quality/lean vs. EHS, risk management.  There is little, if any, overlap or regular collaboration between them.  This disconnect often results in work policies, procedures and design that are less than optimal for employee performance.

This is the sixth blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).  In my last blog I discuss how I’ve applied process improvement principles to individual components of deer hunting.  In this part I want to focus on systems thinking and systems approach to deer hunting—the final “S” in L.E.S.S.

This is the fifth blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).

This is the fourth blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).

In my last blog I explained how a couple of Lean principles are used pre and post-hunt.  Well, those same principles can be used once the hunter arrives in the woods.  As a reminder, two of the primary principles Lean are to reduce waste and non-value added activities.  The goal of hunting is to spend as much time as possible hunting, i.e. in the stand/blind, and minimize the time spent on preparation.

Final pre-hunt preparation

This is the third blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).

This is the third blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).

In my last blog I spent time talking about how I adjusted my rifle to fit me.  In this blog I want to discuss two other items—tree stands (physical ergonomics) and my crossbow (human factors).

This is the second blog in the series on deer hunting and Lean, Ergonomics (Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking (L.E.S.S.).

There are many factors deer hunters must consider when choosing their equipment—their own body and physical characteristics as well as the environment in which they hunt, i.e. location (woods vs. swamp, brushy vs. clear), temperatures, hunting from the ground or a stand, etc.  A hunter must be keenly aware of their physical size and abilities when choosing equipment so that it fits and supports their hunting abilities instead of being a hindrance.

One of the things that I and my company specialize in is “Do More with L.E.S.S. (Lean, Ergonomics/Human Factors, Six Sigma and Systems Thinking).  It’s a unique approach to solving business problems related to organizational system and employee performance, efficiency and safety.  This same Do More with L.E.S.S.

Pushing and pulling is involved in many tasks and jobs in a wide variety of industries.  In order to avoid injuries and optimize efficiency it is important to properly design pushing and pulling tasks.  A good online resource that explains the ergonomics of material handling in general and then goes into the details of pushing and pulling tasks is called “