work flow

I was meeting with a health and safety manager recently who shared that his manufacturing company’s H&S numbers weren’t very good. His supervisor wasn’t happy with the numbers and was given the directive to improve his numbers and rejuvenate the H&S culture of the company.  He went on to say that the safety committee met on a regular basis but the employees didn’t really want to be there.  In short, the company lacked energy and enthusiasm for safety.

When I left the “comfort” of the my corporate position to start Kelby Ergo Design I was immediately struck by two things:  1) the majority of the people I met at business networking events hadn’t heard of my title, “ergonomist”, although most had heard the term ergonomics, and 2) they shared similar misconceptions of what ergonomics was and the impact it could have on business.  I thought I’d address the top three common “myths” that I see as an ergonomist.  There are definitely more than three but I’ll save those for other posts.

Myth #1—Ergonomics is just about safety

I had a conversation a few months ago with an employee health nurse who was telling me about her frustrations with a specific employee.  (Specific names and details about the job are purposefully left out to protect identify.) He was a “repeat offender” who happened to injure himself on a regular basis.  She could count on him being in her office every 3-4 months complaining of the work and how he hurt this or that.  The injuries typically resulted in a few lost work days and/or a few days in which he was restricted in what he could do.  She went on to sa