work systems

In my last blog I stated that I attended the Ergonomics Applied to Retail and Distribution conference in Minneapolis.  One of the people I met there was the Steve Lippert from Hamilton Caster.  As an ergonomist working on material handling issues a question that frequently comes up whenever material is pushed or pulled is “what is the best equipment/wheel/caster combination for this situation?”  I learned from Steve that Hamilton Caster had published a white paper on Rolling Resistance and Industrial Wheels.  The paper provides an overview of rol

This is the final blog in the 4 part series on the 4 M’s to effective ergonomics systems.  The 4^th 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?

I was at a business association meeting recently when I sat down at a table with 5 other attendees.

There recently was a short article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in which a nursing home was cited for neglect in a resident’s death.  In reading the information contained in the article I think a better, more accurate way to state the problem instead of neglect would have been to cite the nursing home for a breakdown in their resident care system.  I see a lack of a systems approach using human factors for resident care.  For if one was in place the death of the resident could have been prevented.

Are you involved in running a business or “program” within a business such as Lean, Ergonomics, Process Improvement, Safety, Quality, Operations, …you get the idea?  If so, what is your goal?  Often I hear people say something similar to the following, “I want an effective and sustainable fill-in-the-blank program”.

I recently attended ASSE’s Safety 2012 PDC.  It was the first time attending this conference.  I was impressed with the expansive exhibit hall.  There were a few products which caught my attention which I will highlight in this and upcoming blogs.

Ultra Lift

I’m attending and presenting at ASSE Safety 2012 this week.  The speaker of one session I attended yesterday said something that really got my attention.  He was talking about how to influence employee behavior in order to achieve better safety performance.  He was explaining that it is difficult to get employees to behave safely.  Then he said this, “We (meaning safety professionals) have to admit that it is harder (for employees) to work safer than not.”  I was taken aback from that statement.  Working safely shouldn’t be harder than working unsafe–unless, of course, the work environment,

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.