A safety team without a proactive ergonomic risk assessment process is a safety team flying blind. Learn how to get your ergonomics process off the ground safely with the right team, tools, training, and technology.
The Wright brothers beat the odds and accomplished the impossible in 1903, proving that controlled flight was possible. But there was still a major hurdle to get over before scheduled air travel could take place: humans are unable to safely fly “blind” in the clouds for any length of time.
The inability for pilots to fly in bad weather meant that the airplane wasn’t able to compete with ground transportation and achieve its full potential as a mode of transportation.
That is, until September 24, 1929 when Lt. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle made the first complete flight from takeoff to landing solely by the use of instruments and radio.
He was able to do this because he had the tools and technology he needed to go from guesswork and flawed intuition to precise direction and informed decision-making. This empowered him to turn scheduled flight from just a dream into a reality that has changed the world as we know it forever.
We often see a transformation like this in our ergonomics services practice. Clients go from a reactive approach to ergonomics to a proactive approach when they have the team, tools, and technology in place to provide direction and the information required for better decision-making.
It’s usually a big leap forward in how they view workplace ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorder prevention. For the first time, they’re in front of the problem. They feel in control. They know the risk at their worksite, so they can do something about it.
If it feels like your safety team has been flying blind, it’s time to get the right team, tools, and technology in place so you can confidently manage the musculoskeletal health of your workforce and the risk factors that endanger it.
We’ve put together this guide to give you everything you need to know to get started with a proactive ergonomic risk assessment process, including practical tools and powerful technology to help you get the job done.
Let’s get started.
The goal of proactive ergonomic risk assessments
First, let’s start with the goal of proactive ergonomic assessments. This will inform your ergonomic assessment strategy and tactics.
The goal of your ergonomics process as a whole is to identify and control risk factors that contribute to musculoskeletal disorders.
The goal of your ergonomic assessment process, specifically, is to identify those risk factors as efficiently and as accurately as you can.
We recommend and assist clients in adopting a proactive approach to this. If you’re only conducting ergonomic assessments after an injury occurs, then it’s too late. By all means, conduct an assessment if there is an injury. But what you really need to do is get in front of the problem.
Start a proactive ergonomic assessment process that immediately, aggressively, and relentlessly identifies risk factors leading to MSDs. If you commit to and own this process, you’ll always have a firm foundation upon which you can make smart decisions and take proactive actions to reduce risk before injuries occur. You can only do this when you have the data always at your fingertips through proactive assessments.
Take the proactive approach. The benefits are many and the bottom line results are clear: it works.
Just getting started? Here is your ergonomic assessment checklist
Ready to get started with proactive ergonomic assessments? There are a few decisions to make and things to do before you jump in and get started.
Here is your getting started checklist:
Step 1: Choose metrics that define what success looks like for the short and long term
The ergonomics metrics you set at the beginning of the process will be your north star, guiding your efforts and ensuring you make progress toward your goals.
Step 2: Select your ergonomic assessment team
Your ergonomic risk assessment team should be multidisciplinary. Everyone on the team should have roles and responsibilities that are clearly and regularly communicated. Each team member should be held accountable.
Step 3: Select a common set of ergonomic assessment methods and tools
Selecting a common set of ergonomic risk assessment methods and tools keeps everyone on the same page and ensures consistent, reliable data and a one-to-one comparison across sites, departments, jobs, and tasks.
Step 4: Train your team to ensure they can conduct accurate and efficient assessments
Bad data can be worse than no data at all. Prevent this problem by making sure everyone on your ergonomics team has the knowledge and skills required to meet their roles and responsibilities. Accurate and efficient assessments are the backbone of the ergonomics process.
Step 5: Determine how your ergonomics data is going to be managed and used
Don’t let your hard-earned ergonomics data go to waste! Make sure you are properly storing data inside a well-designed management system. Having the right data always at your fingertips empowers you to make smart resource allocation decisions.
No more flying blind
Getting started with proactive ergonomic assessments by executing these steps is like instrumenting your plane with the necessary tools and technology for safe flight. You’ll be guided by data that empowers you to go from guesswork and flawed intuition to precise direction and informed decision-making.
The data you gather will tell you if your worksite is laden with MSD risk. Or maybe it’s not bad overall but there are a few hot spots that need your attention.
Either way: if you don’t conduct proactive ergonomic risk assessments, you won’t know. And you’re flying blind.
So don’t wait until the next injury to get started! That’s like waiting until your plane hits the ground.
The good news is that now is a great time to get started, and we’ve got you covered.
Your Free Ergonomics Planning Guide and Complete Toolkit
This article is an installment of the How to Get Started With Ergonomic Risk Assessments series, which is now available to you free of charge as part of the Ergonomics Planning Guide and Toolkit.
Your toolkit includes:
- How to Get Started With Ergonomic Risk Assessments
- How to Choose Short and Long Term Ergonomic Assessment Metrics
- How to Build Your Ergonomic Assessment Team
- How to Select Your Ergonomic Assessment Tools
- How to Train Your Ergonomic Assessment Team
- How to Leverage Technology to Get the Most Out of Your Ergonomic Assessment Data
Just enter your email address below and we’ll send you the complete planning guide and toolkit.
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See ErgoPlus Industrial in action
Don’t want to wait to find out how to get started with ergonomic assessments? Schedule a free demo of our ergonomics management software to get an inside look at a best practice ergonomic assessment process.
