We highly recommend our clients and customers use a job-level ergonomic assessment tool. Read the article below to learn our reasoning and get access to a job-level ergonomic assessment tool you can use to evaluate jobs at your worksite.
We used to exclusively use all of the ergonomic assessment tools you’ve probably heard of. Maybe you use these tools too:
- NIOSH Lifting Equation
- Rapid Entire Body Assessment
- Rapid Upper Limb Assessment
- Snook Tables
- WISHA Lifting Calculator
- WISHA Caution/Hazard Zone Checklists
These tools work great and we still use them.
But we kept running into problems these tools didn’t solve for. Maybe you’ve had some of the same problems.
- We found it difficult to fully understand the level of risk at each worksite we service in a way that allowed us to manage the process and direct resources
- We found it difficult to have a comprehensive view of risk present in a job
- We found it difficult to prioritize the tasks that needed to be evaluated for risk
What we realized was that the root cause of each of these problems is the assessment tools we were using were all done at the task level. We needed to add a job-level tool to our ergonomic assessment toolbox to solve for these problems.
We would still use the task-level tools. Those tools are great and still serve us well. But we hoped that adding a job-level tool would take our ergonomics capabilities to the next level.
The Key to Next-Level Ergonomics Capabilities
In the end, we decided to build our own job-level assessment tool. We call it the ErgoPlus Job Screen.
The Job Screen evaluates each major body segment for each major ergonomic risk factor. The outputs of the tool for each job are:
- a risk score for the job that translates into a risk category (Low, Moderate, High, and Very High risk)
- a risk score for each body segment
- tasks that are flagged for further evaluation using task-level tools
Why do we like the Job Screen so much?
Because it solves all of the problems we were having:
- The Job Screen is at the right level of abstraction that we can use it to manage the ergonomics process
- The Job Screen gives us a comprehensive view of risk
- The Job Screen is practical enough to use and accurate enough to trust
- The Job Screen pulls the ergonomics process forward
Let’s take those on one at a time.
1. The Right Level of Abstraction to Manage the Ergonomics Process
Managing your ergonomics process at the task level is difficult because it is so granular it’s hard to put any of the information in a context you can easily understand.
Managing ergonomics at the job level is the right level of abstraction because it is an easily understood context.
For example, If I tell you that at your worksite…
- 50% of jobs have been evaluated for risk and 50% are unknown
- 30% of jobs are at a low risk level
- 10% of jobs are at a moderate risk level
- 5% of jobs are at a high risk level
- 5% of jobs are at a very high risk level
… you can immediately understand the current state of risk at your worksite. It’s also actionable: now you know you want to set a goal to have 0% of jobs at unknown risk by the end of the year.
This level of clarity in your ergonomics process is extremely valuable. It gives you the information that you need to make smart decisions, and you can use it to measure your progress over time.
It is impossible to do this with task-level tools alone. Tasks are far too granular and there are so many tasks at your worksite that they aren’t easily counted, let alone all evaluated for ergonomic risk factors in order to return a risk profile.
As you can see, adding a job-level tool like the ErgoPlus Job Screen to your ergonomic assessment toolbox helps you manage ergonomics at the right level of abstraction. You can create a risk profile for your worksite that makes logical sense, is easily understood by all stakeholders, and helps you take actions that will move your ergonomics process forward.
2. A Comprehensive View of Risk
Task-level ergonomic assessment tools capture only a portion of what a worker does at their job all day. A job-level tool helps you zoom out and take a comprehensive view of the risk an industrial athlete faces at their job. It accounts for multiple tasks that are difficult to perform and that take a toll on the musculoskeletal system.
A comprehensive view of risk allows for a direct comparison of jobs that allows you to prioritize improvement projects.
3. Practical Enough to Use, Accurate Enough to Trust
There is a tension in ergonomics between pinpoint accuracy and a tool that is practical enough for everyday practice. You likely have hundreds of jobs to evaluate and there is only so much time in the day. You need a job-level tool that is practical enough to use and also accurate enough to trust.
Practitioners love the Job Screen because they can complete an evaluation in about 30 minutes that returns a job risk score, body segment scores, and tasks that are flagged for further analysis using task-level tools. It’s extremely practical and easy to use.
It is also accurate enough to trust. An internal study was conducted to test the effectiveness of the Job Screen. Results of the study indicate that higher ErgoPlus Job Screen scores are highly correlated with higher severity of injuries and early reports of discomfort.
4. Moves the Ergonomics Process Forward
The ErgoPlus Job Screen is uniquely designed to pull the ergonomics process forward. It provides a systematic method of evaluating a job to not only provide a risk score for the job but also to identify and flag tasks for further evaluation using task-level ergonomic assessment tools.
Task-level tools are still a valuable part of our ergonomic assessment toolbox. They’re great for guiding ergonomic design during the improvement planning and execution phase of ergonomics projects and we don’t want to stray away from using them.
The Job Screen allows us to prioritize the tasks that need further evaluation where ergonomic risk factors have been observed and documented. We never have to wonder which tasks need to be evaluated.
See a Job-Level Assessment Tool in Action
Want to learn more and see the tool in action? Click here to schedule a demo at a time that works for you. We’re happy to show you around and see if it makes sense for you to adopt a tool like the Job Screen for your worksite.
More Ergonomic Assessment Resources
Explore and download more ergonomic assessment tool resources:
