Prevention through design

Before we get to the job improvement process, it is vitally important to note that the best time to build a better workplace is when you build it for the first time. It is far more expensive to make changes to an existing workplace than it is to design it with ergonomics and MSD prevention in mind to begin with.

Make sure that new workstations and products meet the criteria set in your ergonomic design guidelines and that no new processes can make it to the shop floor without meeting them. This should be reflected in your Ergonomics Management System and it also means that your engineering organization should be heavily involved in the ergonomics process, both in the prevention through design phase and in the job improvement process.

Ergonomics process overview

Remember that the job improvement process should be implemented proactively and not just in response to an injury. The job improvement process should align with a continuous improvement model familiar to your organization with the goal of driving quantifiable risk reduction.

Conducting an ergonomic risk assessment in response to an injury isn’t a bad thing to do. In fact, it’s what you should do. But that’s a reactive approach, and if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, then you’re going to keep getting what you’ve been getting — injuries. To wage a war on the MSDs at your facility, you’ll need to get out in front of the problem by being proactive.

Remember that above all else, a world class ergonomics program is proactive and viewed as a strategic continuous improvement process that makes a positive impact on the entire business.

The rest of this course will walk you through each element of the job improvement process in detail. Each module contains step-by-step training on how to execute each step and also provides numerous examples.

1. Assess risk

Conducting risk assessments is a foundational element of the ergonomics process. Your risk assessment are ultimately the “source of truth” about the ergonomics risk factors present at your worksite, so being able to effectively execute them is crucial to maintaining a high-quality dataset and empowering your team to quantifiably and effectively execute the rest of the ergonomics process.

2. Plan improvements

Once you have created a “source of truth” through effective ergonomic risk assessments, your next step is to prioritize, cost-justify and implement solutions with a cross-functional ergonomics team.

3. Execute improvement

Making actual improvements to the workplace is what ergonomics is all about. Make sure improvements are made in a timely manner.

4. Measure progress

Measurement is an important component of any successful continuous improvement process. High performing ergonomics programs are constantly measured using both leading and lagging indicators.

5. Scale solutions

By establishing a common set of tools to train your workforce, assess risk, plan improvements, measure progress, and design new work processes, you’ll be able to scale ergonomics best practices throughout your organization.

How to go through the rest of this course

The best way to go through the rest of this course is to sign up for a free trial of the ErgoPlus Platform.

This course provides the step-by-step direction. The ErgoPlus Platform gives you a tool to get the job done. You can try it free for 14 days with no commitment or credit card required.

Obviously we hope you stick with us after your trial is over, but you’re obviously under no obligation to. So you really have nothing to lose!

Start your free 14-day trial.