Ergonomics is more than a buzzword, it's everywhere and affects you right now!

The term ergonomics gets used all the time. It sounds smart, is trendy, and sells products. But what does it really mean? Most know the word, but don't really understand it. I will break down what the term ergonomics means and why ergonomics is literally all around you.

What is Ergonomics?

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ergonomics is “an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely.”

Other terms used to describe ergonomics are human factors and user experience.

I have found that each use of the term has a specific niche but are all related to system and human interaction. User experience tends to be focused on how the user interacts with technology. Human factors leans towards the physical design of controls, tools, and equipment we use. Ergonomics is generally associated with safety in an occupational world.

The International Ergonomics Association places Human Factors and Ergonomics into three buckets: cognitive, organizational, and physical.

• Cognitive deals with how we as humans interact with computers.

• Organizational revolves around social systems and the environments that we work in.

• Physical ergonomics pertains to human anatomy, anthropometrics, and biomechanics.

I am personally a physical ergonomist. Yes, I care about the cognitive side and the organizational side too, but the physical and occupational sides are my personal specialty.

The impact of physical ergonomics and how we interact with everyday items is profound.

I’ll give you my personal definition of ergonomics as I have practiced and taught it over the years. No one likes long, complex, hard to comprehend definitions. When I teach everyday people what ergonomics is, I define it in three simple words:

1. Safety

2. Quality

3. Efficiency

Ergonomics can be defined as safety, quality, and efficiency.

Safety

Injury prevention is the lighthouse of occupational safety. Ensuring that tasks and processes are free from as much risk as possible is the end goal. Risk in the world of ergonomics revolves around what are known as “ergonomic risk factors”.

These risk factors are categorically:

• Posture

• Force

• Repetitive Motion

• Contact Stress

• Static Loading

• Vibration

• Speed

• Sound

• Light

• Temperature

Ergonomic risk as it relates to these risk factors is cumulative.

I am not using cumulative as a reference to over time, rather I am saying that the individual categorical risk of each factor added together gives you the total risk of a tool or task. To reduce the risk for injury, you reduce the risk of one or more risk factors. It's a pretty simple concept. If, for example, awkward posture, force, and repetitive motion are contributing factors to ergonomic risk in a task - reducing one or more of the risk factors will in turn reduce ergonomic risk.

What type of injury are we trying to prevent in ergonomics?

Sprains, strains, and other soft tissue injuries – also known as musculoskeletal injuries.  These types of injuries are a pretty big deal to companies. They are silently affecting organizations across the United States costing a good chunk of change. Per the National Safety Council, musculoskeletal injuries have a median of 14 days away from work. Think about the impact of losing one of your employees for nearly 3 weeks...How do you fill in that void in your business as you continue to pay worker’s compensation, medical bills, and you’re likely losing some level of productivity?

I cannot say it enough that prevention is key. In my professional opinion, we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us. We can spend thousands of 'safety' dollars and resources on the best tools, databases, AI, technology and processes - yet the risk to our workers remains.

Ask yourself this - how much time and resources have you spent on coaching sound ergonomic principles and techniques to your workforce?

Quality (or predictability)

All businesses are on a continual quest to achieve the highest quality product or service. As a customer, this is what I expect and pay for with a product. While this is important, I will frame quality in the perspective of someone performing work. In the safety and ergonomics world, quality is about expectations and outcomes.

This is where standards can come into place. OSHA sets expectations in 29 CFR part 1910 and provides criteria for employers to follow to ensure the health and safety of their employees. Many know the OSH Act of 1970 and the general concept known as the "General Duty Clause".

Ergonomics Standards

There is currently no regulated ergonomics standard. Various forms of ergonomics standard practices and guidelines can be found through ISO, ANSI, United States Military, NASA, the FAA and so forth where they set parameters and expectations for design of tools, equipment, and processes. They are great places to find detailed information. Standards are generally based on population size (or anthropometrics), strength, and capabilities of a population and are used as design criteria.

It is important to understand your population. I highly encourage you to have a standard or set of guidelines that you use for your organization or business. Engineers, designers, and facilities services teams like to know what their boundaries are during the design processes. Having set metrics will help you defend ergonomics, but will also play a pivotal role in your strategy to prevent injury through design.

Predictability

We as employees, homeowners, and consumers have an expectation of ergonomics in the design of tasks, tools, and equipment we use. I tell people that by following ergonomics guidelines around pushing and pulling forces, there comes a level of predictability by the end use that is inherent to the comfort, satisfaction, and safety to that job.

Imagine picking up a torque wrench knowing how hard one is required to push or pull on it because of the set torque value versus a wrench that requires an unknown or unlimited torque value resulting in an unknown level of force. Which circumstance do you think is more safe? ... The one with more knowns.

4-Way Wrench = Unlimited and Unknown Torque and/or Force. On a tire - who knows if you hit the manufacturer's specification?

Torque Wrench = Known Torque and Force. On a tire - you can be assured you did it right if you set the wrench to the manufacture's specification.

Think about it it another way - if we know something weighs a lot, we are going to mentally and physically prepare ourselves differently. From how we position our feet, to how we bend out knees, to where we place our hands and so on. This is learned through personal experiences. Personal experience could also be the result of injury too. So let's get ahead of it now and make work as predicable as possible.

Efficiency

While speed and productivity are important, efficiency in terms of ergonomics revolves around energy expenditure. There is a saying that sometimes gets overstated that goes “work smarter, not harder.” I can literally mean this when I talk about efficiency and ergonomics.

As metrics and data drives business, it should drive ergonomics too. Energy efficiency and ergonomics can be measured by energy output. It is difficult to objectively measure energy output unless you have a fancy university laboratory to use. If we did though, it can be measured through caloric output or through respiration or other metabolic output measurements.  Since most do not have access to this type of equipment, we are forced to go on to the subjective side of measuring efficiency.

A Likert scale (or numerical rating) can be used. I have used a 1-10 scale that I call the “Level of Exertion” scale. This works for observing perceived force and for energy output. Simply put, it’s a self-assessment or observable rating of how hard someone is working.

Level of Exertion Scale example for perceived physical exertion.

The harder someone works, the more prone to fatigue that will become. Fatigue can lead to dissatisfaction, human error, decreased productivity, or even injury.

So is 'ergonomics' a buzzword?

In short, I believe so. Many have heard the word, but cannot state what it is. I have seen this in nearly every single coaching session that I have given. The concept is all around us though. It is measurable and definable.

Everything we do has something to do with ergonomics.

It's not just how to properly lift. It's not just how a computer mouse fits the hand. From the posture when we lay in bed, to how we cut vegetables in the kitchen, to how we interact with digital technology, to how we lift a box . . . ergonomics is everywhere.

Ergonomics has come a long way. Some physical jobs have gotten easier and more safe (for the most part). But we aren't done yet. Product design hasn't fixed it all, which is why everyone should get some level of ergonomics coaching because let's face it - doesn't matter if we are at work or at home - we need to get the job done. Our postures, pushing, pulling, or lifting forces that we exert, the contact stress, repetitive motion, static postures, vibration, and others are all affecting not just what we are doing, but how we are doing it and how we feel afterwards

Start to deepen your understanding of ergonomics

I recommend basic ergonomic coaching for all. Where to start? Chances are you use a phone, tablet, laptop, or personal computer a fair chunk of time per day. This means that a great place to start is taking "Beyond the Office: Digital Ergonomics for the Every Day Person" - it only takes an hour or two and you will be blown away with information that I bet you didn't even realize you were vitally missing.

There are other solutions out there. Be sure to check out other Services offered by Practical Ergonomics, get a free Quote, or Contact Practical Ergonomics with any questions.