The occurrence of Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTDs) and Repetitive Motion Injuries (RMIs) is increasing at an alarming rate, dramatically affecting today's workforce. The symptoms of these disorders develop slowly over time. Workers often ignore the discomfort, hoping it will resolve itself. Eventually, productivity decreases due to pain and loss of function, and a previously productive worker suddenly finds that he or she cannot work as a result of the disability. Although this condition is discouraging, it is also preventable. Ergonomics - matching the work environment to the worker's abilities and limitations - offers a promising method to control, manage, and reduce the risk of CTDs and RMIs in the workplace. Your Guide to Developing an Ergonomics Process will assist in the process of reducing workplace injuries and illnesses related to cumulative trauma disorders and poor ergonomics. This valuable guide presents all aspects of a comprehensive ergonomics process, and outlines federal and state OSHA requirements. The program detailed in the text enables full participation at all levels of the organization - regardless of your experience in ergonomics.

This workbook is designed to be used as part of the Developing an Ergonomics Process system. It can be used as a tool, helping the reader to implement strategies effectively, as the process of reducing workplace injuries and illnesses is outlined and effected.

"This booklet is written for managers and supervisors in industries that involve the manual handling of containers. It offers suggestions to improve the handling of rectangular, square, and cylindrical containers, sacks, and bags. "Improving Manual Material Handling in Your Workplace" lists the benefits of improving your work tasks. It also contains information on risk factors, types of ergonomic improvements, and effective training and sets out a four-step proactive action plan. The plan helps you identify problems, set priorities, make changes, and follow up. Sections 1 and 2 of "Improvement Options" provide ways to improve lifting, lowering, filling, emptying, or carrying tasks by changing work practices and/or the use of equipment. Guidelines for safer work practices are also included. Section 3 of "Improvement Options" provides ideas for using equipment instead of manually handling individual containers. Guidelines for safer equipment use are also included. For more help the "Resources" section contains additional information on administrative improvements, work assessment tools and comprehensive analysis methods. This section also includes an improvement evaluation tool and a list of professional and trade organizations related to material handling."--Page 6.

Ergonomics touches every man, woman and child each day of their lives whether they recognise it or not. Ergonomics (or lack of it) plays a more significant role in the lives of about two-thirds of the world s population over 10 years of age who work for one-third of their lives to make a living. There are 120 million occupational accidents and injuries and 200,000 fatalities each year according to WHO 95. Occupational accidents, injuries and fatalities are undesired events. The occupational activities are planned and designed, and executed with a purpose under supervision but accidents are not. Hence it stands to reason that better planning, design and execution will help to reduce these undesirable outcomes. One must also recognise that under global scheme of biological evolution, the human beings were not designed to endure a life long exposure to artificial activities repetitively. Thus occupational health problems are inevitable if we do not return to nature for our sustenance. As a society, we have chosen to live and work as we do. In fact, there is a far rapid evolution (mutation and speciation) of occupations than of any biological organism. This places us in a situation where better planning, design and execution of our occupational activities have become absolute necessity. However, since ergonomics is a modifier and not a causal factor, its significance does not become immediately apparent to us. Perhaps it is for this reason that even in developed world occupational health services are available to between 20% to 50% of the work force and less than 10% of the workforce in the developing countries. Occupational health services are remedial approaches. The rational wisdom of the human race should strive to get proactive control of undesirable outcomes through ergonomics. Unfortunately, it is sadly lacking even today. On an optimistic note one can observe that its presence and application is slowly increasing.

Easy-to-implement advice for comfortable, productive work environments Safety Managers Guide to Office Ergonomics offers easy-to-follow, non-technical advice that helps you prevent on-the-job injury. You'll learn how to create comfortable, productive working environments as well as resolve employee discomfort before discomfort becomes a debilitating injury. With some fifteen years of experience in office ergonomics, author Craig Chasen has performed more than 4,000 ergonomic evaluations of employees and their work environments, which form the foundation of the book. Safety Managers Guide to Office Ergonomics guides you through the ergonomic evaluation process and then logically organizes employee discomfort by the body part affected. Using his own ergonomic evaluations as case studies, the author enables you to hear how employees express a particular discomfort and visualize the posture and workstation set-up that caused or contributed to the complaint. Each case ends with easy-to-implement solutions to resolve the discomfort. Because ergonomic solutions are specific to an individual's size, work activities, and workstation configuration, the author provides several scenarios for each area of discomfort, helping you tailor your solution to the specific needs of an employee. This book also helps you evaluate and purchase office equipment that enables employees to work as comfortably and productively as possible. Written in straightforward language, Safety Managers Guide to Office Ergonomics is ideal for anyone responsible for creating and managing a healthy work environment. Even if you are not responsible for others, you'll find that this book's helpful advice enables you to avoid on-the-job injury and work as comfortably as possible.

This book focuses on the global quality of the design of systems that people interact with during their work activities and daily lives; a quality that involves the globality of people’s experience – physical, sensory, cognitive and emotional. It presents a concise and structured overview of the ergonomic approach to planning, and of methodological and operational tools from ergonomic research that can more directly and concretely contribute to the design process. The book also explores physical ergonomics and cognitive ergonomics, which are essential components of design culture. The final section addresses the main design problems and intervention criteria regarding the design of environments, products and equipment, as well as the design of communication, training and learning interface systems based on digital technologies. The book is chiefly intended for designers and anyone interested in the methods, tools and opportunities for in-depth analysis and development that ergonomics can offer regarding the conception, production and testing of products, environments and services, whether physical or virtual. It also offers a learning resource for professionals and students in Industrial Design and Planning.

Packed with illustrations and practical examples, Guide to Methodology in Ergonomics: Designing for Human Use, Second Edition provides a concise introduction to ergonomics methods in a straightforward manner that helps you conduct an ergonomics analysis of a product in development. It details the execution of 12 ergonomics methods that can be appli