|
| MODULE: INTRODUCTION TO ERGONOMICS |
 |
 |
 |
 |
STEP 4: Assess the risks - data gathering from all available sources
(An example of a Symptom Survey form can be found on pg 87 and 88 of the NIOSH, Elements of ergonomics programmes).
Symptom surveys data collection can help identify specific jobs or job elements deserving an ergonomic analysis. Symptom surveys should be done periodically to measure the progress of the ergonomic programme and can be indicators of the employee awareness of WMSDs. Following the trend of work complaints, problem areas for further investigation can be identified. To encourage employee participation the survey should be anonymous.
Baseline medicals should be conducted not with the intension to preclude people from jobs but to establish a base against which health changes can be evaluated. They are conducted to ensure that workers are fit and suited to the work they do and meet the inherent requirements of the job. Periodic medical examinations are done in order to detect occupational disease at an early stage, thereby determining the efficacy of the hazard control measures.
See the document Ergo risk factor ID and assessment tool.
Initial workplace assessments should ideally be performed at the design stage of equipment and processes to identify ergonomic-related stressors, operations that create those stressors and operations/tasks where the potential for ergonomic problems exist.
After the initial assessment, a more comprehensive assessment may be conducted as needed to identify job risk factors and evaluate the magnitude, frequency and duration of exposure to these risk factors.
The initial assessment should address the safety of colleagues relative to their workstations and tasks, particularly those involving lifting and moving objects, and those requiring extensive hand and arm movements. Screening jobs for musculoskeletal risk factors can offer a basis for early interventions,
Checklists provide a quick method of identifying obvious risk factors and can assist with the initial detection of ergonomic problems related to jobs or tasks. Ergonomic checklists are a good method for screening jobs for ergonomic risk factors but they do not differentiate hazardous from non-hazardous tasks. Some hazard may be obvious and easily solvable others will require further in depth risk assessment. Examples of checklist can be found on pg 89 Tray 5A-5G of the NIOSH, Elements of ergonomics programmes. One or more of these checklists can be used depending on the type of workplace being assessed. Checklists should be tailored to the specific needs and conditions of the workplace. The checklist should include components such as posture, materials handling and upper extremities factors.
Periodic surveys should be conducted to identify previously unnoticed risk factors or failure of engineering or administrative controls. The periodic review period should also include feedback and follow-up sessions with affected employees.
Jobs that have been identified in the previous steps as placing employees at risk of developing a WMSD require a job hazard analysis. A job analysis is done in order to identify existing ergonomic risk factors and the activities causing them. The objectives of a worksite analysis are to recognize, identify, document and make recommendations to eliminate or minimize ergonomic hazards.
A job analysis is done by breaking the job into discrete tasks, describing them, measuring and quantifying the risk factors inherent in the elements and identifying the conditions contributing to the risk factors.
Employees are interviewed in order to determine the specific risk factors that occur during each task. Each risk factor is evaluated in terms of its magnitude, the number of repetitions and the duration of the risk factor. The tasks of most jobs can be described in terms of the: (i) tools, equipment and materials used to perform the job, (ii) the workstation layout and physical environment and, (iii) the task demands and (iv) organizational climate in which the work is performed.
Procedures for collecting information include:
For practical examples in work settings: see exhibits 11 to 14, p. 25 NIOSH, Elements of ergonomics programmes.
MSDs are deemed work-related if the exposure in the work environment caused or contributed to the resulting condition. Most conditions that can be categorised as WMSDs can also occur because of leisure or domestic activities or the disorder could be the first signs of a chronic rheumatic condition. In these situations, you must evaluate the employee's work tasks and environment to decide whether the exposures caused or contributed to the resulting disorder. By linking MSDs to identifiable job risk factors, work relatedness can be established.
The health care provider must make a specific diagnosis of an MSD and then a causation assessment should be made to determine if the MSD is a work-related. Substantial epidemiological support for a relationship with work should exist before a diagnosis of WMSD is made. In addition, objective evidence of exposure should be evaluated and other factors from outside of the work setting should be considered by the healthcare provider before reaching the diagnosis. If a job is believed to have contributed towards the MSD, then that job should be evaluated and those ergonomic risk factors eliminated or reduced.
A causation assessment should be performed by healthcare providers with extensive knowledge of the workplace, ergonomics and medicine. A causation assessment would include input from a variety of sources including occupational health nurse practitioners, industrial hygienists and engineers.
In order to determine if a musculoskeletal disorder is related to work, an ordered approach to determining work-relatedness is essential. The following guidelines are used for assessing whether associations found between exposures and health outcomes (effects) are causal (the effect is due to the exposure).
The data gathered will provide information on:
See illustrations of selected risk factor conditions. Figure 1, from pg 21 of the NIOSH, Elements of ergonomics programmes.
A baseline ergonomic risk assessment is done in order to establish a risk profile and these profiles are used to prioritise action programmes. Risk profiles from baseline assessments form the basis for conducting detailed issue-based assessments. An issue based ergonomic risk assessment is a detailed assessment that will result in the development of action plans for the elimination or minimization of a significant risk.
