The 30-Inch View

Incorporating Ergonomics into the Design of Medical Products

 

Click on the picture to the right for some exciting news from Humantech and NuStep!

Real World Ergonomics

I came across this story today (thanks to my brother-in-law for sharing), and realized its worthwhile to share.

A woman experiencing backpain worked with her doctor to determine the back pain was from sitting for extended hours at the computer.  Their solution:  a standing workstation.  She worked to find the optimal height for herself, ignored the $300 price tags for other 'standing workstations' and found her own solution for $20.  Ingenuity at its finest.

http://lifehacker.com/5220094/create-a-simple-standing-desk-for-20

Aging and the design of cars

Despite the auto industry's struggle, effort continues to be dedicated to better understand the needs of older drivers. A recent newspaper article by Yuri Kageyama (AP) discussed Nissan Motor Co.'s efforts to design for the aged population. Their designers are using an aging suit that simulates poor balance, stiff joints and goggles that imitate poor eyesight and color-blindness. Designers are using this suit to improve vehicle interior design to meet the functional capabilities of older drivers.  

Some key design features they are looking at are door handles that open easily by either hand, and increasing the size and font color of navigation systems and speedometers to improve visual referencing. Nissan is not the first to use an aging suit to aid in vehicle user design; Ford has a similar suit for this application.

It will be interesting to see if the auto companies take this work so far as to improve signal detection and reaction times associated with driving.

Update from the Applied Office Ergonomic Seminar – Newport Beach, CA

Every year during the Applied Office Ergonomics seminar in Newport Beach, CA, we hear the same question - "What is new in office ergonomics?".  At this year’s seminar Alan Bingham from Alimed (www.alimed.com or 800.225.2610) joined us to share what's new and what’s effective.  Participants were able to try a variety of ergonomic office equipment.  Based on participant feedback, the following three items were a hit:

Goldtouch Go! Travel Keyboard:  The Goldtouch travel keyboard received great feedback from the road warriors and mobile professionals.  The keyboard is small but functional, and has the following features:

1. Lightweight (1.5 lb)
2. Thin (0.5")
3. Adjustable (0°-30°) to minimize ulnar deviation
4. Adjustable (0°-30°) to minimize pronation

Check out the keyboard at - http://www.alimed.com/ProductDetail.asp?style=711091&fprd=Goldtouch+GO!+Travel+Keyboard&oid1=&oid2=

 

Evoluent Vertical Mouse:  The Evoluent vertical mouse is a personal favorite. The vertical shape supports your hand in a fully upright handshake position that eliminates forearm twisting and promotes a neutral wrist posture.  It eliminates wrist extension associated with a traditional mouse.  We have several being used in our own offices and reviews are very positive.

 

Check out the mouse at -

http://www.alimed.com/ProductDetail.asp?style=78112&fprd=Evoluent%26trade%3B+VerticalMouse+Optical&oid1=&oid2=

 

Humanscale Liberty Chair:  The immediate reaction to The Liberty chair is  that it is an extremely comfortable chair.   The adjustments are simple and intuitive.  Actually, there are only two adjustments, making it very easy to use.  Incredibly, it is even easier to assemble – it comes in two pieces, and requires about 2 minutes to assemble.  I would highly recommend the product. 

Check out the chair at -

http://www.alimed.com/ProductDetail.asp?style=79632&fprd=Liberty+Mesh+Chair&oid1=&oid2=

 

During the seminar we also reviewed the most current information available on several current topics of interest in office ergonomics, including:

1. ANSI-HFES 100-2007,
2. Aging and bariatric populations
3. Ergonomic solutions for the aging, bariatric, remote, satellite, and mobile worker
4. New methods for effective communication with challenging office employees  

We wish you were there, and we hope to see you in the fall for the next Applied Office Ergonomics seminar…

Push/Pull Forces for Hand Trucks

We have been doing a lot of work lately with the delivery logistics and route distributions industry.  As ergonomists, we rely heavily on scientific data when making recommendations to optimize human performance.  We would like to highlight an example of somebody making our job easier for a change.

When performing a review of hand truck components lately, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Magliner (www.magliner.com) provides comparitive wheel data in their catalogue.  Specifically, detailing the force required to both start the hand truck rolling, and to continue it rolling. 

We found this information extremely valuable when making hand truck recommendations to a client recently.

Please let us know if you have seen any other examples of practical ergonomic infomation included with a product description - it makes our job so much easier!

It all starts with the feet.

We wanted to share this article we found last week, discussing "ergonomically correct shoes". According to the Medill Reports article, such shoes are designed to improve posture, spinal alignment, balance, as well as to tone muscles.

Here is the link to the article - http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=125211.

Read it and let us know what you think!  We especially like the "micro-wobbleboard" technology.

Medill Reports are written and produced by graduate journalism students at Northwestern University’s Medill school.

 

Update from the Applied Ergonomics Conference

Improve – Impact – Influence.  These three words have been the common theme echoed by attendees at the 12^th annual meeting of ergonomic practitioners this year in Reno, Nevada.

 

The keynote address given by the duo of Matthew Pierce and David Copley from the Emcor Company (EME on the NYSE) featured all three of the elements.  They described how ergonomics has “Changed the Way We Work – CW3” at their 30,000 employee strong construction firm and reduced their ergonomic injuries by 71% over a four year period.

1. The first shared key to their success was to influence their C-level executives that the ergonomics agenda is something beyond compliance.  Rather Emcor packaged the process as a value-added entity with the clear position that human motion is money.  By presenting the business case straight into the boardroom their executives understood this was much more than just a health and safety agenda.
2. To improve, Emcor conducted an organization-wide gap analysis of their work methods, tools, and pre-task planning and related it to productivity and injury challenges.  It was identified that supervision needed better support in terms of the knowledge of ergonomic risks, best practices and productivity preparedness.  Hands-on training sessions brought ergonomics into the field at the construction sites (e.g., casinos, waste water treatment facilities, convention centers) where they deployed the process known as superVISION.  
3. The impact to the business hit home when the year-on-year results clearly showed, “For every 1% improvement in productivity there is a corresponding 1% improvement in ergonomic risk reduction”.  Their DART rate dropped from 2.47 to 1.26 and the TRIR rate had a corresponding decrease form 4.6 to 2.5 which is roughly a quarter of the numbers shared by competing companies. The data from their CFO reported that the ergonomic process accounted for approximately $30,000,000 of bottom line benefit for the organization from 2004 – 2008 and has helped position Emcor to be the true leader in their industry.

Stay tuned for a review of the Ergo Cup entries tomorrow…

Humantech at the Applied Ergonomics Conference this week!

Hello all!

Humantech is well represented this week at the Applied Ergonomics Conference at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada. 

On Tuesday morning, Blake McGowan is delivering a presentation entitled "Ergonomic Design Guidelines Your Engineers Need to Know", and Josh Kerst is speaking on "What Gets Measured Gets Done: Performance Measures for Ergonomics" in the afternoon.

Wednesday, Humantech is pleased to be supporting one of our clients on a presentation entitled "The Challenges and Improvements of TruGreen's Ergonomic Success".  Deepesh Desai from Humantech is co-presenting with Michael Higgins of TruGreen. 

Finally, on Thursday morning, Deepesh is also presenting "Quest for the Holy Grail - Ensuring Sponsorship for Your Ergonomics Program".

We love sharing what we have learned when we present at conferences such as this.  If you are there, we hope that you drop by to hear us speak!

The Applied Ergonomics Conference runs until March 26.

 

 

The USGBC LEED® Certification has the right idea

The US Green Building Council’s excellent LEED® certification program initiative that encourages ergonomic design consideration in building development clearly shows they understand the benefits of applying the field of ergonomics in a non-traditional fashion. It seems the USBGC has a grasp on what many have tried to promote for years, and even more recently, researchers who are publishing papers trying to get the same point across as we at Humantech have for the last three decades.

Even though 20 years ago ergonomics was perceived by some (for example, Howell 1986), as a highly unpredictable area of human scientific endeavor, today Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) has positioned itself as a unique, design-oriented discipline, independent of engineering and medicine that can (and is) harnessed in many workplace fields, industries and environments. Ergonomics is not just about reducing workplace injuries, but has proven to be a key player in productivity and quality enhancement and the smart companies out there recognize this and are reaping in the benefits.

In the article titled "Ergonomics and human factors: the paradigms for science, engineering, design, technology and management of human-compatible systems" (Journal of Ergonomics, 2005) by the internationally recognized researcher W. Karwowski, he stated that “The main focus of the HFE discipline in the 21st century will be the design and management of systems that satisfy customer demands in terms of human compatibility requirements.”  Furthermore, the National Academy of Engineering stated in a 2004 annual report that “In the near future, the ongoing developments in engineering will: . . . expand toward tighter connections between technology and the human experience, including new products customized to the . . . dimensions and capabilities of the user, and ergonomic design of engineered products.”

These statements not only have immense support behind them, but carry huge implications for the future. Both of these credited views carry a common theme: While in the past ergonomics has been driven by technology (reactive design approach), in the future ergonomics should and will drive technology (proactive design approach). The key thing to note here is that these comments are not just in reference to workplace ergonomics and injury reduction, but rather highlights the recognized importance of applying principles of the ergonomics and human factors discipline to everyday products and methods that impact us beyond the workplace walls.

It's encouraging to see organizations such as the USGBC and many others putting these shifting paradigm lessons into place.

A Novel Idea

Sixth graders in Minnesota may possibly be setting a new benchmark for classroom design and furniture.  Solely by word of mouth, districts between North Carolina and California area already following suit. 

 

Students in Ms. Brown's 6^th grade class at Marine Elementary are experimenting with adjustable workstations that will allow them to either stand or sit while they work.  These desks also come with swinging footrests and adjustable stools, making the switch even easier.    They were developed by Ms. Brown and a local ergonomic furniture manufacturer after Ms. Brown noticed the small fidgeting that, when accommodated for, improved their concentration. 

 

In an article found here in NYTimes.com, the author states "Teachers in Minnesota and Wisconsin say they know from experience that the desks help give children the flexibility they need to expend energy and, at the same time, focus better on their work rather than focusing on how to keep still."  Its just common sense, right?  We commend Ms. Brown and her innovative thinking outside the box to find a better solution to improve the optimization of her learning environment for her students.

 

Speaking of innovation thinking, a short browsing of the internet led me to these revolutionary backpacks called the BackTpack (www.backtpack.com).  They redistribute the weight to the sides of the student instead of all on the back.  There are a lot of supporting comments and claims on the internet and my initial thoughts are they seem to be very beneficial.

 

What are your thoughts on the new backpack?  And what about the adjustable desk?  Have you ever tried either of them?