Industrial

21 May, 21

You had an intern (or co-op student)….now what?

Right now, 40 graduating ergonomists from Fanshawe college are completing their internships at a variety of workplaces. (This was the 5th cohort – last year 32  graduated.) Many of the interns are starting projects or programs that will require maintenance. What happens after the internship is completed? Some workplaces may want to hire the intern […]
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10 May, 21

Safety Professionals: Here’s how an ergonomist can help

Safety Professionals help organizations to reduce, or even eliminate, the risk of workplace accidents and injuries. Most safety programs rightly prioritize efforts to manage hazards that could cause serious injury or death – crushing hazards, chemical exposures, falls from heights, and confined space, as a few examples. Logically, most Safety Managers spend the better part […]
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19 Apr, 21

Will an ergonomist recommend slowing down production?

Every ergonomist considers the effect of production rate on injury risk. In school, we learn that injury risk is related to repetitive or sustained exposure to forceful, awkward postures. Presented with forceful, awkward tasks that seem impossible to change, the logical suggestion is to limit exposure by slowing things down. Reducing the work rate gives […]
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20 Feb, 21

Leaning in, literally

Although I was a huge fan of Sheryl Sandberg’s book, “Lean In” has a more literal meaning for ergonomists. Most of us have leaned against something dusty or wet and then walked around not realizing that a sleeve, shoulder, back, or butt was dirty. Have you ever considered why people lean on things? If you’re […]
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18 Jan, 21

Is this job repetitive? (How 0-30% of the day might still be “repetitive”, or 67% may not be)

We are often asked to help employers accommodate workers with restrictions against “repetitive” work, or “repetitive” shoulder, back, or wrist demands. What is “repetitive”? Health & Safety Ontario’s relatively new Physical Demands Analysis Form uses these criteria for “frequency”: N=Not required R=Rarely (<2%) O=Occasional (3-33%) F=Frequent (34-66%) and C=Constant (67-100%) Over the years, “occasional/frequent/constant” have […]
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11 Jan, 21

Lessons learned during my internship with Taylor’d Ergo

by Jessica Szarko As part of the Advanced Ergonomics Program at Fanshawe College, I completed my internship with Taylor’d Ergonomics. During the remote part of my internship I identified, described, and ‘proved’ best practices for everyday tasks, using biomechanics software. Later, I completed Physical and Cognitive Demands Analyses (PDA/CDA) for municipal employees, and I worked […]
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