injury

Visibility

Hallowe’en seems like the perfect time for a discussion about “visibility” and “line of sight”. Masks and other costumes can obstruct a trick-or-treater’s vision; a child may not see approaching people or vehicles, and may trip and fall over obstacles that they cannot see. When you can only see forward, your peripheral vision is impaired; […]
Read more

Exoskeleton Conference Summary

by Callum Murphy Last week, Alex and I participated in an Exoskeleton Conference presented by CRE-MSD. If you’re interested in more details, the slides can be found here: Manual Handling: Where Exoskeletons Fit Within Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) Prevention Strategies | Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) | University of Waterloo […]
Read more

How can we make a job less repetitive?

Work is “repetitive” in many work environments. People package and palletize, load presses, use paint guns, and more . After an injury occurs, an employee’s health care provider may limit the employee from “repetitive” work. In a workplace where thousands of items are produced per shift, how can you find work that is not “repetitive”? What […]
Read more

A deeper dive into cost-benefit analysis

For most of my career, I’ve been single-minded in my focus on minimizing the risk of strain/sprain injuries. I’m not alone; most ergonomists work in a “safety” capacity, concerned mainly with keeping the demands of the workplace within the physical capabilities of the workforce. We might occasionally concern ourselves with cognitive demands (some much more […]
Read more

What is a risk index?

We are often asked the question, “Is this job safe?” The client wants to know if workers are at a high risk of strain or sprain injury and, if so, what they could do to mitigate the risk. If the job is acceptable as it is, they likely want to prioritize resources elsewhere. Some ergonomists […]
Read more
Cart
X