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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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What makes a good ergonomist great?

We’re hiring to fill our Mississauga position, and soon we’ll be interviewing for summer interns, so I’ve been thinking about what characteristics allow an ergonomist to excel in the field. A good ergonomist At a minimum, an ergonomist should meet the Canadian ergonomics certification requirements, which can be found here. We have had ergonomics certification […]
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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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Why does my neck hurt when I wear bifocals?

As we age, those of us who have always needed glasses for far vision often find themselves in need of bifocal lenses. Bifocal, multifocal, or “progressive” lenses, allow those of us with lousy distance and lousy near vision to see the world using one pair of glasses. They’re pretty amazing if you consider the alternative: […]
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