Ergonomics approach and tools Matt Birtles www.hsl . gov.uk An - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Matt Birtles

Ergonomics approach and tools

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

The goal of ergonomics is to create a balanced and effective relationship between the needs of the workforce, the requirements of the activity and the influence of the environment.

Ergonomics approach

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment work machine

Ergonomics approach

Human centred Holistic Applied human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment human

Ergonomics approach

Study humans (and all their limitations) Who are your workers? human machine work

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment work machine

Ergonomics approach

human Ensure that machines/tools meet workforce needs

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment work

Ergonomics approach

Ensure work suitable for humans workers machine human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment work

Ergonomics approach

Ensure environment is safe, healthy and conducive to work tasks machine human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

environment work machine

Ergonomics approach

Provides an approach for understanding the workforce and what they do, to make judgements on risk and find improvements. human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Ergonomics approach

The benefits of a human-centred approach? risk is reduced, performance enhanced and acceptance and satisfaction are improved.

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Ergonomics approach

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

load repetition posture individual environment MSD psychosocial

Ergonomics approach

exposure

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling Upper Limb Disorders Posture

• lower frequency,
• higher force (~ >4kg per hand),
• gross movement of the body/torso,
• generally lower back symptoms.
• higher frequency (>twice per min),
• repetitive use of upper limbs,
• reduced forces,
• less movement in the body,
• generally upper limb symptoms.
• possibly no set forceful task,
• often none neutral posture (bending),
• often stationary task.

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling L23 MAC

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

L23 Manual Handling

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

L23 Manual Handling

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

L23

• HSE authored
• Covers all risk factors
• 2 key parts (risk filter and risk checklist)

Manual Handling

• Long winded / time consuming
• Covers non-relevant factors
• Subjective
• Often misinterpreted eg. “25kg limit”
• Well established (courts & inspectorate)
• Thorough
• Obviously schedule 1 of MHOR
• List of risk factors and probable solution

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

MAC Manual Handling

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

MAC

• HSE authored
• Traffic light approach to risk
• Quantifies risk (internally)
• Assesses lifting, carrying and team

handling tasks

• Push pull tool is on it’s way

Manual Handling

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

MAC Manual Handling

• Less obviously Schedule 1 of MHOR
• Psychosocial and individual often
• verlooked (including gender)
• Well established
• Quick to use
• Simple to understand and interpret
• Strong guidance
• HSE guidance (EMM)
• Easy to teach and share
• Highlights key risk factors
• Compares tasks within an organisation

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

12 8 8 10 6 8 6 6 8 4 4 4

• 12

8 8 10 6 8 6 6 8 4 4 4 12 8 8 10 6 8 6 6 8 4 4 4

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

• Developed by Surrey University, revised

for HSE

• Well evaluated
• Designed to be highly useable
• Will assess manual handling or upper

limb disorders

• Assess risk to 4 main body areas

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

• Back end a bit laborious
• Action limits are not to be used too

rigidly (little validation)

• Does not deal will multi-element tasks

(i.e. job rotation)

• No too many weaknesses, I like it.

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Manual Handling & ULDS QEC

• Quick to complete, easy to use
• Designed for Occ. Health Practitioners
• Participatory approach with workforce
• Provides action limits
• Good at comparing a large number of

tasks

• Include psychosocial factors
• Validity and usability confirmed
• Indicates body area are greatest risks

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr211.pdf http://www.hse.gov.uk/food/live.htm#msd

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

Upper Limb Disorders ART HSG 60

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

HSG 60

• HSE authored
• Risk factors listed
• Similar approach to L23
• Good for when thorough examination or

a small number of tasks is required

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

HSG 60

• Long winded – time consuming
• Not so accessible to communicate
• Does not provide simple comparison of

risks or tasks

• Does not deal will multi-element tasks

(i.e. job rotation)

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

HSG 60

• Simple approach
• Easily understood
• Well guided
• Very thorough and comprehensive
• Applies to all upper limb tasks
• Good guidance and explanation given

in the HSG60 book

• List of risk factors, reasons they are

relevant and possible management methods

• Mild boredom

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

The worker has to pi The worker has to pick sheets fr ck sheets from

• m a bi

a bin, l n, locate cate the cor the corner ers s and fe and feed them on to attachm ed them on to attachments for the nts for the machine to iron machine to iron automatically. automatically. <1 kg <1 kg

• None

None ~14 ~14 Ironing sheets Ironing sheets N/A N/A 18 Se 18 Sept ‘07 pt ‘07 Co Company Y any Y Mrs X Mrs X

ART Upper Limb Disorders

What approach to take?

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

2 3.5 3.5 Daily Daily Daily Daily Placing fold Placing folded she ed sheets on conve ts on conveyor

• r

6 7 8 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 start start finish finish

ART Upper Limb Disorders

What approach to take?

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

The assessment is split into four stages. All together ART assesses 12 risk factors that are common in repetitive work. The level of risk (colour) of each risk factor is determined by following the instructions in the assessment guide. Each stage covers a different risk: Frequency and repetition of the movements Force applied by the worker Awkward postures of the neck, back, arm, wrist, and hand Additional factors, such as breaks, work pace, duration and other factors

A A B B C C D D

A A B B C C D D

What approach to take?

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART

• HSE authored (probably)
• Traffic light approach to risk

assessment

• Quantifies risk (internally)
• Suggests action levels
• Ties into other tools (QEC, RULA)
• Will be published early next year on

HSE website

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART

• Not sure yet – hasn’t been used enough
• May be issues with subjectivity of some

responses.

• More complex than MAC….
• New, so not been through courts,

unions, inspectorate.

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

What approach to take?

ART

• Relatively simple approach and

interpretation

• Participatory approach with workforce
• Builds on MAC experience
• Provides detailed guidance
• e-training will be available
• Provides method of dealing with multi

element tasks

• Highlights key risk factors
• Compares tasks within an organisation

Upper Limb Disorders

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Ergonomics approach

Remember these are all just approaches to understand what is going on and to try to help you fix what’s not working. From experience, the biggest challenges are knowing where to start – and then the finding investment to make any necessary improvements.

environment work machine human environment work machine human human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Ergonomics approach

Sitting down with the workforce

• ver a cup of tea can often get

you 80% of the way there and already highlight areas of possible improvement. Probably

environment work machine human environment work machine human human

An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive

www.hsl.gov.uk

Ergonomics approach

environment work machine human environment work machine human human

Thank you for your time matthew.birtles@hsl.gov.uk