Instructions
The objective of the field project is to provide you with real-life experience in job analysis. The practice of Ergonomics is a hands-on science. Good ergonomics work requires visiting job-sites, talking to workers on-site, analyzing material on-site etc. The workers on the jobs are the real "experts", not the person with a clipboard. To access that expertise, we must go to the workplaces and ask many questions.
I am introducing this project now to get you thinking of where you will conduct the study. You will not be ready to commence the on-site field project until after lesson 9. You need the knowledge and skills of lessons 1-9 before you will be competent enough to perform the on-site field project.
Choose a workplace to analyze for the field project.
The workplace can be somewhere where you work or the workplace of a family or friend. It can be anywhere, but choose a job that will be physical in nature (lifting, pushing, pulling, or repetitive work etc.) Not a sedentary job and NOT an office job. For example: an industrial manufacturing plant, a loading dock, a storeroom clerk, construction, mailroom clerk, warehouse, grocery store clerk etc. You should analyze only ONE job. Or, if it's a complicated job then just analyze 1-2 tasks within the job. For example, a mechanic and construction job are far too complex to analyze in their entirety for this assignment. So for these types of jobs pick 1-2 physically heavy tasks to analyze. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Keep it simple. I would rather you analyzed a few tasks and did a thorough job; rather than analyzing a huge complex job and do a superficial analysis. The job must contain some type of lifting/pushing/pulling/carrying task, so that you can use the NIOSH equation or other manual materials handling analytical tools. The job you choose should also have some of the risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders (MSD).
The course instructor must approve all workplaces BEFORE YOU CONTACT ANY POTENTIAL WORKPLACE. Please provide the name of the company, your affiliation to the company, the type of industry, and the types of jobs you intend to analyze and any other relevant information.
Once you have approval from the course instructor, contact the potential workplace and ask permission to conduct a student field project in Ergonomics (You may have define ergonomics and explain that it falls under the domain of Occupational Health and Safety) Ensure the company that the information is strictly confidential, for your use only, and that you will not disseminated any information to any parties outside of the course instructor (give them my name and contact info.) As a courtesy, you may want to offer a copy of your assignment to the employer but do not give any copies to employees, union members or anyone else outside of the course instructor.
You must understand that you are NOT an Ergonomist and this Field Project Report is not a bona fide Ergonomics Report. This is simply a school project and your report should not be used by ANYONE at the employer's to determine hazards, risks or controls. I prefer that my students do not give a copy of the report to the employer because I am worried that it may be misused. Having said that, if they insist then you'll have no choice but to share a copy with them; after all they extended the courtesy of allowing you to conduct your project at their workplace. But only give a copy of your Field Project Report to the employer with the strongest verbal and written disclaimers that it is NOT A BONA FIDE ERGONOMICS REPORT, it is simply a school project. Warn the employer that misuse of the report may have grave consequences. Remove all personal and confidential information from your report (e.g. names, addresses etc.)
If you require assistance in setting up the on-site visit please contact the course instructor. I would be happy to speak directly to any employer to convince them of the learning value of this project; or to assure them of confidentiality etc.
You should collect as much data from the company before you begin (type of personal protection equipment that you require for the on-site visit, type of industry/work, number of workers, names of members of the health safety committee/health & safety personnel, injury statistics, accident statistics, WSIB claims, job descriptions in the area you will be analyzing, copies of previous safety audits/analyses/physical demands analyses, diagrams/drawings of the workplace) Unfortunately, conducting the on-site visit must involve a certain degree of interrupting the work to take measurements and interview workers. So be as efficient as you can to minimize disruption. If you are well prepared BEFORE the visit, then it will take less time on-site which will make the employer and the workers happy. The on-site visit must be done with complete professionalism and respect for the employer's workplace.
During the job analysis you will be observing the job, interviewing workers, taking measurements, video and photographs.
Job Analysis
Thoroughly review the sheet "Job_Analysis.rtf" (click on the link to open) prior to the on-site visit. Familiarize yourself with the type of questions that you may want to ask. Answer all the relevant questions on the " How to conduct a job analysis "sheet. In particular I want you to delineate clearly what are the duties and how are they performed physically (physical demands). Take all the necessary measurements and draw diagrams of the workplace. Quantify your physical demands as much as possible. Take all the necessary measurements to complete the NIOSH RWL equation. If your job is repetitive then take all the necessary measurements to compare the data to the ANSI Z-365 checklist (Z365checklist .doc).
Ask the workers what aspect of the job (if any) do they feel is the most physically demanding, Why? You can mention your ideas for modification to the workers and obtain their opinion. Take all the necessary notes, measurements, photos, video and draw detailed diagrams of the workplace. Pictures (diagrams/photos) are worth a thousand words, so use them both in the description of the workplace layout, hazards and the description of the recommendations. Ask the worker what they feel are the more hazardous aspects of the job. Ask the worker how to improve the job (remember, the worker is the expert on his/her job). You can discreetly mention your ideas for hazard control to the workers and obtain their opinion and feedback. A good method is to ask inoffensive questions such as, "That's interesting, why doesn't your boss put a safety guard around that machine?"
Again, use diagrams/photos.
From the data and subsequent NIOSH/ANSI calculations, you can comment on the safety of the job with respect to back injury and upper arm or neck or lower limb.
Attire
Dress casually in pants (e.g. jeans). Wear steel-toe boots or shoes if possible. At the plant, remove all jewellery and tuck in loose clothing. You will be around moving machinery that may catch loose clothing or jewellery.
Safety
Please respect all industrial safety rules. In the plant, please walk between the yellow lines (pathway) except when required to view your job and talk to workers. Certain areas of the plant may require special protective equipment, which will be supplied by the company if necessary.
Talking to workersAlthough the workers should have already been informed of your visit, please be courteous and introduce yourself to any worker that you observe doing their job. Tell the worker who you are, where you are from and what you are doing. Never observe, video or photograph anyone without their consent. Explain to the workers that the video is confidential. It will not be copied or distributed to anyone, nor uploaded to any database or website. The video will be viewed ONLY by you for the purposes of this school project in job analysis. ** Note: the course instructor does not view videotapes. Do NOT send me videos. The video is like rough notes for you the analyzer. However, some photos will be sent to the course instructor in the final report. Assure the employees that the course instructor will keep all information strictly confidential.
Although you need to ask the workers questions and take measurements, be efficient and brief to minimize work disruption.
Equipment
Steel-toe boots/shoes
Video camera
Camera
Small writing pad and pen/pencil
Tape measure (metric)
For measuring weights either use a weigh scale at the employer's if they have one; or ask the worker or simply estimate the weight.
"How to Conduct a Job Analysis" sheet
Class notes (especially NIOSH Equation, Cumulative Trauma Disorders, Job Analysis and Field Project)
* Company will supply other equipment if necessary (e.g. hard-hat, ear protection)
Report Format
Title page
Title of report, your name, student number, College, course name and number (Ergonomics- OHS4005 on-line), date, Instructor name (Lisa Flanders) etc.
Include the following disclaimer on the title page in big, bold letters:
"Information in this school report is strictly confidential. This report is NOT A BONA FIDE ERGONOMICS REPORT, and was not conducted by a safety professional. It is simply a school project. This report cannot in any way be used (misused) by ANYONE to determine hazards, risks or controls. Misuse of this report will have grave consequences for the employer and workers!"
Introduction (1/2 to 1 page)
Information about the company (2-4 sentences)
Important data drawn from accident/safety/medical/WSIB records. Although you may not be have access to official documents, you should at least ask them; giving all the required genuine promises of confidentiality etc. If they won't let you see official documents (which is likely) then ask some managers or workers some general questions to ascertain anecdotally something about their accident/injury experience. (1-4 sentences)
Purpose of report; i.e. this is a school report NOT a bona fide Ergonomics Report.(1-2 sentences)
Workplace Layout (1 page including diagrams/photos)
Job objective (1-2 sentences)
Job Description (1-3 pages including diagrams/photos)
Briefly, outline the type of work done by the worker in the job that you are analyzing.
Briefly and succinctly describe the job DUTIES ("What" the person has to do) Use point-form.
Briefly and succinctly describe the PHYSICAL DEMANDS ("How" physically the job is done) Use a chart or point form. Quantify the demands as much as possible i.e. weights, frequency, time (duration), distance, degrees from neutral of body parts (posture), force (if you cannot measure force, then estimate based on a scale of: High. Medium and Low).
Click here for a sample Physical Demands Analysis tool that you can use:
IAPA PDA.pdf
Risk Factor Analysis (2-4 pages including diagrams/photos)
Here you will determine if the physical demands exceed the person's capabilities or not. Just state the results of each risk factor analysis; avoid explaining too much (you'll do that in the next section, "Discussion")
Conduct Manual Materials Handling (MMH) analysis. Conduct a NIOSH analysis. Be sure to display each "multiplier" in the NIOSH calculation. Recall that, the lower the multiplier the greater the risk. Also, be sure to calculate the Lifting Index (LI) for each NIOSH calculation.
Conduct Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD) analysis. Examine the Physical Demands with respect to the four major CTD risk factors: Force, Awkward posture, Repetition and Lack of rest breaks (see Lesson 5). Don't forget to examine work area and tool design (see Lesson 7). Include an analysis of static work if relevant. Use some analytical tools from the textbook or from other sources.
Conduct Environmental analysis. Examine all the relevant environmental factors listed in Lesson 6.
Discussion (1-2 pages)
Discuss the findings of the MMH analysis. Make a brief summary comment as to whether there is a risk to injury from MMH and which duties/tasks are the likely culprits. Manipulate the data for the NIOSH calculation and try to get the Lifting Index (LI) below 1.
Discuss the findings of the CTD analysis. Make a brief summary comment as to whether there is a risk to injury from CTD and which duties/tasks are the likely culprits.
Discuss the findings of the Environmental analysis. Make a brief summary comment as to whether there is a risk to injury from Environmental conditions and which aspects of the job are applicable.
Recommendations (1-2 pages including diagrams/photos)
List your recommendations for controlling each ergonomic risk factor that you identified in the risk factor analysis. Include all three types of controls if relevant; but focus on engineering controls at the source, since these are by far the most effective controls.
Number each recommendation.
Include relevant diagrams of your recommendations. Do a web search and include non-copyrighted pictures if necessary.
You must explain WHY you are making the recommendation i.e. provide a clear rationale for your recommendation. Explain how your recommendation will lessen the risk to injury. e.g. "An electric/hydraulic scissor lift will decrease lifting & carrying by the worker by approximately 90%, thereby virtually eliminating the risk factors of heavy loads, repetitive bending and twisting." or "A tool balancer holds the weight of the drill thereby significantly decreasing static muscle contraction and force applied in the shoulders and arm. Also, there will be a decrease in hand gripping, thereby reducing the load on the wrist."
**Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, so use a modest amount of relevant pictures! Be sure to save your pictures in a smaller size (small kilobytes) before adding them to report.