Ergonomics it's more than a buzz word these days it's law and its been around since World War Two when necessity was the mother of invention. It was primarily referred to as human factor engineering in the USA and ergonomics in the UK.

Today ergonomics means ergo as work and nomics as law. This is the science of adapting work or working conditions to suit the worker. Its meaning has been more recently extended to include health, safety and environment, workplace layout, and job training. Ergonomics encompasses two distinctive disciplines that can be referred to as design and safety. First successful companies know that their products must be easy to use and aesthetically pleasing to gain customer acceptance. Second, companies have also become aware of how necessary it is to approach the workplace from an ergonomics perspective. To survive today's marketplace, the key to staying competitive is finding the right balance between productivity, quality, and safety.

We are all continuously reading how common back injuries are becoming dominant in the work place everyday, yet so few of us do much about it until its too late for costs us a small fortune. The majority of these work related back injuries occur while someone bends, twists, lifts, turns, or reaches in a repetitive motion. These motions usually occur in small dosages over a long period of time which is not normally notice until damage has occurred and its too late. Job tasks may require workers to use repetitive body movements, or expose workers to use excessive vibration or extreme temperatures. To solve these workplace problems, ergonomics combines aspects of human sciences physiology, biomechanics and anatomy, cognitive sciences information processing and behavioral theories and technical sciences engineering and systems design in or to offer a comprehensive method or preventing or reducing accidents and injuries in the workplace. The results is benefits to the employer and employees: employers experience reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, decreased costs for injured workers, improved union/management relations, uplifted and improve morale of employees with a greater satisfaction and offered in their job with less stress.

To reap these benefits, however, it is important to adopt a systematic approach to ergonomic interventions.

STEP ONE: JOB OR TASK ANALYSIS
This is the most important tool used more conducting an ergonomic analysis. You must break down the job into various stages and steps which will identify the concerns involve followed by possible solutions. You will be routine at both production, and safety requirements and the ways information is communicated and presented to the worker to perform their job.

STEP TWO: ACTION OUTPUT/PHYSICAL JOB REQUIREMENTS
This next step looks and measures the actions required by the job process e.g. physically moving levers, controls or lifting and handling items. These items are analyzed in terms of the repetitive motions a involve, the stress a exert on the body, and the posters they require.

STEP THREE: PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Careful consideration must the given to the environment in which the job or task is being performed. Analysis on lighting levels, noise, vibration and temperature, all of which an significantly affect the performance of the employee.

STEP FOUR: EMPLOYEE SURVEYS
A detailed surveying, interview or questionnaire can be produced and provided to each employee to fill out and return for evaluation.

STEP FIVE: ORGANIZATION ENVIRONMENT
In this step we've note at the effects of the organizational structures on the workers performance. Factors such as shiftwork, training, incentive programs, methods of pay and job variety are all examined.

STEP SIX: ERGONOMIC CHECK LIST
Checklists can be developed for a wide range of applications, including the evaluation of mobile equipment design, the potential for repetitive strain injuries and problems with workstation design. They show some of the types of jobs stresses that are often overlooked as possible causes of musculoskeletal injuries. This checklist can show times most often injuries occur, and the trends that occur.

STEP SEVEN: EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROCESS
The final element ergonomic program is the development of procedures and mechanisms to evaluate and monitor progress on an ongoing basis.

The regulatory environment drives changes - material handling accounts for 25 percent to 30 percent of all industrial injuries or accident. OSHA documents a staggering amount of lost work to companies every year do to back injuries and it is increasing everyday. With the presence of an aging work force and the increase of females to the workforce, the stats keep going up. The lost time due to the injuries is only the start of a major problem within companies day. Employees who try to make their bodies fit the task rather than the task fit the body are losing productivity due to fatigue every hour and every day they are on the job. Measuring these lost hours on the job can be much more difficult. The first priority against injuries is to try to prevent the injury before it starts.

Back injuries are the most disabling and costly ones, not only to industry but to the employees affected, primary prevention is complicated by our poor understanding of the etiology or chain of causation of back injury.

Most injuries, rated to poor ergonomic design of equipment been used, does not begin with a major trauma; most are the product of months or years of mini-trauma. Even the best workers cannot perform to their maximum potential without the proper equipment. Similarly, average performers and boost their output when using well-designed equipment.

What can you do now to improve your productivity, morale of employees, lower compensation costs and plays as well as protect your employees have?

1. Evaluate your injuries. When and how are injuries occurring? Are workers aging? Or out of shape? Are you employees predominantly the ones getting hurt? Are they happening at a specific time of day? Are they happening with certain types of equipment? Once the evaluation is done:

2. Redesign the job. Job design alone with sound ergonomic principles is probably the single most important factor in increasing productivity and reducing work related injuries. Whether you are revamping an assembly line, or replacing a single piece of equipment, the ideal is the same: try to make the job fit the employee; do not try to force fit increasingly diverse workers to the job. This can be done, by providing mechanical, electrical or pneumatic lifting devices such as lift tables, container dumpers, light duty cranes or using manipulators and robotics. Alternatively sometimes all it takes is some simple, inexpensive solution such as ergonomics workstations.

The field of industrial ergonomics, designed is still emerging, the materials handling industry has long understood the importance of ergonomics in the design of jobs and equipment. The anticipated OSHA ergonomics protection standard as well as the existing NIOSH manual lifting guidelines are bringing it to the attention of everyone today. Realizing the importance of the ergonomics issue, many of the leading manufacturers of material handling equipment have already taken a very aggressive approach to either redesigning traditional equipment or developing new products.

Ergonomics will continue to be a major opportunity for the material handling industry and to planners of manufacturing, warehousing and distribution systems. Proper ergonomics in these systems today will only increase nor productivity and quality along with decreasing medical costs, injuries labor turnover and absenteeism. You either see injury prevention and intervention as good work practice, a cost or a saving. Some companies are very enlightened and see that good safety is good business. Others do not care, while more are not sure. These companies are reluctant to make changes unless their level of pain --the expense of workers compensation--is high enough. Unless there is a catalyst, they will not make the changes and the bottom line is we all suffer and pay for fit in the end.