 |
Message From the President
|
|
|
December always brings remembrances for me of Christmases past and the wonderful times I've had celebrating with my family and friends. Thinking about loved ones that are no longer with me can sometimes tug at my heart strings this time of year, so instead I try to focus on the joy they brought to my life while they were here and be grateful for the time I had with them. And while thinking about how I wanted to express my thoughts to you in this December newsletter, I ran across an article in the December 2018 issue of Health magazine titled Live Healthy, Stress Less This Season. This article by Kate Rockwood, et al. expressed my thoughts and I couldn't say it any better, so I am sharing it with you:
"Take a Moment to Reflect. The holiday season means different things to different people. For some, it's about religious observance; for others, it's about food-centric traditions or just quality time with family. Every day, maybe when you wake up, spend a minute or two thinking about what the season means to you. This daily exercise will help you stay centered during this month's more trying moments (like when you're hunting for a parking spot at the shopping center) and remind you to keep your priorities straight: your loved ones, your happiness and your health."
So, whatever your holiday traditions are, I hope that they bring you great joy and peace this year. And, always remember to make time for yourself - and that deep, long breaths always help in any situation.
As always, we welcome your suggestions and your continued efforts to get the word out about the Society by telling your friends and colleagues about AES.
Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season.
|
AES Member Spotlight - Rebecca Alexander
Rebecca Alexander works on the Global Safety and Compliance team at Starbucks Coffee Company in Seattle, Washington. Her team leads the ongoing development and execution of risk identification, risk control, occupational safety, injury, and incident prevention for company-operated stores around the world. Rebecca is the company's subject matter expert for retail ergonomics. She consults with cross-functional teams on everything from designs of workstations to those of smallwares for beverage and food production.
Rebecca has worked in the ergonomics profession for about two years. She completed an industrial ergonomics course with the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina in 2016 and recently finished its Office Ergonomics Accreditation Program.
One reason that Rebecca joined the Applied Ergonomics Society is to more easily connect with other ergonomics professionals. She also hopes to use this platform to learn best practices and identify ways to improve the work environments and processes for Starbucks retail store employees.
Rebecca is proud to have been part of a cross-functional team that redesigned
volumetric ice scoops used by retail store employees as they make iced beverages. The original ice scoop handle lacked any ergonomic considerations, and the scoop itself broke frequently. The newly designed scoop has an ergonomically improved handle, enabling employees to scoop ice more comfortably and with better control.
Feedback has been entirely positive!
Although Rebecca has been in the ergonomics profession for a relatively short amount of time, she has already learned one important lesson. This is to put yourself in your customer's shoes. For Rebecca, it has been the baristas. Because she began her career in retail operations with Starbucks, she remembers the physical toll taken by working in a fast-paced beverage and food production environment. So, each time she consults on a project, she looks at the retail environment as a whole. She has realized that even minor changes or additions to a project team involves new steps or work processes being added to an already complicated workspace. Because of this, Rebecca makes sure she spends adequate time in stores and with employees, so that she better connects with them, fully understands their jobs, and recognizes the work's pain points.
When not improving Starbucks operations, Rebecca loves running, practicing yoga, cycling, and wine-tasting, but not necessarily in that order! She also enjoys traveling with her husband and two daughters (ages 7 and 10) to warm locations. She appreciates life in the Pacific Northwest, but Rebecca and her family sometimes just want some heat and humidity.
|
Resources for Finding Ergonomics Solutions
We all know that the foundation of a successful ergonomics improvement process is an accurate and methodical assessment of work requirements. This often dictates what course of action should be taken; that is, do these demands warrant task changes? And, if so, the next step often is determining what solution(s) are feasible and would result in the desired outcome. This is the phase of the process that often frustrates health & safety professionals - generating ideas or locating examples of what has worked in similar situations.
Fortunately, there are many resources to assist those seeking solutions. Several of these are described below. Bear in mind that many times an intervention designed for a specific industry can be applied to another!
Here, these groups highlight their innovative ergonomic solutions and show how the solutions reduced injury risk and improved other success metrics. This format provides an opportunity for discussions directly with those involved in the interventions.
|
|
New Applied Ergonomics Research
Measuring Work Demands in Hospital Nursing: A Feasibility Study
Occupational Applications: This study explored the feasibility of measuring multiple work demands simultaneously in hospital nurses' work systems. Results demonstrated that it is feasible to collect data quantifying shiftwork, organization of work, environmental stressors, physical work, mental work, and psychosocial stressors using a variety of data sources. Data collection processes were acceptable to nurse participants and the identified measures of demands were viewed as representative of nursing practice. Further, there was variability in identified measures of work demands both between and within shifts. Hospital organizations can collect these data to quantify the demands their nurses' experience and identify opportunities for system redesign to reduce demands. In addition, future work can evaluate the relationships between identified work demand measures and nurses' health and safety outcomes, such as fatigue, injury, and absenteeism, as well as to measures of patient safety and healthcare quality. READ MORE.
Improving Daily Patient Room Cleaning: An Observational Study Using a Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach
Occupational Applications: Environmental care (EVC) associates are often considered solely responsible for suboptimal cleaning of patient rooms. Thus, performance improvement efforts have focused on EVC monitoring and training. Little attention, however, has been paid to the large work system that may impede the performance (e.g., completeness of cleaning, efficiency) and well-being (e.g., job satisfaction, burnout) of EVC associates. Using a human factors and systems engineering approach, we conducted observations of EVC associates performing daily patient room cleaning and identified various work system factors that could influence the quality of daily patient room cleaning (e.g., patient and family presence, cleaning patterns, interruptions). Effective and sustainable interventions for improving daily patient room cleaning need to address these factors by redesigning the work system and the cleaning process. READ MORE.
Assessment of Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk with Hand and Syringe use in Chemotherapy Nurses and Pharmacy Assistants
Occupational Applications
: Healthcare workers who use syringes and use their hands frequently have increased risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Syringe use, handling, writing, and other pinch grip tasks occur in chemotherapy, pharmaceuticals, laboratories, and dietetics. Many hospitals have similar tasks where medications are administered to patients via syringes or IV bags. With limited research available, this study sought to gain further insight by exploring hand and syringe tasks in the healthcare field. Evidence of muscular overload for nurses and pharmacy assistants performing syringe (intravenous push treatments) and hand tasks was indicated by a high number of hand efforts combined with prolonged durations, thumb forces, and high muscle activity with a lack of muscular rest. Pharmacy assistants also presented a higher risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders. The results of this study can assist workers in the chemotherapy department, and may impact professions with similar hand and syringe efforts, by creating an awareness of the tasks performed, the extent of hand use, and associated work-related musculoskeletal disorders risk while providing risk reduction strategies.
READ MORE.
|
|
IISE Connect - Making the Most of Your AES Membership
Are you taking full advantage of your membership in the Applied Ergonomics Society? One way to increase your visibility, communicate with others more easily, and learn more about ergonomics is to complete your Member Profile. After you
sign into IISE Connect
, click on your Profile. Once there, you will be able to:
- Input biography details, including your educational achievements, job responsibilities, and work history;
- Promote the business/industry in which you work; and
- Identify those IISE and AES members that you wish to connect with directly.
IISE Connect offers a straightforward gateway to other IISE communities and provides means to share files with other members, participate in discussions, and even create and publish your own blog. So, check out
IISE Connect
.
|
New Certificate and Innovative Training for Ergonomic Specialists
AES has partnered with UL to provide a five-course training program to earn the Ergonomic Improvement Specialist Certificate . AES members and Corporate Partners receive a discounted rate. The course is offered in English and Spanish. Read more here.
|
|
Registration now open for the 22nd Annual Applied Ergonomics Conference
Join us for innovation, exploration and opportunities at the 2019 Applied Ergonomics Conference (AEC) taking place March 25-28, 2019, in New Orleans. Gain exposure to the latest developments, learn from industry leaders and connect with colleagues at your top industry event of the year.
Register now
for early-bird savings of $200 before Jan. 21!
|
Join a Webinar
Designing the Evolution of an Ergonomist
Presented by Applied Ergonomics Conference Committee - OPEN TO ALL
Jan. 9, 3 p.m. Eastern time
Presenter:
Camille Major, project manager, Chevron
Has the evolution of an ergonomist occurred by design or happenstance? Meeting business needs can support our personal
career
goals if we know how to identify our own value metrics and develop a strategy. No longer is our role static and unchanging. Fluid, flexible and adaptable is the new ergonomist of the future. Join us for a dynamic case study in motion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
