Newsletter
August 2019
Message From the President-Elect

The theme of the  2020 Applied Ergonomics Conference will be Ergonomics Is Everywhere....The Global Reach of Ergonomics. As you will learn at the conference, ergonomic principles can be used in a wide variety of applications. Many of us apply ergonomic principles in the office, material handling, and industrial / manufacturing environments. However, ergonomic principles can be applied across life and any task a human performs. Examples include homes, schools, yard work, zoos, fishing, and weekend projects. In this issue of the newsletter, you will find an article that describes how ergonomic principles can be applied at home.

There are a variety of assessment tools used to apply these ergonomics principles. A recent article has been published that describes the tools and methods used by practicing ergonomists in USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. This survey was a follow-up to a previous article on the same topic. In spite of ergonomics being a discipline that requires task analysis, little qualitative and quantitative information on the equipment, tools and analysis techniques used by practicing ergonomics is available. In this new study, an email was sent to over 1200 Certified Professional Ergonomist around the world. The survey found that ergonomic practitioners have not increased their use of direct measurement instrumentation or mobile apps since the 2005 study was published. Most of the analysis techniques are observational methods (RULA, REBA, etc.), focus on manual material handling (using the NIOSH Lifting Equation, psychophysical tables, biomechanical models, etc.), and use simple measurement tools such as grip or pinch dynamometers, push / pull gauges, tape measures, and video cameras. The authors cited three critical fundamental constraints of ergonomic methods: accessibility; usability; and contextual constraints.

I am curious, what methods and tools do you use most frequently and why? Do you find the results of this survey surprising? I encourage you to share your experiences on IISE Connect .

Ben Zavitz, CPE, AES President-Elect
Will This Be Your Last Newsletter?
As reported earlier this summer, AES newsletters will only be available to members of the Applied Ergonomics Society beginning in September.  So, if you have found value in reading this newsletter and wish to continue learning about new ergonomics knowledge, insights, and workplace solutions, make sure your IISE membership also includes the Applied Ergonomics Society partnership.  Annual dues are only $35 additional to your IISE membership.
 Click here to learn more about the AES and become a member.
Health & Safety Education Available through NIOSH ERCs
One mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is to train new occupational safety and health practitioners and researchers. This has led to the development of 18 Education and Research Centers (ERCs) located throughout the U.S. This established network of Centers helps to address diverse health & safety challenges to better protect employees and create a healthier workforce. ERCs provide educational and outreach opportunities to students and help convey new and innovative health & safety discoveries into practical use.

Most of these 18 Centers offer some level of ergonomics training. In addition, students in these programs can obtain funding for their schooling, from partial subsidies to fully paid tuition and monthly stipends.

To learn more about each Center and the educational assistance opportunities they provide, visit the NIOSH ERC website.
Member Profile - Steve Hudock

Steve  Hudock has worked in the ergonomics profession since the late 1980's, when he and his team at the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Minneapolis began addressing musculoskeletal injuries and shiftwork issues in the mining industry. In 1990, Dr. Hudock took a position with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, where he focused on delivering ergonomics training to the public. For more than 25 years at NIOSH, he led musculoskeletal health, human factors, and ergonomics research teams, one of which developed the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation. Steve now works as Corporate Ergonomist for a division of Safran Group, an international aeronautics company based in France. There, he works in its landing systems division, which produces carbon brakes, landing gear wheel units, and landing gear structural components, primarily for large commercial passenger jets. Steve is responsible for implementing ergonomics improvements across several Safran facilities in North America and Asia.
Over his long career, Dr. Hudock has been involved in many ergonomics efforts, from research at the national level to ergonomic risk assessments for individual workstations, and almost everything in between! These have given him the opportunity to develop numerous publications and presentations based on his insights, which he is happy to share with those who are just entering the ergonomics discipline, including those in the Applied Ergonomics Society. He hopes that the AES continues to develop a network of hands-on advocates for ergonomics, both in the workplace and beyond.
In his limited spare time (given his business travel), Steve enjoys stretching out with a good book and enjoying the occasional staycation.
Submit an Abstract for the AEC by AUG 16

The 2020 Applied Ergonomics Conference will be held March 16 th -19 th  in Louisville, KY. Presenting at the conference is a great way to inform others of your ergonomics achievements, learn ways to further advance ergonomics initiatives and discover new solutions to workplace issues, and network with your peers.

Abstracts can now be submitted online. Here you can find everything you need to know including track description, FAQ's, abstract samples and important due dates. 


Note that the deadline for abstracts has been extended. The cut-off date for submissions is now  August 16th, 2019.
Improving Ergonomics at Work by Focusing on Ergonomics Outside of Work

We know that an effective participatory ergonomics program depends on input from subject matter experts - the employees. Their engagement is increased when they are educated on ergonomics principles so they themselves become more knowledgeable. This allows for more effective risk identification and solution development.

Ergonomists often spend a great deal of time on training and communications for employees, by reinforcing ergonomics principles using specific work examples. However, there is a simple strategy that can be used to expand this knowledge. That is to consider a targeted initiative to incorporate "ergonomics at home or at play" into ergonomics training activities.

So, why should our ergonomics efforts at work include a focus on ergonomics outside of the workplace? Read more here. 
New Ergonomics Research Now Available


The most-recent issue of IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors can now be read online, which covers a wide range of interesting topics. These include:
  • Lumbopelvic Kinematics in the Primary and Secondary Planes of Motion During Lateral Bending and Axial Twisting: Age-Related Difference GET MORE INFORMATION
  • Awareness of Musculoskeletal Disorders Hazards and Controls in Micro and Small Businesses in Ontario, Canada GET MORE INFORMATION
  • The Tides of the Zodiac MK VI HD: Comparing the Usability of Inflatable Boats for Seaborne Operations GET MORE INFORMATION
  • Investigating Fatigue in Offshore Drilling Workers: A Qualitative Data Analysis of Interviews GET MORE INFORMATION
  • Accuracy of Postures Predicted Using a Digital Human Model During Four Manual Exertion Tasks, and Implications for Ergonomic Assessments GET MORE INFORMATION
  • Static and Dynamic Work Activity Classification from a Single Accelerometer: Implications for Ergonomic Assessment of Manual Handling Tasks GET MORE INFORMATION
 
CREATIVENESS IN ERGONOMICS (CE) AWARD -  Link here
Creativeness in Ergonomics (CE) Practitioner of the Year Award
Sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., this award recognizes achievements in the creative application of ergonomics, including process improvement, education, applied instrumentation and product development.
  • Awarded for a specific achievement or for a series of achievements.
  • $3,000 will be awarded to an individual or a group of individuals.
  • The award winner will receive complimentary conference registration and an awards luncheon ticket.
  • The award will be presented at the conference awards luncheon on Thursday, March 19.
  • You will be asked to be a Featured Speaker at the 2021 Applied Ergonomics Conference.
We are now accepting applications for the 2021 Creativeness in Ergonomics (CE) Practitioner of the Year Award.
The deadline to submit is December 6, 2019.
Creativeness in Ergonomics (CE) Student of the Year Award
Sponsored by CNA Insurance, this award recognizes achievements in ergonomics application or research, including process improvement, education, applied instrumentation and product development as submitted for presentation in a poster or oral presentation at the Applied Ergonomics Conference.
  • Awarded for a specific achievement or for a series of achievements submitted for presentation in a poster or oral presentation at the Applied Ergonomics Conference.
  • $1,000 awarded to four students, for a total of $4,000.
  • The award winners received complimentary conference registration and an awards luncheon ticket.
  • The award will be presented at the conference awards luncheon on Thursday, March 19, 2020.
All students who submit an abstract for an oral presentation session (deadline August 16, 2019) or a poster session (deadline November 29, 2019) and are accepted to present at the 2020 Applied Ergonomics Conference will be considered for this award.
Transform your front-line workers into Ergonomics Champions

Ergo leaders can't be everywhere, but IISE's Applied Ergonomics Society and UL (yes, the UL that certifies safety for electrical appliances) have teamed up for a five-session, online suite that can transform your front-line workers to a bigger resource for your enterprise-wide vision of health and safety.
 
The IISE-UL Ergonomics Improvement Specialist Certificate, available in English and Spanish. Cost is only $99.99 per seat (discounts available for IISE members, Corporate and University Partners). The IACET-certified course is worth 0.2 CEUs.

Visit IISE.puresafety.com and click on the "Ergonomics" tab on the left for more.
Connect Helpful Tip - How Do I Update My Contact Information?

Have you moved this summer or need to update your old profile information? Log into your connect community and then select profile from the drop down in the top right corner. On your profile page, select the pencil icon next to the "Contact Details" in the left column.

AES Corporate and University Partnerships provide exceptional value
  • AES Corporate and University partners help your organization become more effective and competitive by solving the most challenging ergonomics, health and safety issues facing organizations today!
  • Access to IISE's global network of professionals around the world
  • Connect with an international network of peers with the online community IISE Connect
  • Grow your career and staff through AES's highly regarded ergonomics, health and safety professional development programs, conferences and much more, while saving up to 40%
For more information, Contact Doug Long , IISE's Global Director, Strategic Alliances, at  [email protected] or (770) 349-1109 to learn more.
Do you have any ergonomics-related insights you would like to share with other AES member in this newsletter?  Or, do you have a topic you would like to see explored in more-depth in a future issue?  If so, please contact  IISE .
 Not an IISE member yet?   Join AES here.
AES Newsletter Team 
Gary Allread, Editor; Bobbie Watts, Co-Editor;  Kathy Gamboa, IISE Coordinator