Injury Prevention - Ergonomics Electronic Tracking and Metrics

Perhaps your organization performs numerous in-person ergonomic evaluations, perhaps across multiple departments, sites, and environments. It’s no easy accomplishment, but it’s one of the signs of a proactive ergonomic policy in action. With budget cutbacks, now you are being asked to quantify the results, and perhaps to justify the continuation of your ergonomics program. This is where many organizations’ ergonomics programs can run into trouble. How is the Ergo Tracking Tool different? Unlike classic safety programs which rely primarily on reportable lagging indicators, ergonomics by its very nature, as a preventative pursuit, must rely on leading indicators. It must also be able to demonstrate improvements in those indicators. This is critical to sustaining an ergonomics program. Ergonomics, which by some is considered discretionary, may be one of the first programs to be considered for elimination. As people’s type and level of pain and discomfort varies widely, even when performing similar tasks, undertaking a successful ergonomics intervention can also be a much more one-on-one (person intensive) affair than lock out/tag out, or slip/trip/fall remediation. Managing ergonomic interventions requires the following: A clearly defined and documented process from top to bottom. When considering all activities that must occur, it is not uncommon to see 20 or more distinct steps in an institutional ergonomics program. A well defined follow-up process that is easy to manage. In our experience, performing the initial evaluation is easy… capturing follow-up data is much more problematic, but essential to demonstrating progress and efficacy. The ability to know, at any given time, which ergonomic interventions are in what state of completion The ability to separate administrative tasks from those requiring a trained ergonomics professional (facilitator), and to delegate them accordingly The ability for each facilitator to know exactly what needs to be done for each evaluation on any given day… they are effectively case managers. The ability to easily identify and route field activities The ability to easily manage the recommending, purchasing, and distribution of products, including the enforcement of pre-approved product lists The ability to quickly and effectively generate relevant ergonomic assessment reports The ability to extend the reach of your program to the greatest number of people, in a time efficient manner. This requires some degree of automation and email management. The ability to deliver metrics to management based on industry accepted leading indicators. This is the insurance policy that keeps ergonomics programs in place. Our Ergo Tracking Tool can do all this, and more. It’s easily customizable to your organization, easy to use, and will help your ergonomics staff to be more productive and effective on a day-to-day basis. They will be able to delegate administrative tasks, while retaining full control of the ergonomic process. Your team will be able to quickly present their findings to management in a clear and concise format. Electronic Tracking of your ergonomic data and process is a must if your intention is to increase your program’s person-to-person outreach … and it should be. Our methodology to track your data points and process is administratively light, cost effective, and will set the stage to push your ergonomic program further into the area of prevention that you ever thought possible, all without hiring any additional staff. A Comprehensive Approach Although it can be used independently, our Ergo Tracking Tool binds together all of the other productivity tools we offer into one highly effective and easy to use package. When sold as a package, we refer to the entire offering as the Ergo Toolset, which is comprised of the following: Ergo Tracking Tool Reporting Templates Product List Generator Remediation Prioritizer Electronic Surveys and Follow-Up Forms Whether considering either just the Ergo Tracking Tool, or the full Ergo Toolset, each will require some configuration and customization to be a good fit for your organization. Requirements to perform the setup are gathered during an initial consultation and configuration period. Accompanying these tools are other customized documents: A variety of field checklists Complete ergonomics process diagram Standard operating procedure These documents along with all functionality are covered in a full day, hands-on training session. Electronic Tracking is the cornerstone of nearly every contract we service. Without it, we would not be able to distinguish ourselves as a large-scale, premium ergonomic service provider. If you already have an ergonomic staff, give them the tools they need to shine and to continue walking down the path of self-sufficiency. If you are just developing an ergonomic staff, this is your opportunity to put best practices into place on day one. For information about other products and services that may benefit your ergonomics program, we invite you to explore the links below. Productivity Tools for Professionals: Electronic Reporting Templates Product List Generator Remediation Prioritizer Electronic Surveys and Follow-Up Forms