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ProQuestDocuments 2023 11 28
ProQuestDocuments 2023 11 28
ProQuestDocuments 2023 11 28
Sanford, Jeff
ABSTRACT (ENGLISH)
With so much focus now on engaging our workforce through behavior-based safety and participatory ergonomics, I
believe that we can (and should) make a connection between how industry addresses near misses in relation to
unsafe conditions and how industry can address near misses from an ergonomics perspective. [...]poor workstation
design could lead to a wrist injury or elbow injury or shoulder injury. Because employees tend to compensate for a
sore body part by stressing another, the variability in the outcome of an ergonomics-related near miss must be
recognized. [...]if engineers didn't plan on these design flaws, they clearly were unplanned, and if severe enough,
they have the potential to result in an injury. [...]an unplanned event that could cause an injury makes the case that
the presence of MSD risk factors inherently is a near miss. A valid MSD risk assessment tool correlates the
presence of risk factors with the potential for injury. Involve employees and supervisors, stressing the use of
observation-based, qualitative screening/assessment tools, which enable them to identify and report potential MSD
risk exposures. Jeff Sanford, director and ergonomics engineer for Humantech, is responsible for developing and
managing customized, global ergonomics programs in a variety of industries including...
FULL TEXT
I am a cautious father of a very adventurous two-year-old daughter. Every time my back is turned or I lose sight of
her, there is a potential for trouble. That's unplanned trouble of course, because my wife and I have done everything
possible to try and baby proof our house, to no avail. And now that the weather is inviting us outside, there is an
entirely different set of options for trouble - park visits, sticks and stones, pavement in general. I am talking about the
bumps, bruises and scrapes we all endured as youngsters, but nonetheless, the idea of a "near miss" is one that I
am comfortable discussing.
As a life-long ergonomist and not a trained safety professional, I have, on more than one occasion, ignored
discussions regarding near misses because I dismissed them purely as a safety concept with no relationship to the
field of ergonomics
or so I thought. With so much focus now on engaging our workforce through behavior-based safety and participatory
ergonomics, I believe that we can (and should) make a connection between how industry addresses near misses in
relation to unsafe conditions and how industry can address near misses from an ergonomics perspective.
Defining a Near Miss
The concept of near miss from an ergonomics perspective demonstrably is different than the concept from a safety
perspective. The primary difference is that the likelihood and severity of the outcome vary based on the employee.
Take a near-miss incident with a box cutter, for example.
The outcome of a box cutter incident is going to be the exact same from employee to employee: skin laceration.
With musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk, however, it's a different story, because with upper-extremity issues, there
may be a variety of different outcomes. For example, poor workstation design could lead to a wrist injury or elbow
injury or shoulder injury. Because employees tend to compensate for a sore body part by stressing another, the
variability in the outcome of an ergonomics-related near miss must be recognized. So, with a high MSD risk task,
you basically are hoping that (to continue with the box cutter example) you have employees doing the task who have
really thick skin!
Ergonomics, though, is focused on preventing injuries resulting from exposure to MSD risk. These types of injuries
DETAILS
Business indexing term: Subject: Employees Workforce; Industry: 54133 : Engineering Services
ISSN: 19459599
e-ISSN: 1931-6739
Copyright: Copyright Penton Media, Inc., Penton Business Media, Inc. Jun 5, 2017