Ergonomic risk assessment insights with Chris Dugan

We chatted with Chris Dugan, CSP, REHS, to get some insider info on workplace ergonomic risk assessment and management. In this interview, he shares some of the challenges of recognizing ergonomic risks and offers his best tips for controlling them.

Ergonomic risk assessment

For the last four years, Chris has provided comprehensive ergonomic program management to his current site, the North American company headquarters of Roche. This involves applying ergonomic risk management to different work environments like manufacturing, logistics, labs, offices, facilities, and the field.

1. What are the main ergonomic risks that you deal with in your line of work?

The main ergonomic risks really depend on the work environment you’re assessing. In manufacturing and warehousing, for example, I’d expect to see risks from repetition and material handling tasks (e.g., pushing, pulling, lifting, and lowering). But the risks for lab and office employees can be awkward or static postures, compression, and repetitive movements.

Field service employees are exposed to all sorts of ergonomic risks and there’s less disparity between them to single out a main one. In my experience though, these workers often have ergonomic risks from driving long hours and working in less controlled customer environments.

2. Why do you think there’s a tendency for both workers and managers to underestimate ergonomic risks, especially in work environments where the risks are high?

I think there’s a tendency to underestimate ergonomic risks because ergonomic hazards aren’t as obvious as other occupational hazards. Plus, exposure to hazards doesn’t always result in an acute injury.

For example, it’s easier for most people to identify the hazards related to improperly using a sharp utility knife than it is to find the hazards of lifting a heavy box above your shoulders. If someone improperly uses a utility knife and cuts themselves, it results in an acute injury.

While acute ergonomic injuries are possible as well, many ergonomic incidents start with less severe symptoms that progressively get worse if you don’t address them quickly. That’s one reason why it’s so important to raise awareness on ergonomic hazards and encourage early reporting.

3. Are there any specific ergonomic risks that you see go unnoticed or overlooked more often than others? 

One thing that stands out to me is not implementing task variability that incorporates a change of postures or movements. This can apply to both industrial and office settings. Even if you know that maintaining repetitive motions or static postures for long durations is an ergonomic risk, you can still overlook it while focusing on the task at hand.

A good way to combat this is to incorporate structured task variability. This means alternating the use of muscle groups and keeping blood flowing throughout the body to reduce the risk of injury.

4. How often do you do ergonomic assessments?

We do ergonomic assessments for each job role every five years as part of an overall risk assessment process.

Here are the top reasons why I do ad hoc risk assessments:

• If someone requests an ergonomic assessment
• If we find a new hazard
• During the change management process
• As a follow-up to an incident (corrective action)

5. What’s your process for doing an ergonomic assessment?

Our process varies depending on the type of assessment we’re doing:

• Office versus industrial
• Quick screening versus in-depth
• Job-based versus task-based

Office versus industrial

Our office-based employees have the option to take a self-assessment through an online software that provides a risk score of low, medium, and high. Once they’re finished, an ergonomic consultant on our team follows up to discuss the results and share best practices and/or the equipment they should use.

Quick ergonomic screenings

For quick screening assessments, we look for general ergonomic hazards such as heavy lifting outside of the power zone, twisting or bending, forceful grip, heavy carrying, etc.

An in-depth assessment includes a description of the:

• Job role
• Tasks
• Workstations
• Work environment

In that description, we include information on breaks throughout the day, vertical and horizontal distances of touch points, material weights, and forces exerted. We get this information by observing employees, collecting their feedback, and taking physical measurements using measuring tape, scales, and force gauges.

Once we have all this information, we upload it to an online software system that completes the job-based or task-based assessments.

Job versus task-based

Job-based assessments for a specific job role capture the worst-case scenario for different body parts based on force, repetition, and posture. The software we use then provides us a low, medium, high, or very high risk score for each body part and the overall job.

For task-based assessments, the type of assessment we use depends on what the task is, what the muscle groups are, and what we’re assessing. Examples include:

• REBA and RULA for posture assessments
• The NIOSH lifting equation for lifting and lowering
• Snook tables for pushing, pulling, and carrying
• Rodgers Muscles Fatigue Analysis for fatigue

Our software gives us a risk score for all the task-based assessments that we enter. Risk scores above 1.00 are above the risk threshold, showing that we need to investigate and implement risk reduction controls.

6. What are your best tips for controlling and reducing ergonomic risks? 

My best tip is to develop ergonomic controls with your business partners, so the controls are more effective. Like any other EHS program, you have to follow the hierarchy of controls whenever possible to reduce ergonomic risks. And ergonomic controls require buy-in and active participation at all levels of the company. It has to be a collaborative effort to work.  

7. How can you get workers more involved in an ergonomic safety program?

The best place to start is by training employees on ergonomic hazard identification. Getting them involved early on helps them feel more invested in your solutions. Generally, I would say try to be as personable and engaging as you can.

One specific solution that has helped increase employee engagement within our ergonomic program is a voluntary ergonomic wearable program. The ergonomic wearable program uses a small wearable device that allows our workers to participate in instant-feedback ergonomic training. This makes them more aware of ergonomic hazards so they can help identify those hazards and collaborate on solutions.

Another great way to increase involvement is for supervisors and EHS professionals to lead by example and participate in ergonomic initiatives such as the ergonomic wearable program or stretch and flex sessions themselves.

8. What’s your advice for an EHS specialist who has a lot of ergonomic risk factors to manage and doesn’t know where to start? 

Ideally, you should do an ergonomic risk assessment for every job role or task and use the results to prioritize risks from highest to lowest. But you have to start from somewhere.

My advice would be to first analyze ergonomic injury data for any trends. If there’s a specific job role or task resulting in severe injuries or a high number of injuries, prioritize assessing and controlling those.

Next, I’d recommend using a quick screen assessment tool and getting employee feedback from various work areas to help identify where the ergonomic risks are. Address any low hanging fruit if possible.

Then, the EHS specialist should use all their sources of information and expertise to find the job roles or tasks that are the highest risk. They should interrupt those roles, conduct in-depth ergonomic assessments for them, compare the risks, and begin collaborating on solutions (starting with the highest risk).

Chris’ favorite EHS resources

We asked Chris to share his favorite EHS resources. Check out his favorites below!

Ergonomics resources

My two favorite EHS resources are the NC State University Ergonomics Center and ErgoPlus Resources. They both have good educational resources and assessment tools that I use often.

Advice for EHS professionals

“My top advice for other EHS professionals is to build strong relationships with others by practicing active listening and showing a genuine concern for their wellbeing and priorities. And, of course, always follow through with what you say you are going to do.”