Have you ever wondered what our ergonomists do while we are on-site with a client all day? Here is the story of one real day at an “On-Site Ergo +” (OSE+) client, with Carrie and Danielle.
Danielle is the “novice” ergonomist who works with this client two days per week; Danielle interned with us after completing the post-graduate diploma program at Fanshawe, and she started with us full-time in July. She does most of the leg work for the program. Carrie started out one day per week at this client, but now visits every second week, to direct the program, review draft reports (QC), and provide mentorship for Danielle. Carrie also provides technical support for work that is beyond the scope of a novice ergonomist, until she is trained to complete these types of projects.
Danielle’s day
| 8:00 | set up computer, and and check in with Carrie and Safety Manager | |
| 8:30 | ergo project #34 | biomechanical analysis |
| 9:00 | audit | meet with Carrie, Safety Manager and JHSC Co-chair |
| 11:00 | ergo project #34 | ask supervisors if they received the ergo survey back from workers |
| 11:12 | ergo project #34 | input survey data obtained |
| 11:30 | ergo project #34 | arm force field data analysis |
| 12:37 | ergo project #34 | recommended cumulative recovery analysis data analysis |
| 14:00 | ergo project #34 | compile recommendations |
| 16:00 | program | meet with Carrie re goals for next 3 days |
| 16:10 | ergo project #34 | compile recommendations |
| 16:30 | pack up |
Carrie’s day
| 7:45 | set up, and open audit docs | |
| 8:05 | program | meet with Danielle to set priorities for today, check in with Safety Manager |
| 8:30 | audit | set up template report for audit |
| 8:50 | program | email follow up on outstanding recommendations |
| 9:00 | audit | meet with Danielle, Safety Manager and JHSC Co-chair |
| 11:00 | audit | start to complete audit report |
| 12:35 | program | make a sign for ergo contest rollout |
| 13:00 | ergo project #25 | meet with engineer to identify implementation plan, and email information to him |
| 13:40 | audit | create workplace inspection checklist “ergo” criteria |
| 14:05 | ergo project #34 | review analysis results for Danielle |
| 14:20 | ergo project #34 | meet to review approach with Danielle |
| 14:30 | program | create template recommendations log for danielle to populate |
| 14:45 | audit | finish draft audit report and send to Safety Manager |
| 15:55 | program | email request for injury statistics to be sent monthly |
| 16:00 | program | meet with Danielle to plan for next week |
| 16:10 | ergo training | identify appropriate core presentation to edit for 3 target groups identified in audit (employees, supervisors, JHSC) |
| 16:30 | pack up |
When we’re running an ergonomics program on a part-time basis, sometimes we wish we could accelerate progress by coming every day. But we’ve found that most clients need the days between our visits to digest our reports, trial products, and get surveys filled out. One or two days/week is a perfect service rate for our mid-sized clients, with 200-1000 employees.
Our OSE+ program is meant to launch with a high volume of “entry level” projects such as physical and cognitive demands analyes (PCDAs), office assessments, or best practice projects. The novice ergonomist is trained to handle these projects, and the senior ergonomist provides the training and quality control, program leadership (audits, goal setting), and technical support. Danielle has been completing the PCDAs for this client, and we regularly meet with the return-to-work coordinator, to ensure that reports that are needed for accommodation and claims management are prioritized for completion. Danielle has recently started to take more responsibility for ergonomics (risk) assessments and, soon, employee ergo training. She’s progressing on-track toward managing an ergonomics program independently. Soon enough, she’ll be mentoring a new batch of novices!
If you have questions about how an ergonomist could help you, please get in touch with carrie@taylordergo.com! OSE+ programs (with novices) launch in July and August, but we start planning in January. Don’t miss out.
(OSE programs with our experienced ergonomists can launch at any time.)
(Curious how we accounted for every minute? Activity logging is part of our process – the client always knows how our time is spent.)