Ergonomics Today – Page 7

February 9, 2012

Ergoweb’s Peter Budnick to Participate in Ergonomics Certification Around the World Special Session at International Ergonomics Conference

Peter Budnick, Ergoweb's Co-Founder and CEO, will moderate and participate in a special session focusing on ergonomics certification programs from around the world. The session will take place next week at the 18th World Congress on Ergonomics, sponsored by the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), in Recife, Brazil. The primary focus of the session will be the question of mutual recognition among the various IEA endorsed and recognized certification bodies.

February 9, 2012

Study: Tablet Use Causes Significant Head and Neck Flexion

Touch screen tablet or slate computers are becoming ubiquitous and are being widely used for both work and recreational purposes. Because the input (touch) is integrated with the display (screen) users are experiencing different biomechanical strain than with traditional desktop computing. In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report Archives, contributor Gene Kay reviews a 2012 Harvard study that looks at head and neck postures common to tablet computer use, and concludes with some ergonomic recommendations for practitioners.

January 31, 2012

Successful Strategies to Prevent Prolonged Disability for Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)

In this article, originally published in The Ergonomics Report, guest contributor Iuliana Nastasia summarizes the results of an extensive review of the scientific literature related to return to work following a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD). It's no secret among ergonomics practitioners that a small portion of injured workers account for a large portion of workers compensation burden, and an effective return-to-work process is essential to controlling those costs. In this article, Nastasia reviews the key findings and identifies 5 key strategies for success in preventing prolonged disability in workers compensated for WRMSDs.

January 26, 2012

A Safe Place to Learn

GOErgo's 15th annual Applied Ergonomics Conference and Expo 2012 is right around the corner, and Ergoweb Community members, including you, are eligible to receive discounted registration -- see this article for details.

January 25, 2012

The Trouble with RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment)

RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) is an assessment method often discussed and applied by occupational ergonomists. In this article, reprinted from The Ergonomics Report Archives, Ergoweb's Peter Budnick reviews the popular method, recognizing its strengths, but also noting that it has limitations and can be -- and perhaps often is -- horribly misapplied, misrepresented, and misinterpreted without adequate training, experience, and professional perspective.

January 18, 2012

Ergonomics Theory in Computer Mouse Design

In this reprint from The Ergonomics Report, Peter Budnick sets out to document the underlying ergonomics theories behind the design of various styles of the ubiquitous computer mouse. Tracing its beginnings back to the 1960's, he attempts to categorize them by style, such as forearm flat, forearm angled, specialized grips, touch pad, foot mouse, etc., offering a high-level opinion regarding the potential benefits and concerns for each.

January 5, 2012

Best of The Ergonomics Report 2011

Subscribers to The Ergonomics Report represent our most loyal readers, and tend to share Ergoweb's goals to grow the value, influence and application of ergonomics around the world. As such, we're especially interested in what this group of influential readers finds of interest. The top 5 articles accessed in The Ergonomics Report library are ...

January 3, 2012

Best of Ergoweb 2011

Find out what topics were accessed the most by Ergoweb's 280,000 web site visitors in 2011. At the close of each year we review the previous year's web site statistics to learn what topics drew the most attention. We're always surprised -- and sometimes even dismayed -- by what we learn. These were the most read Ergoweb articles and discussions in 2011 ...

December 13, 2011

Research: Functional Movement Screening (FMS) Found Not to be Predictive of Injuries in Military Officer Candidates

Musculoskeletal Disorders are among the leading causes of morbidity among working aged adults and armed service members. The most common cause for medical evacuation in the Iraq war was an MSD, and MSDs are also quite common in basic training. Functional Movement Screening (FMS) is thought by many to offer a new paradigm for predicting MSDs. This study is the first large scale to test the predictive validity of this hypothesis, and the results indicate FMS is not a reliable predictor of future injury.