The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that industry tasks be “designed to limit ergonomic risk exposure.”

In an industry where technology is improving and standards & regulations are becoming increasingly comprehensive, ergonomics has its place in continuous development. Continuous development at its core is an ever-evolving practice; a cycle that never ends. When considering ergonomic changes and requirements, we can see it necessitates constant review and consideration.

Ergonomics should promote both safety and efficiency, according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary.

When should you be giving consideration to ergonomics in your department? The National Library of Medicine connects ergonomics to its effects on productivity. It also looks at how workers interact with their jobs.

Anytime and place where an employee interacts with their work and department in a manual capacity provides an opportunity to improve ergonomics. In this post, we will categorize our opportunities as proactive and reactive instances. Neither one is right nor wrong. Both, however, do position you to plan for future growth.

Proactive:

New construction

When a new construction project is planned, it is a chance to review foot traffic and equipment upgrades. It also allows for the consideration of new technology and layout changes. All these factors can help improve ergonomics for a department.

New construction gives you a fresh start. You can plan ahead to avoid the challenges you face today. It also helps you think about future needs.

Approved renovations

Renovations may not offer a “blank canvas” like new construction, but they are a great time to think about ergonomics. Depending on the project, this could include new equipment such as decontamination sinks, better tracking systems, or upgraded reprocessing technology. These improvements help staff interact and move around their space more easily. This could also be the time to consider rearranging to match compliance requirements in your workflows.

Upgraded equipment

When new equipment is brought into a sterile processing department, it is certain that workflows and processes will be affected. Making smart capital purchasing decisions with ergonomics in mind can greatly affect technician comfort. This includes optimizing workflows to reduce strain and choosing ergonomic features like height adjustability. The way we implement our new equipment and the training we provide can affect how well the equipment is used in workflows.

Updates standards & guidelines

We have seen several updates to standards and regulations recently. This is especially true for endoscope reprocessing. Because of this, we need to rethink how we handle reprocessing, storage, and record-keeping.

Some things cited as ergonomic and safety recommendations include sink basin depths at a recommended 8-10” to ensure an average height comfort, anti-fatigue mats, PPE requirements, and air exchange requirements all play a role in the safety and efficiency of employees in the workplace.

Reactive Planning:

Increase in staff accident reports

Do you see a trend in accident reporting? Consider the location of the injury event within your department, the type of injury being reported, and its frequency. This can clue you into a possible lapse in the task or work around that is causing an ergonomic strain or risk.

Quality Assurance (QA) Failures

Quality failures aren’t always attributed to lack of education. There could be a missing process or lack of supply to complete the job? Is there a supply on back order, requiring a substitute that yourteam is unfamiliar with?

Routine non-compliance

Educational intervention isn’t always the answer to non-compliance events. There may be gaps in a process that requires workarounds.  For example, is there a cross in your process where you “back track” that could be causing confusion in the next process step? Or a bottle neck at certain points in the day or department that may be linked to skipped steps.

Tiredness, physical strain, and repetitive tasks can cause mistakes when following instructions. For example, flushing syringes by hand is a repetitive task. These human factors can affect performance. This can affect the quality of results.

As technicians’ hands become fatigued throughout a shift, the risk to compliance and quality increases. Crisscrossed workflows can create confusion. This confusion can hurt productivity and safety. Visual cues can get missed, or the process may need backtracking.

Reactive planning entails a bit more site-specific information and insight. Leaders should be aware of these metrics. Reviewing them through the lens of ergonomics may give you the vantage point you need to make a lasting change.

Interested in exploring how to make sure you’re collecting the right data in your department? Check out this blog post about setting up scorecards.

Risk Analysis

When considering a project or change, it’s important to do a risk analysis. This applies to new opportunities as well as improving your current setup.

A risk analysis can help you make better decisions. It shows clear cause and effect, giving your plan direction and a goal. It also can aid in providing you with the ability to measure its risk level and prioritize accordingly.

A good way to start assessing risk is to look at what different standards say about ergonomics. This includes lifting, twisting, carrying, and repetitive motion. Consider how these factors apply to the equipment, process, or workflow you are analyzing.

Conclusion

Whether big or small, the solutions to your ergonomic risk factors play a huge part in employee engagement, comfort, safety, organizational production, and long-term return on investment. Employees are our greatest asset, and the job they do requires adaptability to change and new challenges. Prioritizing ergonomics in our process improvement plan keeps the human factor of our work at the forefront of initiatives and progress and helps us mitigate ergonomic concerns well in advance.

Not sure where to start when it comes to identifying opportunities to improve ergonomics? Check out these blog posts to learn more:

How to Identify Ergonomic Concerns in Your Reprocessing Department

Solutions for the Top Ergonomic Issues in Reprocessing Departments

Ergonomic Guidance for SPD Injury Prevention

Integrating Ergonomic Tools to Reduce Injury and Strain in Packaging and Assembly

References:

https://www.osha.gov/ergonomics/control-hazards

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK580551/

ANSI/AAMIST79

ANSI/AAMI ST91