Ergonomic

1. A Five Step Ergonomics Process: Finding
and Fixing Sprain and Strain Hazards

2. Preventing Sprain and Strain Injuries
This presentation takes you through a 5 step ergonomics process that
can help you find and fix sprain and strain hazards in your workplace.
As you go through this presentation you will follow the Washington
Safety Shoe Company as they use this process to make their
workplace safer.

3. By the end of this presentation you will be able to:
 Describe the 5 steps of an ergonomics process.
 Decide how your employees can help you find and fix hazards.
 Use this process to find and fix hazards.

4. Sprain and Strain Injuries
Soft tissue injuries - “sprains and strains” - are the most common type
of work-related injury in Washington State.
It is important to remember that:
 There is a lot you can do to prevent them using this 5 step process.
 These prevention efforts are often simple and cost-effective.

5. Preventing sprains and strains: A five step process
1
• Involve Employees
2
• Find Hazards
3
• Assess Hazards
4
• Fix Hazards
5
• Check for Success
You can find more helpful tools
and tips for preventing sprains
and strains on L&I’s website.

6. 1. Involve Employees 2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
In Step 1 you will train and involve your supervisors and employees.
Training will help them:
 Quickly find problem jobs.
 Offer more meaningful ideas on how to make their jobs safer.
 Feel they are part of the solution.
L&I Tip: We offer free on-line training for supervisors, employees and safety committees

7. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
The Washington Safety Shoe Company
sells safety toe shoes and boots.
Recently, there have been a few back
injuries in the unloading and unpacking
area.
The owner is concerned about employees
in this area and wants to make the work
safer using this ergonomics process.

8. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
To get started, the supervisor and employees in the unloading and
unpacking area completed L&I’s online course:
Using an ergonomics process to prevent
sprains and strains: Training for supervisors,
employees and safety committees
Next, the company moved to Step 2, Find Hazards.

9. 1. Involve Employees 2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
The quickest way to find hazards is to look for:
 Lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, or other physically hard tasks.
 Work done in awkward postures, like bending or reaching.
 Hand intensive work, such as using tools, assembling parts, or
packing boxes.

10. 1. Involve Employees 2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Another way to look for potential hazards is to ask supervisors and
employees about:
 Work processes with bottlenecks.
 Quality problems or tasks that need a lot of rework.
 Unnecessary steps.
 Jobs no one likes to do.

11. 1. Involve Employees 2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Other ways to find hazards are:
 Look at your sprain and strain injuries.
 Do a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA).
 Review safety committee minutes.
 Include ergonomics when changing processes, equipment and
tools.
L&I Tip: We have resources to help you do a Job Hazard Analysis

12. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
After being trained, the supervisor and employees walked
through the unloading and unpacking area and saw:
 Employees bending over to lift
35 lbs. cases off of pallets.
 Cases being carried 30 feet to
the workbench for unpacking.
When asked, employees said the work was hard to do and
tiring. Also, carrying the cases slowed the work down.

13. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
The supervisor and employees wanted
to know, could the lifting and carrying of
the cases cause injuries?
The next step was to assess the injury
risk using some basic assessment tools.

14. 1. Involve Employees
3. Assess
Hazards
2. Find Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
After you find a job with a potential hazard, avoid "analysis paralysis."
Sometimes the risk of injury is obvious and there are simple solutions
that you can put in place quickly, without a lot of evaluation.
However, there are times a more careful analysis is needed to
understand the risk and the best approach to fixing it.
L&I Tip: We have resources to help you quickly find hazards with simple solutions

15. 1. Involve Employees
3. Assess
Hazards
2. Find Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Analysis tools can help you:
 Assess a job or task in more detail.
 Decide when a risk is an injury hazard.
 Prioritize your injury prevention efforts.
 Determine if a solution fixed a hazard.

16. 1. Involve Employees
3. Assess
Hazards
2. Find Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Basic tools
 L&I Caution Zone Checklist
 L&I Hazard Zone Checklist
 Lifting Calculator App
 Push/Pull/Carry Calculator
 Push/Pull Guidelines
L&I Tip: These basic evaluation tools can be
found on our website

17. 1. Involve Employees
3. Assess
Hazards
2. Find Hazards 4. Fix Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Advanced tools
 L&I Industry-Specific Job Evaluation Checklists
 Quick Exposure Check
L&I Tip: These advanced evaluation tools and others can be found on our website

18. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
After looking at the tools on the L&I web site, the supervisor decided
to use the:
 Lifting Calculator App for the
unloading pallets task.
 Carry Calculator for the
carrying cases task.

19. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Lifting Calculator App inputs:
When asked, employees said lifting from
the lowest row of cases is the hardest

20. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Lifting Calculator App inputs:
Employees said:
 They lift 1 case every 4 to 5 minutes.
 It takes 1.5 to 2 hours to unload and
unpack cases.

21. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Lifting Calculator App results:
Safe weights to lift are 17 lbs. and 20 lbs.
based on the amount of twisting
Lifting the heavier 35 lbs. cases could lead
to a back injury

22. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Carry Calculator inputs:
The company used the Female
scenario to asses if this task can be
safely done by most employees

23. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Carry Calculator inputs:
 Employees carry cases 30 feet
every 4 to 5 minutes.
 Cases are carried at waist
height.

24. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
Carry Calculator results:
Suggested max weight
is a little less than the
weight of the cases

25. 1. Involve Employees 4. Fix Hazards
2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Next, work with your employees and safety committee to find
solutions:
 Brainstorm with employees on why the hazard exists and the best
way to fix it.
 Try to come up with at least a couple of solution options for each
hazard.

26. 1. Involve Employees 4. Fix Hazards
2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
5. Check for
Success
There many resources to help you find effective solutions:
 Contact your industry association
 Talk to equipment and tool vendors
 Check the L&I Ergonomics Ideas Bank
 Get help from an L&I Consultant
L&I Tip: Our web site has resources to help you create solutions

27. 1. Involve Employees 4. Fix Hazards
2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
5. Check for
Success
As you create a list of possible solutions for each hazard:
 Look for quick fixes to get momentum going.
 Focus on the most effective solutions.
 Expect results, but be patient.

28. 1. Involve Employees 4. Fix Hazards
2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
5. Check for
Success
Making a plan
After you have decided on the fixes to put in place:
 Identify a person to be responsible for each solution.
 Assign completion dates and track progress.

29. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
After assessing the hazards, solutions were created and ranked

30. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
The supervisor and employees looked at the ideas they created and
decided to try 2 of the solutions:
1. Get a rotating pallet leveler to raise the
cases to waist height for lifting.
2. Rearrange the area so pallets can be
moved closer to the workbench,
eliminating the carrying of cases.

31. 1. Involve Employees
5. Check for
Success
2. Find Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
4. Fix Hazards
Did it work?
After using a solution for a few weeks, look at the
job again and talk with employees to see if the fix is
working as planned.
When a solution does not reduce the risk of injury or
is not being used as intended, repeat Steps 4 and 5
to find a better fix.
1. Involve
Employees
2. Find
Hazards
3. Assess
Hazards
4. Fix
Hazards
5. Check
for Success

32. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
After a few weeks using the rotating pallet
leveler, the supervisor re-assessed the lifting
task and found:
 The task is safer:
• Lifting limit at waist height = 35 lbs.
• Case weight = 35 lbs.
 Employees said the work was easier, faster
and less tiring.

33. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
While looking at this task again, employees had two other ideas to
make the work safer and easier:
1. Remove the workbench and work off of the pallet leveler so the
cases do not have to be lifted at all.
2. Ask suppliers to use cases with cut out handles.

34. Ready for the next step?
The next step is to consider making an ergonomics process part of
your overall Accident Prevention Program.
A written ergonomic process makes it easier to continually find and fix
hazards before a sprain and strain injury happens.
L&I Tip: We have a template you can use to create your own ergonomics process

35. Ergonomics @ Work: Washington Safety Shoe Company
The owner was very pleased with the improvements and plans to:
 Have all employees trained in ergonomics.
 Assess more jobs.
 Add the ergonomics process to their
written Accident Prevention Program.
 Post success stories where
all employees can see them.

36. Ergonomics Process Resources
Process Workbooks
 Step 1
 Step 2
 Step 3
 Step 4
 Step 5
Training
 Using ergonomics to prevent sprains and strains: Training for supervisors,
employees and safety committees
Template
 Ergonomics Process APP Template

37. Help from L&I at no cost to you
We offer free, confidential consultations to help you prevent sprains
and strains in your workplace.
To learn more:
 Email: Ergonomics@Lni.wa.gov
 Call: (360) 902-5450
 Click: Get Help with Ergonomics