New ergonomics rules developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under former President Clinton have been thrown out – temporarily, at least. Congress passed, and President Bush signed into law, legislation repealing the federal OSHA regs in late March.

Even so, it still makes good business sense in many cases to practice good ergonomics, to improve jobs and workplace conditions for employees. Productivity climbs, while lost time due to employee injuries and ills falls, as do insurance rates. Better materials handling often is a big part of better ergonomics, moreover.

Ergonomics is all about studying how to improve the fit between the physical demands of the workplace and the employees who perform that work. That's easy to say, but sometimes far harder to put into practice on the shop floor or in the warehouse.

Yet professionals in ergonomics, industrial hygiene, and related topics who work for the Cal/OSHA Consultation Service have put together a booklet, Easy Ergonomics. It provides useful advice on applying this science (see sidebar below).

"We try to demystify the science of ergonomics," says Mario Feletto, one of two coauthors. "The booklet is our attempt to motivate organizations to be proactive about using ergonomics in their workplaces," adds the other co-author, Jim Lopes.

Ergonomics, as Feletto and Lopes say, involves "considering the variability in human capabilities when selecting, designing, or modifying equipment, tools, work tasks, and the work environment."

Moreover, as they tell employers, it's important to recognize that "employees' abilities to perform physical tasks may vary because of differences in age, physical condition, strength, gender, stature, and other factors."

Good ergonomics "can be overlooked in the hustle and bustle" of day-to-day business, says Feletto. It's "easy to miss" the opportunities for improving the content of work, he adds.

Yet employers, armed with some practical ergonomics information, can spot conditions for improvement by looking around the workplace and talking to employees. They can become aware of early warning signs of problems such as:

• Fatigue or discomfort among employees.
• Employees who restrict their movements or range of motions because of fatigue or discomfort such as a stiff neck, sore shoulder, or backache.
• Tools, equipment, or workstations that employees have modified on their own.
• High rates of absenteeism and employee turnover.
• Poor quality in product made or service delivered.
• High error rates or high volumes of waste materials.
• Customer complaints.
• Production bottlenecks.
• Employee reports of problems.

Employers also are encouraged to go beyond looking for these clues and to analyze jobs in their workplaces in detail. Jobs need to be broken down into all the individual tasks performed. Tasks are then scored by a rating system in the booklet. The system ranks tasks in terms of both difficulty to perform and the frequency they are performed. Combining task scores (by multiplying ratings) results in identifying and separating out, for example, the very hard tasks and the very repetitive jobs from those less so.

These very hard tasks and jobs may be the ones requiring actions to avert muscle strains and backaches and to prevent repetitive motion injury (RMI) and musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) symptoms and injuries.

Co-authors Feletto and Lopes also urge both employers and employees to develop an "Ergo Eye" as they search for clues on which jobs are causing problems for workers, which aren't. This "eye" is critical, moreover, in determining the contributing factors that lead to problems unless addressed.

Contributing factors are those that can lead to employee fatigue as well as MSD, RMI, and other problems. These factors include awkward postures, repetitive motions, forceful exertions, pressure points (or local contact stress to the wrist or knees, for example), and vibration. Any one or a combination of them can lead to problems.

Repeated or prolonged tasks involving reaching, twisting, bending, working overhead, kneeling on hard surfaces, squatting, holding fixed positions, and gripping by pinching are all examples of awkward postures, for example.

Repetitive motion problems can arise from work along machine-paced assembly and packaging lines, for instance. The employee does the same thing again and again, using the same muscles, tendons, or joints.

Rather than reveal more of the content of Easy Ergonomics, let's conclude by directing your attention to the examples of improvements shown on these pages.

Chosen are examples that show how materials handling devices of one type or another can foster better ergonomics. Be mindful, however, that applying an equipment option isn't necessarily the answer in all cases, as the authors are quick to note.

But a scissor lift just might be the best way to adjust a work surface height, for example, in a specific application. Tilting storage containers can ease access to parts held within them, avoiding bending and straining the back. Lift-assist devices such as manipulators, vacuum lifters, and workstation cranes all reduce the force necessary to move loads and avoid awkward postures. Roller conveyor and roller ball tables are other choices to configure workstations for better ergonomics.

When transporting materials in the workplace is a requirement of the job, there are numerous options that substitute mechanical aids for manual labor. Easy Ergonomics illustrates use of such options as adjustable carts and carriers, powered conveyors, lift trucks, tow trucks, pallet jacks, walkies, and portable conveyors.

We've given this booklet a "two thumbs up," as noted in the sidebar. Members of the Cal/OSHA Consultation Service staff have spoken, by invitation, at Material Handling Industry of America events, moreover. The examples and illustrations used in Easy Ergonomics include the results of cooperative efforts between Cal/OSHA and California employers and employees as well as ergonomic-assist equipment manufacturers and suppliers. Independent consultants in ergonomics have reviewed the booklet's contents.

Indeed, Kristy Schultz, an ergonomist and educator with the Cal/OSHA unit, recalls an incident that helps show the booklet's effectiveness. She had presented the program in a talk to a California employer, then left behind copies of the booklet. Later, after studying its workplace and jobs, that employer hired a private, professional ergonomics consultant to further analyze the situation. After visiting the employer's facility, the consultant later remarked to Schultz on how much homework had been done in advance of the consultant's visit. Many ergonomic issues had already been identified.