As President of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Sociaty of Australia (HFESA) I have begun producing regular educational podcasts for the HFESA for the purposes of promoting the work of the HFESA members and Humans Factors and Ergonomics Professionals in Australia and abroad.
We commenced these podcasts in early 2023 and they can be found on the HFESA.au website OR your favourite podcast app such as Apple and Spotify.
Our podcasts have included conversations about healthcare, aviation, manufacturing, technology, communication, transport, non technical skills, fatigue, autonomous vehicles, systems thinking, exoskeletons and more!
Make this HFEhub podcast a favourite on your podcast app!
IEA Webinar on Human-Robot Interaction Available on YouTube
Human factors and ergonomics are crucial topics for the future development of robotic technologies. The application of diverse robotic technologies in different settings such as manufacturing, healthcare, and others is increasing steadily. In particular, robotic systems that closely interact with humans have the potential to challenge human factors and ergonomics research. Associated risks and opportunities of close interactions between humans and robots have to be considered and evaluated. In this webinar, international experts on robotic research will present various perspectives on human factors and ergonomics in robotics.
This webinar was organized by the International Ergonomics Association’s Technical Committee on Human Factors in Robotics (HFiR).
The 2022 Conference “Human Factors in Rural Communities” is an exciting opportunity for all professionals, students, researchers / academics and practitioners, to expand their horizons and assist the rural communities of Australia.These communities are one of the least resourced sectors in Australia and certainly a problem demographic in relation to workplace injury and illness.
The conference streams are Culture, Agriculture, Rural Health and Transport. The conference date is set for the 17 – 19th October 2022 and the venue is the Lancemore Macedon Ranges Conference Centre in Central Victoria.
The format of the conference will be hybrid with both face to face and virtual / online components.
I had the pleasure of attending Ergo Enterprises Manual Tasks Risk Management Master Class held in Brisbane on 27 March 2015.
This master class reinforced that injuries occur when forces on the body are greater than the body can tolerate. The sudden onset of gradual onset of injury due to an accumulation of micro damage and often a combination of both mechanisms was discussed.
One of the most interesting points raised by Mr Gary Dennis during this master class was that we have spent much of our efforts performing risk assessments and less effort applying appropriate manual handling controls to eliminate or minimise risk.
Much work needs to be done to work collaboratively with workers to ensure that risks are not only identified but they are eliminated where possible and that controls are designed in collaboration with the people who perform the task and those affected by the task.
The effectiveness of controls was reinforced. We often perform risk assessments at the outset and then fail to risk assess the control measure implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the control and to ensure that the control does not of itself introduce further risk.
Gary Dennis and Robin Burgess-Limerick have developed a simple pictorial risk assessment tool. The Ergo Analyst manual task risk assessment tool specifically looks at exertion, exposure, posture and movement and determines risk levels based on the physical hazards associated with the task.
The tool enables various body parts such as shoulders, arms, legs and back to be assessed with use of the tool. The tool is linked to software that enables a pictorial view of the potential effects of the manual tasks on the body.
The pictorial representations of the body are colour-coded into green, yellow, orange and red. The yellow, orange and red risk levels identify higher levels of risk. An analysis with this tool before controls implemented and post the implementation of controls or the planned implementation of controls can demonstrate the effectiveness of the controls.
The overall outcome of this workshop was that risk assessments should be part of the control and that risk reduction must be done to reduce the risk of injury and maintain and improve productivity.
Participative ergonomics ensures that controls are well thought through and accepted by those performing the work task.
Further information regarding the Ergo Analyst Risk Assessment can be directed towards Robin Burgess-Limerick or Gary Dennis on LinkedIn or Ergo Enterprises.
