What Our Clients Say

Based conveniently in Midrand, Gauteng, ErgoFocus offers various ergonomic services for the office and industry, performed by a Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE).

FAQ

Ergonomic Risk Assessments & Frequently Asked Questions

Ergonomic Risk Assessments

We often receive questions regarding our various disciplines. The purpose of this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is to answer some of these questions. The objective is to clarify terms and concepts that are frequently encountered, and often misunderstood.

Our Role

ErgoFocus can assist your company to make your workplace safe, efficient, and compliant. We apply a rigorous and systematic technique to ensure a hazard-free and worker-safe environment. We evaluate, assist in design, and train your people to create an ongoing active program in your company that can be integrated in your current SHEQ program. Our experience and ergonomic tools allows us to cover nearly all workplace environments including the office, warehouses, production facilities, mines and other heavy industries.

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Ergonomics is the practice of adapting a job to the person so work can be performed without harmful strain or injury. Effective ergonomics reduces discomfort and injuries and increases job satisfaction and productivity.

Companies with effective ergonomics programs tend to manage ergonomics as a process that is aligned with, or integrated into, existing improvement processes. These improvement processes may include Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S and Safety Management Systems.

Business, Quality, and EHS leaders have adopted the principles of continuous improvement to move from a program to a process approach.

Yes, absolutely! Not only is ergonomics good for your business, it’s great for your people. As health & safety professionals, we need to be able to demonstrate the value of ergonomics to get buy-in for the process. Good managers consider the following when making decisions: Will this increase our revenues? Will this decrease our costs? Is this the right thing to do? When considering a workplace ergonomics process, you can answer with an emphatic “YES!” to all three of these questions.

Ergonomic screening allows for early identification of problem areas. We conduct a general assessment of the whole entity to assess the need for intervention and adaptation to maximise workstations. This can be followed up with individual assessments and training if needed. Full reports of the identified problem areas as well as recommendations are given.

When a more detailed analysis is required on an individual basis, we will conduct assessments of each workstation investigating the source of discomfort and advise regarding optimising the workstation accordingly. This can be done for an individual working from home as well as for a large company requiring multiple assessments. Easy to understand reports of the identified problem areas as well as recommendations are given.

Obviously office ergonomics is related to office or computer workstations (sometimes called white collar ergonomics), while industrial ergonomics relates to any other type of work tasks such as manufacturing facilities,  foundries, assembly plants, construction sites and equipment operators to name a few (also sometimes called blue collar or craft ergonomics).

There are two main differences. The first is that for a computer workstation, there are only six main workstation elements to be concerned with. Chair, Input Devices (keyboard, mouse, scanner), Monitor set up, Desk Set up, Supportive Documents and Environment (Space/Lay-out, noise, light, climate).

Whereas in the industrial area there are different work elements to be concerned with depending on the task.

We provide on-site services that reduce the risk of developing the risk of musculoskeletal (soft tissue) disorders and enhance human performance for our clients. Our service offering is built on providing services on-site. We deploy and maintain our processes through our injury prevention services. We engage in deep partnerships with our clients ensuring the success of the prevention process and thereby building a long-lasting culture of safety and wellness.

Many sources of information can indicate that your workplace can benefit from a good ergonomics program. Some 'triggers' that suggest that you have ergonomics related problems include the following:

  1. Employees in your workplace, or in certain specific work areas, are experiencing soft-tissue injuries (WMSDs) such as tendonitis, back injuries, sore muscles, etc. These are all indicators that the job demands are excessive due to one or a combination of risk factors (i.e. force levels, work postures, repetitive actions, long durations, and/or psychosocial stressors).
  2. High rates of general absenteeism and/or worker turn-over. These can be indicators of high levels of physical or mental demand, poor workplace design, and/or poor organizational design.
  3. High number of mistakes, or requirement for rework on products due to poor quality. These are often the result of difficult work processes, high workloads and fatigue, inadequate communication/information, poor visibility, etc.
  4. Poor, or declining, productivity over the course of a shift or over a series of shifts can also mean that the work is not well designed for workers.

Aside from detecting these triggers, you should consider the benefits to be gained from applying ergonomics proactively in order to prevent problems before they occur. This is the most effective and resource-efficient way to incorporate ergonomics into your workplace! Address ergonomics:

  1. whenever you are building or buying something new for the workplace, including premises, workstations, equipment, tools, etc.
  2. whenever you are planning to modify existing premises, workspaces, jobs or equipment.
  3. whenever you are deciding how to organise job tasks and duties.
  4. whenever you are planning on making changes to the rate of production, the products being produced, or the work methods used.

Core Services...

Industrial Ergonomics

industrial

The clear identification of risks and providing practical solutions to solve each risk area and showing an estimated quantified reduction after implementing the suggested...

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Office Ergonomics

office

Implementing ergonomics and ergonomic equipment increases an employee’s “comfort which in turn leads to a more productive and...”

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Wellness Management

wellness

ErgoFocus can tailor various ergonomic programs to include in your company’s wellness days that can consist of a combination of the following...

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Training Ergonomics

training

An ergonomic program’s success is predicated on an organisation’s ability to transfer knowledge to it's employees. We pride ourselves on our ability to...

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Fatigue Management

fatique

Fatigued workers don’t perform as well, are less productive, and are more likely to have accidents and injuries. Fatigue affects the ability to think clearly.

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