How does employer support and educational background effect an ErgonomicsPractitioner’s awareness of the relationship between ergonomics andpsychosocial hazard control? (original) (raw)

Literature Review on Ergonomics, Ergonomics Practices, and Employee Performance

Quest Journal of Management and Social Sciences

Background: The modern history of ergonomics can be traced back to the world war from 1939 to 1945. From the 1960s to the 1990s, there were many changes made to ergonomics. Some of these were cognitive ergonomics, organizational ergonomics, positive ergonomics, and spiritual ergonomics. Ergonomics is becoming more of an issue in organizations in both developed and developing countries since the rise of occupational safety and health. Today, every company in the world puts more thought into making their workplaces safe. Objective: The goal of this study is to fill in the gaps in the evidence between ergonomics and employee well-being, focusing on ergonomics, ergonomic practices, and employee performance. Methods: This study uses an exploratory research design and gathers information from secondary sources to back up the title. Research papers are carefully chosen from scientific databases like Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar by making criteria for each part...

The Analysis of Ergonomic Task Demand and Psychosocial Work Factors towards Occupational Safety and Health

International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 2021

The increase in cases of accidents at workplace, the absence of employees to the work, the rise in illness and high job stress give signs that more urgent action should be taken. If the situation that causes this problem continues, it will certainly also have negative impacts not only on employees, but also on organizations and parties directly related to employees. Occupational safety and health (OSH) aspects are key issues that need to be addressed by organizations. Previous studies have also shown that ergonomics plays an important role with OSH issues and problems, especially in the manufacturing sector. The implementation of certain initiatives based on ergonomics may provide a way of solving, or alleviating users, safety and health problems in the workplace. This study aimed to examine the ergonomic task demands and psychosocial work factors (PWF) of OSH performance in printing companies. The use of a combination of measurement tools from previous studies has resulted in a special design of questionnaire for this study. Respondents who participated in the study were selected by using stratified random sampling at the printing companies. Two hundred and ninety five respondents from several printing companies in Malaysia were surveyed and analysed. The findings showed that most of the employees were not aware of issues related to ergonomics at work. It was also found that higher job demands contribute to employee stress, accidents and lead to absenteeism problems which representing OSH performance. In addition, the findings showed that shows that PWF (decision authority & social support) are negatively related to OSH performance. Therefore, several initiatives should be taken by organisation to enhance employee's performance especially in regards to implementation of ergonomics aspects as well as safety and health components.

Ergonomics Awareness and Employee Performance: An Exploratory Study

Economic and Environmental Studies, 2017

The study examined the effects of ergonomics on employee performance by ascertaining the level of ergonomics awareness in Nigerian organizations, identifying the factors hindering the use of ergonomic, and the best practices and methods adopted by various organizations across industries. Despite a knowledge of importance to a growing number of researchers in Nigeria, there is still a dearth in knowledge of ergonomics design and its implementation in Nigeria. This can be observed in the low level of its adoption. The study adopted an exploratory approach through the review of literature. It was seen that several factors have hindered the efficient implementation of ergonomics in Nigeria which ranges from awareness, insufficient relevant studies, personnel considerations, resources constraints, technological changes, communication and integration disconnection between employees and equipment designers. Also, some best practices and methods adopted by various organizations across industries were identified to include, but not limited to: integration of human element into work design, ergonomics maturity levels (reactive, preventive, proactive and advanced) and quality of workspace (office design, furniture and spatial arrangements, lightings and heating arrangements, noise level). It is, however, recommended that researchers in the field of ergonomics and practitioners in the industry should intensify efforts in carrying out relevant study, organizing conferences and seminars as well as media publicity on why ergonomics should be part of our daily activities. It is also recommended that organizations should orientate and train employees on ergonomics so that they will be aware of the benefits derivable from it and be able to fit into the organization's designs. Lastly, they should integrate employee/human element into ergonomics design process by getting detailed anthropomorphic data, which may bridge the communication disconnect between employees and ergonomic designers.

ACTUALIZATION OF PROFESSIONAL DEMANDS THROUGH ERGONOMICS APPLICATION: TECHNICAL MANPOWER PREPAREDNESS

Sustainability, efficiency and productivity of the operational working system of any nation's industrial sector are crucial benefits ergonomics offer in all work settings through enhancing safe work environment and minimizing human errors. Knowledge, awareness and understanding of worker's interaction with the system of one's working environment as it applies to the person's profession and work processes for the general safety, efficiency and well-being, constitute the first step to reduction of work-related injuries. Knowledge and awareness of of the role of ergonomics in engineering real-world of work environment for productivity, accident reduction and personnel's work life preservation was assessed among engineering students undergoing occupational training in a Nigeria based Polytechnic (Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos). The research tool used for data collection was a self-developed questionnaire adopted after being subjected to reliability test and validation. The same was administered to the participants on individual contact with the researcher in the months of September through to November, 2016. The participants comprise engineering students (N = 287) who were randomly selected from seven (7) Engineering Departments available in the school of industrial and manufacturing engineering in the institution. Analysed data showed that 81.20% of the study participants have no knowledge and awareness of what ergonomics is all about, its benefits and applications in the field of engineering. Therefore, if the professional demands in engineering real-world of work must be achieved, adoption of ergonomics training aspect in the professional work preparation process of engineering students is a necessity.

Effect of Ergonomical Factors on the Employees

To improve and enlightening production ergonomics is a search widespread to numerous organizations in diverse engineering and management zones. At the foundation is an ambition to eradicate hazards for job concerned musculoskeletal disorders, but recent observations on ergonomics have developed the discipline from a merely physiological, anthropometrical, and Psychosocial influential apprehension to an organizational, systems performance discipline. This research recommends that in an organization ergonomics infrastructure is made up of the structural, technical, executive and stakeholder comparative circumstances that allow or obstruct development of ergonomics. These circumstances spotlight on the positioning of diverse employees towards ergonomics concerns in an organization, the relationships between user, workers or employees, scenario, scheme and strategy they use for arguments, and the manipulate that occur from industryparticular culture, insolences and technical incorporation (or elimination) of ergonomics into engineering and production progressions. The information deduced from the research in this paper has been produced together with pertinent theoretical perceptions originated in the literature, into a Tentative Agenda which conducts empirical data assembly intended at planning the ergonomics infrastructure in an organization. Its step-bystep methodical appraisal of circumstances at diverse hierarchical levels in the organization should serve ergonomics experts and managers alike in classifying pathways and obstructions to improve production ergonomics.

Ergonomic Work System And Occupational Safety And Health Performance: Mediating Effects Of Psychosocial Work Factors

2016

Di Malaysia, pelbagai tindakan telah diambil untuk meningkatkan tahap kesedaran aspek keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan (KKP) di tempat kerja. Namun, banyak kajian menunjukkan bahawa berlakunya masalah-masalah yang berkaitan aspek KKP adalah membimbangkan. Peningkatan berlaku kemalangan di tempat kerja, masalah ketidakhadiran, tinggi tahap tekanan dan kepelbagaian tahap kesihatan di tempat kerja menunjukkan bahawa tindakan perlu diambil segera. Kajian-kajian terdahulu menunjukkan terdapat perkaitan antara aspek ergonomik dan masalah KKP terutamanya dalam sektor pembuatan. Pelaksanaan aspek ergonomik boleh menjadi saluran untuk dipertimbangkan dalam menyelesaikan masalah-masalah KKP yang berkaitan di tempat kerja, yang akhirnya membantu untuk meningkatkan prestasi. Tersenarai di dalam sektor pembuatan, industri percetakan menunjukkan keterlibatan pekerja yang tinggi dengan masalah KKP dan kurang pelaksanaan terhadap aspek ergonomik. Dengan menggunakan konsep Balance Teory, kajian i...

An Investigation of Ergonomic Risk Factors and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Performance

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

In Malaysia, studies have shown that low employee performance occurs due to accidents, health problems and stress at work. This situation affects the performance of the organization, reduces the quality of work, increases the cost of workers' compensation and ultimately interferes with the development of the organization and the growth of the national economy. This study aims to examine the level of employee awareness of ergonomic risk factors and occupational safety and health performance. A total of one hundred and fortyfive respondents from several manufacturing companies in the state of Selangor, Malaysia were analyzed through distributed questionnaires. Five dimensions are involved as independent variables to measure ergonomic risk factors, namely awkward posture, static work posture, repetitive movements, vibration and physical environment while safety and health performance as a dependent variable is measured through occupational pain, job stress and occupational accidents. The study found that ergonomic risk factors affect occupational safety and health performance in the workplace. The results of the study stated that the emphasis on ergonomic risk factors should be emphasized in order to improve occupational safety and health performance. This element is not only able to increase the productivity of the organization but is also able to provide benefits especially to the manufacturing sector as a guideline in implementing measures to prevent occupational accidents, occupational pain and occupational stress.

Psychosocial risks: acting upon the organisation by ergonomic intervention

Work (Reading, Mass.), 2012

In this paper we discuss the possibilities of acting on psychosocial risk (PSR) factors by modifying the way in which an organisation operates. On the basis of an ergonomic intervention in an insurance company, we were able to show that the health problems observed by the operators were mainly the result of their inability to produce work of quality. Next, our analyses revealed the links between poor perceived quality, production difficulties and the rigidity of the organisational structure. After setting up working groups to deal with production difficulties, we were able to identify and test an organisational form that was better adapted to managing day-to-day production constraints and which was ultimately better able to be attentive to individual difficulties which had given rise, in the long term, to intrapsychic conflicts.

Integrating ergonomics into engineering: Empirical evidence and implications for the ergonomists

Human Factors and Ergonomics in …, 2007

Engineering design is a strong determinant of workplace ergonomics. A survey among 680 engineers in 20 Danish enterprises indicated that engineers are not aware that they influence the work environment of other people. Ergonomics had a low rating among engineers, perhaps because neither management nor safety organizations expressed any expectations in this area. The study further indicated that effects of ergonomics training in engineering schools were very limited. The engineering cultures in enterprises, together with other organizational factors, are suggested to be of greater importance than the professional training. The implications for industrial ergonomists might be an acknowledgement of the role as change agent when trying to integrate ergonomics into engineering. In doing so, they need also to acknowledge that engineers are widely different. They have different backgrounds and a "sensitivity" to ergonomics depending on their current engineering domain, tasks, organizational position, and the industrial branch of their organization.