Upload
dominic-copas
View
217
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Ergonomics of Healthy Working Environments
Tertiary Education Facilities Managers Association
Dr Verna Blewett
Director, New Horizon Consulting Pty LtdVisiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
A picture of FMs… (TEFMA website 2006)
Our members have responsibility for planning, capital works, design and construction, maintenance, cleaning and landscape services, environmental management, lifts, energy management, engineering services, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, lighting, safety, training, hazardous materials management, and financial planning for infrastructure. Their responsibility for campus services includes Security (both physical and personal), and depending on the institution, may include timetabling, mail, transport, stores, catering, and printing services. All these activities take place under an umbrella of compliance with disabilities, heritage and environmental legislation, and workplacehealth and safety requirements. ……………………………………
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Facilities managers are important• You make key decisions on behalf of users
• You have big budgets
• You maintain, preserve and promote the quality of educational facilities
• You have influence over, or control others’ physical working environments
• Therefore, you have impact on the working lives of people in your organisations, their comfort, well-being, and productivity
• You are, therefore, powerful…
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
…so, you need to know about and use ergonomics…
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
What is ergonomics?
• Sometimes called human factors
• The study of people and their interaction with work - a science as well as an art
• It’s not all bums and backs or chair design
• It’s about making work fit people…
• …not people fit work
• Ensuring tasks, environments and machines do not exceed human capabilities
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Formal definitionErgonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.
Ergonomists contribute to the design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.
(IEA 2006 <http://www.iea.cc/ergonomics>) ) (HFESA 2006 < http://www.ergonomics.org.au>))
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
The ergonomist’s view of the world• A people-centred perspective
• Start with people’s needs and limitations
• Consider domains:- physical - psychological/cognitive - organisational and environmental
• Participatory design
environment
workstation
equipment
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
The measurement ofvariation of the body and its range of movement
Physical ergonomics:Anthropometrics
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Physical ergonomics:physical environment
At immediate interface of user and work - the workstation
The quality of their workstation has meaning for the user. For example, what is the user’s perception of their worth to the organisation when their bench is not re-surfaced for 10 years?
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Physical ergonomics:physical environment
•At immediate interface of user
and work
•Workstation
•Equipment
•Has much changed since the
mid-1980s?
A newly installed computer circa 1984
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Improving laptop use• Use external keyboard and
mouse
• Use laptop stand
• Raise screen to comfortable height
• Use in-built document holder
• Can be used permanently, or can be portable
Ergo-Q2 ALU Portable Laptop Station - www.ergonomicoffice.com.au
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Physical ergonomics:
Workplace layout - the next interface of user and work
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Physical ergonomics: workplace layoutContributes to your experience of work. Consider:
– Open communication vs reinforcing privacy
– Mobility vs congestion
– Quiet work space vs lack of auditory privacy
– Creating a social environment
– A sense of your own place
– An abundance of literature now available on the psychosocial impact of the physical workplace
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Wrong job, wrong time, wrong place?
(Inalhan and Finch 2004)
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Physical ergonomics
• Affects working postures, safety
• Affects health, well-being, impacts on level of stress (more later…)
• Consider: – Interior design: colour, surfaces…– Space: work area, social, circulation…– Lighting: quality, quantity – Noise– Vibration – Temperature, humidity
At outer interface of user and work: the physical environment
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
What are the results of poor design?• Negative impact on work quality, quantity and efficiency?
• Reduces sense of personal satisfaction at work?
• Helps create a poor social environment?
• Adds to sense of poor job control?
• Reduces autonomy?
• What are the relative costs of poor design and good design when these effects are considered?
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Cognitive ergonomicsAbout how we -
• Pick up information in the environment
• Decide what it means
• React to it
• Remember it
• Act as a result
– eg design and labelling of controls and signs
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Ergonomics is about where your hand goes in an emergency…
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Can you reach the controls, read the displays and still drive your car safely?
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
The meaning of signs and symbols should be clear to all…
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Symbols in building
How do I use the doors?
(reproduced from Evans and McCoy
1998)
A room with a view…
…is good for the soul
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Organisational ergonomics
• Optimisation of sociotechnical systems
• Organisational structures
• Policies
• Processes
• Facilities have impact
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Organisational ergonomicsstress
Needs an organisational response, not only a personal response
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Personal responses• We have different personalities
as well different physical attributes
• But our personal response to stress is only a small part of the story
• Can’t design jobs and workplaces only for the robust and optimistic - wouldn’t be enough workers to go around!
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Organisational response to stress
Design to reduce stress
Identify hot spots using
worker surveys, valid instruments
interviews, focus groups
body mapping
hazard mapping
checklists
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
What are the effects of stress?
• Health effects
• Counter-productive
behaviour
• Burnout
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Health effects of stress include• Heart disease (strong
epidemiological evidence)
• Helps to cause physical injuries
• Autoimmune diseases
• Ulcers, arthritis, infectious diseases and mental illness, depression
• Alcoholism and drug abuse
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Demand-Control Model(Karasek, 1979)
Decision Latitude
High Control
Low Strain Jobs
Active Jobs
Low Control
Passive Jobs
Low High
Job Demands
High Strain Jobs
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Control over work environment• Contributes to perceived
job control
• Implicated in health outcomes
• Role of the FM in encouraging this?
• Implicit in design
• Participatory design processes essential
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
FM and designer - a partnership?
• “Team work between facilities managers, facilities planners and architect
• Introduced specialised expertise in technologies and environment
• Architecture for inspiring learning/creativity, not just as icon
• Insist the team that begins the project, finishes the project
• Facilitate, don’t manage!” (McClintock and Rayner TEFMA 2005 Workshop)
• But what about the workers?
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Participation: a key to effective designa key to effective design• Identify who the users/stakeholders are:
– eg staff (academic, management, administrative, maintenance, contractors, sub-lessees…), staff unions, students (ug, pg, os, part-time full-time, external…), student union, disabled, alumni, benefactors, public, visitors…
• Include and hear voice of all players
• Gain direct understanding of users’ needs, limitations
• Get agreement about how to design for conflicting needs
• Participation improves chance of getting it right first time
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
Participation when?• Some legal obligations
(OHS&W)
• Any change: – new building, new external
environment, refurbishment…
• At design concept
• During design
• Design for maintenance
• Post-occupancy evaluation
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
What sort of participation?• Inclusive forum: whole system in
the room: many perspectives, common agenda
• Avoid talking heads: allow equal communication
• Focus on future, not problem solving: what works now?
• Find common ground• Choose a place where everyone
can see each other• Give control to participants
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
References• Bitner MJ (1992) Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on
Customers and Employees. Journal of Marketing 56(2):57-71.
• Evans GW and McCoy JM (1998) When Buildings Don’t Work: The Role of
Architecture in Human Health. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18(1): 85-
94.
• Grimshaw, B (1999) Facilities management: the wider implications of managing
change. Facilities 17(1/2): 24 - 30.
• Ilozor BD, Love PED, Treloar G (2002) The impact of work settings on
organisational performance measures in built facilities. Facilities 20(1/2) :61 - 67.
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
• Inalhan G and Finch E (2004) Place attachment and sense of belonging.
Facilities 22(5/6):120-128.
• Karasek RA Jr (1979) Job demands, job decision latitude and mental strain:
implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly 24(June):285-308.
• Kwallek N , Woodson H, Lewis CM and Sales C (1997) Impact of three interior
color schemes on worker mood and performance relative to individual
environmental sensitivity. Color Research and Application 22(2):121-132.
• Allan EL, Suchanek-Hudmon KL, Berger BA, Eiland SA (1992) Patient treatment
adherence. Facility design and counselling skills J Pharm Technol.8(6):242-51.
• Elle M, Englemark J, Jørgensen B, Kock C, Balslev Nielsen S and Vestergaard F
(2004) Managing facilities in a Scandinavian manner: creating a research
agenda. Facilities 22(11/12):311-316.
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
• Norman DA (2004) Emotional Design. Basic Books: New York.
• Norman DA (1988) The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books: New York.
• Granath JÅ (1999) Workplace making - A strategic activity. Journal of Corporate
Real Estate 1(2):141-153.
• Crowe TD (2000) Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Applications
of architectural design and space management concepts. 2nd Edition
Butterworth-Heinemann: Woburn MA.
• van der Voordt TJM (2004) Productivity and employee satisfaction in flexible
workplaces. Journal of Corporate Real Estate 6(2):133-148.
• van Ree HJ (2002) The added value of office accommodation to organisational
performance. Work Study 51(7):357-363.
TEFMA March 2006 © working to improve organisations
working to improve organisationswww.newhorizon.com.au
• White D (1995) Application of systems thinking to risk management: a review of
the literature. Management Decision 33(10):35-45.
• Weisbord M and Janoff S (2000) Future search: an action guide to
finding common ground in organizations and communities. San
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Consultation and participation increase control and are music to the ears!
Dr Verna BlewettNew Horizon Consulting Pty Ltd
email [email protected] www.newhorizon.com.au
Working to improve organisations