Category: Psychosocial factors

A brilliant priority area of the Lighten the load campaign is changing the perception of workplace wMSD management

Gyula Szabo Leave a comment

Federation of the European Ergonomics Societies is an official campaign partner of EU-OSHA to make the 2020 – 2022: Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load campaign a success.

Evidence suggests that psychosocial risks and musculoskeletal disorders are so closely related that they are best treated together. The consensus is that many factors contribute to the development of MSDs at work, especially physical aspects (awkward working positions, vigorous movements, repetitive tasks, etc.).

Although physical risk factors are usually the primary work-related influence on the risk of MSD, psychosocial factors at work can significantly contribute to the risk of developing MSD and exacerbate an existing problem. Psychosocial factors may also hinder the return to work (or finding work) for patients with chronic MSD. In addition, MSD (especially when it leads to chronic pain) can lead to psychosocial problems such as depression and stress.

Psychosocial factors associated with MSDs 

  • excessive workloads,
  • conflicting demands and lack of clarity over the role, 
  • lack of involvement in making decisions that affect the worker and lack of influence over the way the job, 
  • poorly managed organisational change,
  • job insecurity,
  • ineffective communication, 
  • lack of support from management or colleagues, 
  • psychological and sexual harassment, third-party violence, 
  • low job satisfaction.

Possible pathways from psychosocial risk factors to musculoskeletal disorders

  • Increased muscle tension will affect the biomechanical loading of muscles and tendons, increasing the risk of overload.
  • Many MSDs disrupt the balance between tissue damage and repair, leading to inflammation. Stress-induced changes in repair mechanisms further disturb this balance and can overwhelm tissue repair processes.
  • Other mechanisms also act indirectly: e.g. perceived stress can lead to increased awareness of pain (pain perception) or decreased pain tolerance.

Even within the limitations of the existing legal framework, there are indications that many employers are not engaging in the risk assessment and prevention process. It is unclear to what extent this is specific to musculoskeletal disorders or whether it extends to other workplace safety risks. However, it’s already clear that fixing legislative gaps will not solve this problem, and action is needed to solve it. Reasons for non-acting can be manifold and include a lack of awareness of the need; and a lack of motivation, presumably resulting from a failure to perceive activities as risky or resulting in a fatalistic attitude that sees such risks as inevitable or “part of the job” and therefore unchangeable. Such unaware perceptions spill over into the workforce, creating a further barrier to effective action. (More information here)

Ergonomists in Europe are committed to reducing the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. We promote a participatory, holistic approach to increase efficiency, reduce workplace adverse health effects, and improve job satisfaction.

Healthy workplaces manage stress

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The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched a two year Europe-wide campaign: ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress’.

Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress

The prevalence of work-related stress in Europe is startling.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched a two year Europe-wide campaign: ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress’.

Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress

The prevalence of work-related stress in Europe is startling. EU-OSHA’s latest pan-European opinion poll revealed that 51 % of workers find work-related stress to be common in their workplace and 4 in 10 workers think that stress is not handled well in their organisation. However, together employers and workers can successfully manage and prevent work-related stress and psychosocial risks; the Healthy Workplaces Campaign aims to help companies do just that. 

The Federation of European Ergonomics Societies encourages all federated societies to pay carefully attention to this campaign, and promote the importance of the contribution of ergonomics professionals in the reduction of the harm effect of work related stress.
As an official campaign partner, the Federation of European Ergonomics Societies dedicates its 2014 year Month of Ergonomics campaign to the prevention of work related stress.

Future of ergonomics in Europe

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Future of ergonomics in Europe: from health and safety managment to sustainability development

FEES Session at the 50th Anniversary Congress of the SELF Ergonomics: Meeting society’s challenges
August 28-30, 2013
Paris1 University Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris, France

Presentations

Future of ergonomics in Europe: from health and safety managment to sustainability development

FEES Session at the 50th Anniversary Congress of the SELF Ergonomics: Meeting society’s challenges
August 28-30, 2013
Paris1 University Panthéon – Sorbonne, Paris, France

Presentations

L’avenir de l’ergonomie en Europe : de la prise en charge de la santé sécurité au travail à l’implication dans une problématique de développement durable

Chair(s): Sylvain LEDUC (Aix-Marseille Université), Pascal ETIENNE (Ministère du Travail)

Dans le champ de la santé et de sécurité au travail, les principales contributions des ergonomes se sont focalisées sur la conception de systèmes de travail sûrs, avec des apports le plus souvent sous formes de normes techniques (formalisées dans le cadre du Comité Européen de normalisation – CEN, par exemple) et de guides pratiques d’aide à la conception de machines ou de lieux de travail. Ces contributions répondent à une demande sociale, le plus souvent médiatisée par des institutions européennes dans le cadre de campagnes de communication ou répondant à une exigence de régulation (p. ex. sur la question des troubles musculo-squelettiques ou bien des risques psycho-sociaux). Aujourd’hui, de nouvelles perspectives de recherche et d’intervention se font jour en ergonomie à partir des notions de prévention durable (notamment des troubles musculo-squelettiques), d’éco-design, d’intégration des préoccupations environnementales dans tout le cycle de vie d’un produit. L’ergonomie, qui est riche de concepts éprouvés permettant la conception de système de travail sûrs, est de plus en plus sollicitée pour contribuer à l’émergence de systèmes de travail et de vie permettant un usage responsable et respectueux de l’environnement. Dans ce cadre, de nombreuses interrogations apparaissent:

  • Comment passe-t-on d’une ergonomie de la prévention ciblée à ergonomie de la gestion anticipée des externalités du travail sur le facteur humain ?
  • Dans quelles conditions les concepts de base de l’ergonomie peuvent-ils contribuer –directement ou au prix de quelles adaptations – au développement durable?
  • Peut- on avoir comme perspective l’émergence d’une ergonomie du développement durable ou «éco – ergonomie»?

Presentations of the Symposium 

An analysis of the work-sustainability relationship and the contributions of activity ergonomics

Claudio Marcelo BRUNORO (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Ivan BOLIS (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Laerte Idal SZNELWAR (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Natalia MANZONI (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Bruno de Paula VICENTE (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo), Luciano de FREITAS (Production Engineering Department of Universidade de São Paulo)

The aims of this exploratory study are 1) to identify work-sustainability relationship categories based on an analyzes of corporate sustainability reports, sustainability guidelines that consider work as a key issue (e.g. GRI, ISO, UN Global Compact, SA8000 and Ethos), and relevant documents from the United Nations and the International Labor Organization and 2) to highlight the contributions that the activity ergonomics approach can provide. As a result, under a activity ergonomics perspective, there are two major work-sustainability relationship categories: the work for sustainability and the sustainability of the work(er). In both categories activity ergonomics approach has significant contributions.
 

Usability for Sustainability: case study of a product-system for the tourist fruition of the cities of art

Emilio ROSSI (Università degli Studi ‘G. d’Annunzio’ Chieti e Pescara), Giuseppe DI BUCCHIANICO (Ergonomics for Sustainability Research Unit), Antonio MARANO (Ergonomics for Sustainability Research Unit)

Resuming the strategies and arguments of ergonomic design for Sustainability developed by the Ergonomics and Design for Sustainability Research Unit of the University of Chieti-Pescara, the paper reaffirms its applicative potentialities through the exposure of a recent experience of design research.
 

Ergonomic Development and Research in Hungary

Gyula SZABO (Hongrie)

Ergonomics is not blooming in Hungary regarding the recognition and attractiveness of the profession or the position of the professional organisations, such as the Hungarian Ergonomics Society.
This paper describes the past and present of the Hungarian ergonomics profession. Campaigns “Let’s drink (water) Judith’s health”, “The Office Chair of the Year” and “E2O – Solicitation of Ideas in Ergonomics” are presented. Among the activities of MET some regular events, promotional and communication materials, international and national responsibilities are described.
The paper ends with the summary of some ergonomic research projects in Hungary including cognitive, workplace rehabilitation research projects.
 

Building Sustainable Human-Centered Complex Systems

Waldemar KARWOWSKI (1 Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering), Tareq AHRAM (1 Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering), Ben AMABA (IBM Complex Systems – Rational Software)

Given the most competitive nature of global business environment, effective engineering innovation and leadership is a critical requirement for all levels of product or systems lifecycle development. Sustainability of workforce and engineering competence skills are extremely important due to a general shortage of engineering talent and the need for mobility of highly trained professionals.  This paper provides a motivation and quest for sustainable human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) approach in complex systems design and development.  The considerable advancements achieved in complex systems engineering indicate that the adaptation of sustainable HF/E can lead to highly sophisticated yet widely useable collaborative applications in order to ensure sustainability of limited resources such as energy and clean water. The sustainable HF/E in complex systems design proves critical in maintaining skills needed in future capable workforce.
 

Human Factors and Sustainable Development: a German Perspective

Klaus J. ZINK (Institut für Technologie und Arbeit)

The anthropocentric definition of sustainable development by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987 leads to joint objectives between Human Factors/Ergonomics (HF/E) and sustainable development. 
From a German perspective one has to differentiate between developments in science especially in human factors/ergonomics and related disciplines and the situation in German companies. As one example respective activities of the German Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft, GfA)) and its members, but also publications of non-members have to be considered. 
The analysis of the development in German companies is focused on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and their development during the last years. Of course, the social dimension described in these reports is of specific importance. In addition recent studies regarding working conditions in Germany have to be discussed. As sustainable working conditions are also referred to (international) supply chains this aspect will be included.
The paper ends with a summarizing evaluation of the situation in Germany.