Editor’s Note: This is the second post in our series on selecting an ergonomics consultant.
If you’ve followed our advice in the previous post in this series, you’ve uncovered your challenges, developed SMART goals and determined if you have the internal expertise, experience, time and leadership buy-in to execute a comprehensive process to prevent injuries and improve human performance at your facility.
If you’ve completed this short audit of your internal capabilities and you feel as though you’re fighting an uphill battle, you could benefit from partnering with a human performance and ergonomics consultant.
Professionals in several different fields call themselves ergonomics consultants, and when you begin your search for the right ergonomics consultant, it can become confusing. The goal of this article is to sort through the confusion, clearly explain the types of ergonomics consultants and outline the situations where you could benefit from each.
There are two broad types of ergonomics consultants – ergonomists (engineers) and healthcare professionals such as athletic trainers, physical therapists and occupational therapists.
Ergonomists / Engineers
Ergonomists come from the engineering field. They are typically highly trained in ergonomic design and are capable of solving complex ergonomic issues.
According to the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), “Practitioners of ergonomics, ergonomists, contribute to the planning, design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, organizations, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people.”
Ergonomics consulting firms consisting of ergonomists offer ergonomics training, program management and workplace design services. Again, they typically approach human performance from an engineering perspective and focus on complex projects.
Benefits of hiring an ergonomist: The benefits of hiring an ergonomics consulting firm with ergonomists is that they are well-suited for large scale ergonomic projects. When designing new products and processes, ergonomists can provide the engineering support you need to ensure an ergonomically efficient workplace design. Ergonomists are also well suited for training your internal engineers on ergonomic design principles and practices.
Health Care Professionals
Health care professionals come from health-related fields. These practitioners of ergonomics include Certified Athletic Trainers, Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists. These professionals have a deep knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of people and are capable of performing ergonomic evaluations and making practical and cost-effective workplace improvements.
In addition to providing services in ergonomics, health care professionals are capable of providing a host of other health and wellness-related services. Their approach to human performance is typically centered on creating a healthy, fit and engaged workforce along with a team approach to making systematic ergonomic improvements.
Benefits of hiring a health care professional: The benefits of having a health care professional at your facility managing your ergonomics and human performance process is that you get a comprehensive approach to human performance. Health care professionals are able to conduct ergonomic evaluations and develop solutions with a team approach to improve workplace design. They are also able to coach and train your “workplace athletes” on how to properly use their bodies to perform their job as well as conduct early intervention screenings to uncover early signs of fatigue and discomfort.
In Conclusion
When making your selection, it’s important to recognize that there are different types of ergonomics consultants and there are benefits of hiring each type.
(Note: At Ergonomics Plus, we use Allied Healthcare Professionals (workplace athletic trainers) to help our clients prevent injuries and enhance human performance. With that said, we recognize the value ergonomists provide to business and industry and we often refer business to them when we feel they are a better fit.)
Selecting an Ergonomics Consultant – Stay tuned for more!
This is the second post in our series on selecting an ergonomics consultant. Next week we’ll be covering what to look for in an ergonomics consultant and provide additional tips on selecting the right one.
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