Safety and Health Program- Ergonomics Chapter

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Ergonomics Program

Purpose:

This program covers all jobs where there are work related, musculoskeletal disorder hazards. The purpose of this program is to effectively eliminate or control Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) and hazards by providing management leadership and employee involvement in the identification and resolution of hazards and by providing training, medical management and evaluation as an on-going process.

Ergonomics is the science of fitting jobs to people. People vary enormously in height and weight, in physical strength, in ability to handle information and in many other ways. Ergonomics uses information about human abilities, attributes and limitations to ensure that our equipment, work and workplaces allow for these variations.

The Company's goal is to reduce employee injuries and illnesses, absenteeism, employee turnover, and to increase Company productivity and quality.

Employees are highly encouraged to bring their concerns to supervisors and management. Feed back from employees is an important means of identifying ergonomic hazards. When an WMSD is identified, the Safety and Health Manager will provide a response and recommended action within 48 hours of receiving notification of the hazards or condition.

Program Elements:

Management Leadership & Employee Involvement
Hazard Identification & Information
Job Hazard Analysis & Control
Training
Medical Management
Program Evaluation Records

Element 1: Management Leadership & Employee Involvement

Management will:

(1) Assign and communicate responsibilities for setting up and managing the ergonomics program so managers, supervisors and employees know what is expected of them and how they are held accountable for meeting those responsibilities.

(2) Provide those persons with the authority, resources, information and training necessary to meet their responsibilities.

(3) Examine existing policies and practices to ensure they encourage reporting and do not discourage reporting.

(4) Identify at least one person to:

Receive and respond promptly to reports about signs and symptoms of WMSDs, WMSD hazards and recommendations
Take action, where required, to correct identified problems

(5) Communicate regularly with employees about the program and their concerns about WMSDs. This shall be accomplished through safety and health committees, postings on employee bulletin boards and routine safety training meetings.

Employee Involvement:

Employees (and their designated representative) will be provided:

(1) A way to report signs and symptoms of WMSDs and WMSD hazards, and to make recommendations about appropriate ways to control them. Reporting procedures include notification of immediate supervisor, ergonomic suggestion forms and medical management forms. Any one of these methods constitute a means of reporting and will require action on the part of the Program Administrator.