Ergonomics

The Task:
Using the same job that you had analyzed for your PDD assignment, complete a full ergonomic assessment report detailing the hazards involved in the job. You are expected to apply as many hazard screening tools and surveys as necessary to identify all of the risks that might be present (Note: You MUST use the NIOSH Lifting Equation and Michigan 3D-SSPP). As with the PDD, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to examine the entire job as a whole, but rather will likely have to break it down into smaller tasks. Consider the physical demands that you identified in Unit 3 and use those as a guide to select the proper tools for your evaluation. Sample reports have been provided to help you with what types of information should be included and how the report could be formatted, but these are not expected to be templates. Come up with your own way of presenting this information (every ergonomics company has their own way of doing it), but it has to be clear, show your systematic process, and be easy to follow. All completed hazard-screening tools (with data), surveys, and other methodologies must be provided either as chapters or as appendices. You should provide background information about the company and the job, including any history of injuries (if possible). If you have permission from the company, you can visit the worksite to complete this assessment, although you are expected to follow all of their social distancing and PPE regulations when you visit.
The general structure of the report should include the following information at a minimum, but the specific formatting and the way you present the information is entirely up to you (You do not have to use these section headers or chapters):
• Executive Summary – This section provides a brief overview of the report, the company, the job, and summarizes and highlights the key points of the report such as which task are the most hazardous, what changes must be made, what changes might be considered.
• Introduction – This section sets the stage for the report. It should provide the reader with background about the job(s)/task(s) that were evaluated, the specific aims of the evaluation and some background about the approach (i.e. the hazard tools used) employed.
• Methodology – Much like a scientific paper, this section describes how your evaluation was conducted. Include all relevant details such as worker(s)

characteristics, types of data collected (and techniques for doing so) with reference to specific MSD hazard assessment tools.
• Results – Present the unbiased results of your assessment(s).
• Interpretation – Interpret the results. Explain what the values you calculated mean, describe a strategy for correcting the issues (NOTE: No recommendations are needed for this report, that will come in Unit 5!). Here, you are simply thinking about a plan for addressing the issues in the next report (Example: What should be prioritized and why?)
• References – Your report should include references. For example, in-text citations might refer the reader to the scientific data describing the validity, reliability or appropriateness of your selected MSD hazards assessment tool(s) or the effectiveness of a given intervention.
• Format – a title page, use a nice 12 point font, 1 inch margins all around, page numbers at the bottom right, 1.5 line spacing, proper figure captions and table headers, figures and tables as appendix is fine.
Samples in the “Assignment Resources” folder

Sample Ergonomic Assessment Reports
These are sample reports that have been completed for certain jobs in the real world. These are provided to give you some context as to what this assignment would look like on the job. You can use these as templates as to how to structure your assignment report, but these do not meet the requirements for this assignment! You are encouraged to combine elements from different report templates to convey the information you are looking to share in a clear and organized way. As you will see, all of these reports include a recommendation section. YOUR UNIT 4 ASSIGNMENT WILL NOT HAVE A RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION. THIS WILL BE COVERED IN UNIT 5.
Sample Unit 4 Assignments

Two examples of past assignments have been provided for you. Please keep in mind that these assignments were very well done, but they were not perfect! There are improvements that can be made. Notably, the citation practices, the interpretation of the findings, the sign-off, and pictures of the task were lacking in some situations. Again, these are examples of what you COULD do, and what is expected for this assignment, but it shouldn’t be your guide to copy exactly what they did. Take what they did and improve upon it.

Handout/Flyer:
You are also required to create a one-page handout/flyer describing your process and summarizing your findings for your classmates. The flyer will be graded according to the rubric provided. All flyers will be compiled and posted for you to review in the next Unit.
Elements to include in your presentation consist of (but are not limited to) the following:

• Brief description of the job
• Why did you use the tools you did?
• What did you find?
• What do your results mean?
Grading:
Your report will be evaluated based on how well you are able to orient the reader to the process you have employed, how you applied MSD hazard assessment tool(s), the interpretation of the results, and on the clarity and professionalism of your report.