Transcript Knowledge Transfer and Best Practices

Ergonomics in the Transportation Sector
April 12th 2007
Co-hosted by THSAO and CRE-MSD
CRE-MSD or the
Center of Research
Expertise for the
Prevention of
Musculoskeletal
Disorders bridges
between researchers
and workplaces
Musculoskeletal
disorders are painful or
disabling injuries to the
muscles, tendons or
nerves in the lower
back, shoulders, neck,
elbows, wrists or hands.
They are aggravated or
caused by overexertion
and overuse at work.
The CRE-MSD research
team has expertise in
ergonomics,
bioengineering, spine
biomechanics,
kinesiology, evaluation,
occupational medicine,
epidemiology,
sociology, and
education.
CRE-MSD is made
up of a virtual
network of twentytwo researchers
across seven
universities, the
Institute for Work
& Health and the
Occupational
Health Clinics for
Ontario Workers.
MSDs or
musculoskeletal
disorders are a
blanket term for a
range of conditions
that create pain and
disability of the low
back, shoulder, neck,
lower limbs and hand/
wrist
CRE-MSD Vision:
To bring together
researchers and
workplace parties to
identify the key
questions, find the
best research
answers, and pass on
the best knowledge
that will lead to the
prevention of
musculoskeletal
disorders at work.
Conference
Objectives
•
Synthesizing what
is already known
about MSDprevention in
transportation
•
Collecting sector
knowledge to feed
into the sectorwide research
study.
MSDs or
musculoskeletal
disorders are also
known as “pains and
strains”, “Repetitive
Strain Injuries (RSI)”,
“Overexertion or
Strains”,
“Musculoskeletal
Injuries (MSI or
MSK)” and are found
in all countries
The transportation
sector has a high
burden of
musculoskeletal
disorders, with
5,218 MSDs
claims accepted in
2003 in Ontario
Commercial
trucking in
Ontario creates
employment for
200,000 workers,
which is 4.8% of
the Ontario
workforce.
The trucking sector
has a high injury rate
and MSDs from
approximately 60 to
69% of these
(calculated from
2004 data)
THSAO Vision:
Our vision is to eliminate human suffering that
we believe is socially, morally and
economically unjust so that we move toward
the prevention of all workplace injuries and
illnesses.
The transportation
sector has the
highest lost time
injuries per 100 Full
Time Employees of
any sector
Researchers at
CRE-MSD join with
workplace parties to
reduce
musculoskeletal
disorders and
disabilities by
utilizing knowledge
developed from
basic research and
workplace studies
Job Rotation- is it a
Solution?
Principles and Practices of Job Rotation, 7th December 2004
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON
Job rotation, together with the development of job variety and job enlargement, is a common strategy of
organizations from the point of view of workplace health and the improvement of productivity. But what do
we know about it? There are still many questions that need to be asked: Is job rotation a way of preventing
musculoskeletal disorders and disabilities (MSDs)? Does job rotation lead to increased job satisfaction or
quality or productivity? Are there disadvantages of job rotation?
This workshop will consider workplace organizational factors, working conditions, and the organizational
benefits of job rotation, and how they relate to the prevention of MSDs in industry. These questions present
the opportunity to participate in an exchange of views and discussion.
The morning will be dedicated to presentations from researchers who have studied the effects of job
rotation with responses from business and labour and a panel discussion. The afternoon will begin with
case studies from organizations that have had experience with job rotation. Attendees will then break into
small, interactive discussion groups. They will share their experiences: the reason for adopting job rotation,
their experiences of implementing rotation, and their perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of
job rotation.
Schedule
8:00-9:00 am
9:00-10:30
10:30-11:00am
Registration
11:00-12:00
12:00-12:45pm
12:45-2:00pm
2:00- 3:15pm
Commentary from a business and labour perspective followed by panel discussion with presenters.
3:15-3:30pm
Break with light refreshments
3:30-4:30pm
Reporting back from workshops followed by questions and a summary
Mardy Frazer
Light Lunch
Case study presentations
Break into small groups to address implementation questions
Department of Kinesiology and CRE-PREMUS,
University of Waterloo, Waterloo.
Mardy’s primary interest is the identification of risk factors for, and the
reduction of, workplace injury. He has been using employee and
employer involvement to investigate techniques for the identification
and measurement of injury risk factors for the upper limb and low
back. .
Who should attend?
A workshop presented by the Centre of Research Expertise in the Prevention of Musculoskeletal
Disorders and Disabilities (cre-PREMUS) This new Centre works with workplace parties to reduce
musculoskeletal disorders and disabilities by utilizing knowledge developed from basic research and
workplace studies. The Centre receives substantial funding through a grant provided by the Workplace
Safety and Insurance Board (Ontario).
Break with light refreshments
Our Presenters
The results of these discussions will be recorded and made available after the workshop.
This workshop is aimed at employers, workers, injured worker associations, unions, and ergonomists
and OH & S consultants within the Health and Safety Associations and WSIB.
Findings on job rotation from field research in Canada and Europe
Paul Kuijer
Coronel Institute for Occupational and Environmental
Health, Academic Medical Center / University of
Amsterdam The Netherlands .
Paul is working as a senior researcher and consultant in the field of
work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with special interest in the
effectiveness of interventions.
Ted Pattenden
President and C.E.O. of CIMTEK
Ted brings over 20 years experience and broad background in
business leadership and strategic business management in a variety
of major industries to our discussions
David Robertson
Work Organization & Training, CAW
David has co-ordinated a number of CAW research projects, written
case studies of technological change and a number of articles on
working conditions benchmarking.
Nicole Vezina
Department of Kinanthropologie, University of Québec at
Montréal (UQAM) Montréal
Nicole's fields of research include ergonomic study and analysis,
worker health, repetitive work, and the division of labour between
male and female workers.
Richard Wells
Department of Kinesiology and CRE-PREMUS,
University of Waterloo, Waterloo
Richard is Director of CRE PREMUS and has worked for the last two
decades in the causes of MSDs, assessment of work and prevention
of musculoskeletal disorders
For more information please contact: Darlene Garside [email protected]
CRE-PREMUS, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
Tel: (519) 888-4567 X5513 or Fax: (519) 886-5488
www.cre-premus.uwaterloo.ca
www.cre-msd.uwaterloo.ca
CRE-MSD
organizes
workshops on
the prevention of
MSDs
The Centre receives substantial funding through a
grant provided by the Workplace Safety and
Insurance Board.
We would like to sincerely thank all of the people
and organizations that have helped us arrange this
conference.