EME
European Month of Ergonomics
October, 2014 and 2015
Ergonomics for managing
work-related stress
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
What is EME ?
- The European month of ergonomics (EME) is an annual campaign for the
promotion of ergonomics in Europe.
- The EME was initiated by the Federation of European Ergonomics Societies
(FEES) and it is implemented by the national ergonomics societies, who are its
members.
- The FEES is an official partner of the European Agency for Safety and Health
at Work (EU-OSHA).
- The EME 2014 and 2015 support the annual Healthy Workplace Campaign of
the EU-OSHA. In 2014 and 2015 the topic of this campaign is:
Managing work-related stress and psychosocial risks
- The EME 2014 and 2015 focus on the role of ergonomics in managing workrelated stress, with the title:
Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
EME 2014 and 2015
- This year the EME 2014 will be started with an introduction to the topic,
highlighting the ergonomic aspects.
- Next year the EME 2015 will focus more on practical applications, research
and development projects, case studies, methods, etc.
-
The aim of the EME is to encourage discussion and collaboration between
ergonomics experts, safety experts, occupational health and safety authorities,
and managers and employees in enterprises, so that the knowledge and
methods of ergonomics for managing work-related stress and psychosocial
risks are considered.
- This presentation has been prepared as supportive material for use in lectures, training
events, seminars or written articles for dissemination of the message of the EME by the
national member societies of the FEES. It is recommended that this presentation is
translated into the local language and, if needed, modified to local circumstances, e.g.
enlarged or shortened, addition of own examples and illustrations, etc.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
EU-OSHA campaign 2014-2015
"Healthy workplace - Manage stress"
- The EU-OSHA campaign "Healthy workplace - manage stress" for
managing work-related stress and psychosocial risks aims to reduce the
negative consequences both to the health of the employees and to the
efficiency of the organisations. "Managment of health and safety is good for
workers, good for business and good for society as a whole".
- Why this topic?
- Studies suggest that 50-60% of all lost working days can be attributed to workrelated stress and other psychosocial factors. Stress is the second most often
reported work-related health problem in Europe after musculoskeletal
disorders.
- The total costs of mental health disorders in Europe (both work and non-workrelated) are estimated to be 240 billion euros per year. More than half of this
sum (136 billion euros) is due to lost productivity, including sick leave.
For more information on the campaign, see www.healthy-workplaces.eu.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
What are work-related stress and
psychosocial risks?
Work-related stress occurs when the demands of the job exceed a worker's
ability to cope with them. Psychosocial risks can lead to this situation.
Situations that may involve psycho-social risks:
- excessively demanding work / not enough time to complete tasks
- a mismatch between the demands of the job and the worker's competence, i.e.
over-using or under-using a worker's skills
- lack of influence over the way the job is done
- conflicting demands and lack of clarity over the worker's role
- working alone / being subject to violence or threat of violence
- lack of support from managment and colleagues / poor interpersonal
relationships / harrashment and isolation
- unjust distribution of work, rewards, promotions or career opportunities
- poorly managed organizational change / job insecurity / ineffective
communication
- difficulties in combining commitments at work and at home
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
EME in relation to OSHA-campaign
- support and highlight
Many of the psychosocial risk factors mentioned are not directly related to the work
requirements and workplace. In many cases, they can be attributed to
inappropriate behaviour of human beings, e.g. inadequate leadership or poor
interpersonal conduct. These risks are general to all workplaces, not depending
on the field of work. Such risks are included in the EU-OSHA campaign but are
not the focus of the EME campaign.
The EME campaign will support the EU-OSHA campaign by highlighting the risk
factors which are related to the work activity and the technical arrangements
of the workplace, such as:
- organisation of the work
- design of the work tasks
- design of the work equipment
- design of the worker-system interface
- design of the physical work environment.
These topics are core fields of ergonomics (see the next slide). Ergonomists
have experience dealing with them and can contribute this knowledge to
the EU-OSHA campaign.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
What is ergonomics?
- Ergonomics provides the knowledge and skills for fitting the environment,
equipment and activities to people (For the IEA1 definition of ergonomics, see www.feesnetwork.org)
- The dual aims of ergonomics are to improve the well-being of people and to
enhance productivity of work systems
- For the practical application of ergonomics, the following subfields are identified:
- physical ergonomics – e.g. postures and movements, physical workload,
manual material handling, workplace design
- cognitive ergonomics – e.g. information processing, mental workload,
human-computer interface, applications for transmitting information
- organisational ergonomics – e.g. coordination of work processes, such
as assembly lines, combinations of work activities, work-rest schedules,
collaborative development of work activity
- Ergonomics is a scientific discipline and development tool to create
highly effective work places - and also to prevent risks in the workplace!
1
IEA – International Ergonomics Association, www.iea.cc
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Why ergonomic aspects of psychosocial stress need to be highlighted?
- Stress factors related to inappropriate work activity or inappropriate work
equipment (i.e. stress factors related to inappropriate application of ergonomics)
are sometimes not obvious. They are, therefore, not always identified as stress
factors, and often get ignored. In many cases, the work activity involving such
stress factors is regarded as a "normal situation" or just an unavoidable
condition. Highly repetitive work performed at a high pace in numerous factories
is a typical example.
- However, these stress factors have gradual adverse influences on the health and
well-being of individuals, e.g.:
–
feelings of monotony, boredom or dissatisfaction, resulting in lack of
commitment and motivation to work
–
mental fatigue, lack of initiative, burnout and depression
–
disturbed nervous and hormonal functions of the body and
–
subsequently various diseases of the internal organs.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 1: repetitive work
- Repetitive work is one of the most common modes of organising work, e.g. in
assembly industries or in the food industry. It involves a risk of work-related
stress, especially when tasks are partitioned into very short cycles, without
the possibility of additional rest breaks or adjustment of the pace by the
worker.
- This type of work has been under scrutiny for decades, and many initiatives to
ease the stress have been proposed and tested in companies, e.g, job
rotation, job enrichment or job enlargement (see later in this presentation).
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 2: monitoring, controlling
- Typically in process industries there are jobs involving intensive monitoring
and controlling of the process by displays. The process may also be
controlled directly on the line, e.g. by visual quality control. This seems the
light work, but it often requires a high-level of concentration and
uninterrupted attention.
- This type of work is mentally very demanding and involves a risk of work-related
stress, especially when the system interface is not designed in accordance
with ergonomic principles and when the workers level of responsibility for
possible adverse consequences of his/her errors is very high (in terms of
e.g. economic loss, production disturbances or accidents).
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 3: operating a vehicle
- Driving a car, or any other vehicle (e.g. truck, train, boat, airplane) is a
demanding task, generally requiring constant vigilance. Varying
circumstances (heavy traffic, icy roads, passenger requests, etc.), poor design
of the displays and controls of the vehicle, poor design of the driving
environment (lighting, traffic symbols, navigation devices, etc.), high levels of
responsibility for the safety of people or materials, and long periods without
rest, can make the mental load even higher.
- An additional stress factor is the difficulty of maintaining arousal (vigilance),
especially when driving at night, as this is not inaccordance with normal biorythms. To ease this problem,
ergonomists have produced new
technical means to monitor the level
of activation of the driver.
- To reduce the risk of cumulative
stress, the working hours must be
suitably designed and this is also
the focus of ergonomic research.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 4: customer service
- The work at customer service desks (e.g. retail
cashiers, ticket selling) becomes mentally
demanding at peak hours when the length of
the queues of customers grow. As a reaction to
the expectations of busy customers, the pace
of work is increased and this raises the risk
of errors. Additionally, the number of
disturbances increases, making
concentration more difficult.
- This work can be stressful for many reasons,
not only because of the intensity of the work
performance as such, but also because of the
psychosocial stress caused by the unexpected
behavior of customers.
- Ergonomists have worked for decades on
improving the design of such workplaces, the
machine interfaces and the organisation of
work in the retail industry.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 5: modern office work
- In recent times, many additional tasks have been added to the core task of the
employee, e.g. administrative tasks are shared by almost everyone, the
employees may be engaged to work simultaneously in many projects or teams
and direct cooperation with customers is more frequent. The work may become,
on the whole, too extensive and too varying, with frequent interruptions and
disturbances in activity. This may lead to difficulties concentrating on
important tasks and difficulties following the schedules.
- New information technology produce
additional burdons: the constant need
to learn new software applications, or
new versions of old ones along with
usability problems of the software can
all produce stress. If the technology
itself is not reliable, this leads to
disturbances that also add to the
stress on individual worker.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Example 6: very high precision
tasks
- Many jobs require working in very constrained
postures and operating fine machinery, such as work
under microscopes. Not only laboratory employees
but many process workers need to do this e.g. in
electronics industries and watchmaking.
- The need to keep physically very still for long
periods is a stress factor for the body and mind, as
the effects of pain and discomfort on
concentration can produce costly disturbances and
mistakes. Attention to ergonomic design of the
equipment and workstations is essential in this type of
work.
- Similarly, developments in medical technology have
meant that surgeons can operate with microscopes
to minimise the side-effects of large surgical wounds.
Here again, the ergonomic design of such equipment
is crucial to avoid errors and to minimise the stress to
the surgeon – both physical and mental.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Other examples: something else?
- Please think for a moment about other types of work wich you have found
to be mentally stressful!
- Think of some specific work task, or, a group of similar work tasks
- What makes the task mentally stressful?
- What are the most important stress factors in the work task?
- Are there any obvious remedies to decrease stress in the work task?
- Would the larger work system (of which the work task is a part) need to be
developed to improve the work situation, by for example,
–
–
–
re-organizing the work
by using more developed technology, or/and,
by redesign of the jobs and tasks
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
How to reduce "ergonomics-related "
psycho-social risks?
- As can be seen, risks related to inappropriate application of ergonomics
are connected to fundamental characteristics of the work task:
organisation of the work, work task arrangement and technology used.
- Thus the reduction of these risks requires an analysis of the entire work
system, identification of problems and a concept of possible ways to
improve the work situation.
- This could be a task for an ergonomist, production engineer or work study
technician, but anyone involved with the problem can start to do
something towards it.
- For instance, using common measures or "good practices" solutions to improve
the work in question will often provide a solution.
- Common measures may, however, only produce small or partial improvements.
- Ergonomic measures are best considered and applied in the design stage of
the work system. However, ergonomists are also trained in a systematic
approach to solving unusual workplace problems.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Basic ergonomic considerations in
the design of the work system
- For analysing the task and for the systematic identification of the problems,
criteria regarding good work tasks can be used ("Characteristics of well
designed work tasks", see later).
- For developing solutions, the appropriate ergonomic standards and
guidelines need to be consulted and used.
- For utilisation of practically tested solutions, experiences from similar
situations should be gathered, assessed and used.
- For utilization of all available knowledge and experience, planning must be
done in collaboration with the developers of the work and work system
(e.g. managers and engineers), the actors of the workplace (e.g. supervisors
and workers) and representatives of the safety and health personnel. This
approach is also referred to as participatory design.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Design criteria: Characteristics of
well-designed work tasks (1)
To avoid work-related stress, the following work task design principles should be
observed as closely as possible. These principles have been developed over
decades from studies on work psychology. The principles, "Characteristics of
well designed work tasks" are stated in the European ergonomics
standard EN-614:2:
a) Use the competencies and skills of the workers
b) Create meaningful and "whole" tasks - not isolated fragments of tasks
c) Make their contribution to the total output identifiable to the worker
d) Use the variety of the worker's skills, with an appropriate combination of:
–
–
–
simple routine actions
acting by application of rules
reasoning: analysing the process and developing needed actions
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Design criteria: Characteristics of
well-designed work tasks (2)
e) Allow an appropriate degree of freedom and autonomy to the worker, e.g. to
choose the method of task accomplishment, or to determine priorities, pace and
the procedure for the work task
f) Provide sufficient feedback on the task performance to the worker
g) Provide opportunities to develop existing skills and acquire new ones
h) Avoid overload as well as underload that may lead to unnecessary or
excessive strain, fatigue or errors
i) Avoid repetitiveness, which may lead to physical disorders as well as to
feelings of monotony, loss of motivation, boredom or to dissatisfaction
j) Avoid working alone without opportunities for social and functional contacts
(for more details, see European standard EN 614:2)
To summarize, the work task should promote the mental growth of the
worker, and provide a feeling of personal success and progression. This is
necessary for psychosocial well-being at work.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Means of developing repetitive and
paced work tasks/jobs
To counteract the deficiencies of highly fragmented, narrowly loading work tasks
three basic methods are recommended: Job rotation, job enlargement and job
enrichment. These principles are often applied by organizing the activities into
groups or teams:
- job rotation (see illustration below) refers to rotating workers between
different tasks that load the worker in different ways
- job enrichment refers to adding more demanding subtasks to the core task,
such as planning the job or controlling the quality of the product
- job enlargement refers to adding similar types of subtasks to the work
performed by one worker.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Ergonomic guidelines are the basis
for risk prevention
Ergonomics guidelines are needed for proper risk prevention in the
design stage!
Appropriate guidelines are published in European ergonomics (and safety)
standards1, e.g.:
- Ergonomics design principles (EN 614-1, EN 614-2 and EN ISO 6385)
- Acceptable postures and forces (EN-1005-series)
- Anthropometric workplace measurement (EN ISO 14738)
- Access openings, for the whole body and body parts (EN 547-series)
- Presentation of information (EN 894-series, parts in 9241 series)
- Human work activities in regard to human cognition (EN 894-series)
- Human work activities in order to control mental workload (EN ISO 10075-series)
- Human centred design for interactive systems (EN ISO 9241 Part 210)
- Environmental factors (lighting, temperature etc.) (e.g. EN 12464, EN ISO 11399)
- Passageways and stairs (EN ISO 14122-series)
1 standards
are distributed by the national standardisation associations.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Ergonomics: going beyond health
and safety
-
By its definition, ergonomics is not limited to the health and safety aspects
of work (the dual aims of ergonomics are well-being and efficiency).
- By the comprehensive development of the work activity human resources can
be appropriately utilized, and the total output of the work-system
optimized.
- Well-functioning and productive work-systems are important to the wellbeing of workers. They support the stable development of enterprises and
their workplaces, and consequently personal development of workers, their
feelings of success and progression and ultimately the welfare of their families.
-
As they take the effectiveness of the systems into account, ergonomics
applications should be attractive for managers, who make the decisions on
the workplace investments.
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Ergonomics in workplace design: good
for health and good for business!
By application of ergonomics in workplace design, the production systems
and workplaces can be improved both for the worker and for the
organization.
To summarise, the following outcomes are typically achieved:
- Better satisfaction, motivation and commitment of the worker
- Lower rate of accidents and fewer sickness absences
- Less disturbances and losses in production due to human error
- Better quality, less careless work
- Fluent operation, the right operations in the easiest way
- Less need for corrections later: Less costs of late changes
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Experiences of the EME 2014-2015
- Following the EME 2014, please gather information on the actions related to the
EME (events, articles, initiatives, etc.) that took place in your country
- This information will be used to develop future EME campaigns and, to share your
experiences amongst the national societies of the FEES
- PLEASE REPORT this information to the Communication and Promotion
Committee of the FEES, via
Martti Launis, e-mail: martti.launis@ttl.fi
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress
Thank you
Let us work together for the prevention of work-related
psycho-social risks – ergonomists together with other
OHS specialists and with the people at work!
Let us show the role and potential of ERGONOMICS in
such risk prevention!
Thank you for your interest!
The FEES-campaign European Month of Ergonomics to promote
ergonomics in Europe
FEES – Federation of European Ergonomics Societies www.feesnetwork.org
EME European Month of Ergonomics 2014-2015 V4 – Ergonomics for managing work-related stress