Ergonomics And Human Factors: A Study On The Challenges Faced By Staffs And Administration Staff Operating From 8am-8pm, Essay.

Understanding Ergonomics and its Importance

Question:

Write a report on Ergonomic Solutions for Arthritic Workers.

Ergonomics can be considered to be a scientific regulation concerned about the understanding of diverse dealings with humans as well as other components of a particular system. In essence, the ergonomics also indicates towards a profession that implements notions, principles, mechanisms as well as data for designing in a bid to optimise the overall well-being as well as performance of the system. The current study refers to ergonomics along with human factors that is often utilized in association to diverse physical facets of the environment. This includes workstations and control panels whilst human factors are often utilized in relation to the extensive system in which different people operate. However, the study incorporates knowledge acquired from different subjects namely anatomy, psychology, statistics, engineering along with physiology. Then the same can make certain that designs can complement the overall strength as well as capabilities of individuals and minimise overall influence of the restrictions. The present study presents a general illustration of the expected challenges for staffs as well as administration staff of the who continue to operate between the time period 8 am to 8pm.

The current section helps in identification of the issues that reflects that shift workers might face the risk of injury. Essentially, limited involvement with employees in schedule choice, lengthy days of work and a surplus of successive work days are necessarily associated to augmented ergonomics risk and associated injuries (Young et al. 2015). Analysis of the given case reflects the fact that the shift work as well as long work hours enhances overall risk for condensed performance on particular job, flabbiness, injuries, as well as an extensive range of chronic diseases. Additionally, errors associated to fatigue can harm the employees and overall productivity of company. However, fatigued employees can hereby endanger diverse others specifically during their operations (Pheasant and Haslegrave  2016).

Ergonomics Investigations based on specific issues and problems

The present case helps in recognition of the pitiable work life state and sleep deprivation might also direct the way towards injuries of ergonomics and lost workdays, particularly among members of staff in extended hours (Carayon 2016). Again, there remains a link or association between diverse work practices as well as ergonomics injuries namely musculoskeletal disorders. As per the given case, Amazing Suppliers happens to be a large corporation that operate as a supplier of a wide variety of goods to the public through online shop. In addition to this, there are huge businesses along with demand that is high for their products. In particular, at the Leeds warehouse, the management arrives at a specific decision that aims to introduce 24 hours of working in certain areas (Carayon 2016).  The given case also replicates the fact that the warehouse has a specific range of roles and involves the ones who will be operating throughout the entire 24 hours. Primarily, these employees mainly include warehouse staff, whilst administration staff shall continue to operate between 8 am to 8 pm. In essence, the entire board of directors have the need to put forward suggestions regarding the way the novel working hours can be rolled out together with details of diverse concerns that might be faced. The current study helps in gaining deep insight and integrative assessment of selected health as well as safety issues related to overtime as extended shifts of work.

Challenges Faced by Staffs and Administration Staff

As rightly indicated by Xie and Carayon (2015), 30% of male workers as well as 41% of female workers registered chronic or else “recurrent” back pain, whilst 16% of male members and 27% of female members registered chronic or else recurrent wrist pain. The extended work hours also lead to sleep deprivation that can possibly be damaging when considered from the perspective of muscle, tendon injury else wise ligament. However, with the mean extended hours, the members of the staff who sleep for merely 5 hours to around 5.5 hours each and every day at the time of functioning at night shift, they probably could encounter an augmented risk of ergonomics damage (Jonker et al. 2015).

As correctly put forward by Thatcher (2013), there are exhaustive illustrations regarding significant issues associated to long hours of work. There remains an integrative analysis of 52 currently published research reports that help in assessing the overall associations between long hours of work and different illness, behaviours regarding health, performance and diverse injuries. Analysis of outcomes shows around 16 out of 22 studies indicating towards general health influences, overtime was related to poorer professed general health, augmented rate of injury, increased illness or else augmented mortality. In addition to this, meta-analysis of particularly longer hours of work advocated a possibly weak association with preterm birth. Additionally, overtime was also related to detrimental gain in weight in two different studies, enhanced intake of alcohol in two out of three diverse studies, amplified smoking in one out of the two studies, and poorer neuropsychological test performance in one study.  However, there are also certain research works that do not support the present trend, establishing no association between physical action and no association with abuse of drug.  Wilson (2014) asserts that an outline of deteriorating performance on diverse psycho physiological tests along with injuries whilst longer hours of work was witnessed across different findings of the study. In particular, with shifts of longer time period and shifts of 12 hours are assimilated with over and above 40 hours of work every week that subsequently lead to injuries. The volume of legislative action observed nationwide reflects a sensitive level of societal concern as well as appropriateness of the issue. Stanton et al. (2014) mentions that there are performance measures that comprise of automobile crashes, examination of specific of cognitive functioning, examination of subjective alertness as well as executive functioning. The management of the firm can consider utilization of the following tools, dimensions and analysis for the purpose of providing suggestions to the board of directors are issued (Young et al.  2015).

Risk of Injuries and Health Problems

Multi latency test:-Multiple latency sleep test (MSLT) can be considered as the sleep disorder diagnostic instrument that can measure the overall time that passed from the beginning of daytime nap to the first indication of sleep known as sleep latency (Pheasant and Haslegrave 2016). The management of the firm Amazing Suppliers might take into consideration the appointment of a sleep technologist who can analyse the MSLT data and maintain chart that can reflect the time when workers fell asleep during the period of each and every nap study. It is also important to observe sleep stages and at the same time determine the time when people went into REM. Again, patients suffering from narcolepsy have two or more than two REM particularly during MSLT. Particularly, the technologists can handover the outcomes of the observations to the board approved sleep medicine doctor to analyse. Again, the doctor can use this specific information for arriving at diagnosis. In case if the doctor requires more data, the matter can be discussed with the technologist.  In this case, the manager can arrange for a test, study group of workers in segregated into different departments and carry out the test (Carayon 2016).

Advice: Therefore, the board of directors of the corporation might consider results of diverse multiple sleep latency tests that can be normally registered as 4-5 latencies. In this case, the sleep onset along with the mean can be analysed for this purpose. The dimensions of MSLT can help in enumerating day time sleep tendency (Jonker et al. 2015). Then the board of directors of the company can accordingly design and develop system for the purpose of organizing work and personal life. Essentially, board of directors of the company can develop shift of the work, occupational disease, and occupational injury, lenience and tolerance as regards work schedule, job stress, occupational exposure, overtime operation and extended work shifts.

Epworth Sleepiness scale: The manager can also make use of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale that refers to a self-administered questionnaire having 8 questions. In this case, respondents are requested to rate their usual possibilities of dozing off or falling asleep during the time remaining engaged in 8 different actions on a 4 point scale that ranges between 0 to 3 (Thatcher 2013). However, majority of the individuals participate in these activities occasionally, even though not every day. Essentially, the ESS score might possibly range from necessarily 0 to 24. Analysis of ESS reveals that higher the ESS score, the greater is the average propensity of sleep of an individual in everyday life (ASP), or else daytime sleepiness. The management of the Amazing Suppliers therefore might utilize this specific instrument for the purpose of analyzing effective work hours of the workers during which they actively work. In essence, the ESS is not a checklist for recognizing situations in which respondents can frequently dozes during a particular time of the day. Also, it also does not measure the level of alertness or else drowsiness of an individual as Optalert technology does (Stanton et al. 2014). Moreover, ESS helps in distinguishing accounts of dozing behaviour from fatigue feelings as well as drowsiness. In addition to this, the ESS was selected on a priori base to reflect actions with an extensive range of diverse of diverse somnificities. However, their comparative somnificities can be later confirmed by analysis of variance and by particularly by Rasch Analysis. The comparative somnificities of specifically ESS actions are alike in diverse diagnostic groups as well as populations, regardless of the overall level of average sleep propensity (ASP) and the subsistence else wise absence of disorders of sleep. The management of the company Amazing Suppliers can utilize the usual format in which item score of each ESS can be registered between the ranges 0 to 3. Then again, 4 different boxes can be presented with labels between the ranges 0 to 3 might be presented to the respondents for each questions. Thus, the total score of specifically ESS can provide an approximation of particularly general features, individual’s average propensity of sleep and does not deal with subjective feelings of alertness. Essentially, the scores of ESS can be aptly derived from interviews and that might be valid and that requires confirmation (Thatcher 2013).

Tools and Dimensions to Analyze Effective Work Hours

Advice: The board of directors of the corporation can be recommended to develop work schedule that can help in maintaining healthy work and leisure balance. The outcomes based on the results of the Epworth Sleepiness scale can help in assessing probability of feeling asleep that might be essential for delivering appropriate diagnosis. Accordingly specific medical advices can be taken so that employees could become more productive and improve effectiveness of operations (Jonker et al.  2015).

Cognitive testing methods: As rightly put forward by Xie and Carayon (2015), cognitive testing methods refer to thorough evaluation of different cognitive abilities of humans along with other animals. Essentially, this kind of study can be considered to be significant to research concerned particularly the philosophy and psychology along with determination of both human as well as animal intelligence. Determination of disability is founded on specific signs as well as indication of disease, impairment as well as sickness. Psychological examination might probably assist in the process of informing the analysis of functional capability of an individual, specifically within the sphere of cognitive operation. In particular, cognitive tests cam be administered for analysis of cognitive impairment. Present cognitive testing mechanisms can help in presenting certain promising leads on diverse impacts of stress on particularly human performance. Managers of this Amazing Suppliers can utilize this instrument in this case for gaining comprehensive understanding regarding psychological influence of stress (Jonker et al. 2015). Again, the measures fall into different categories that mainly depends on neuro-physiological or else bodily alterations in the process of understanding stress, self report and performance or else behavioural alterations. Dimensions of physiological responses can help in understanding the stressors that can head to diverse decrements in performance and assessable physiological as well as affective reactions.

Thus, board of directors of the corporation can identify different stressors that have different impacts and there exists considerable variations in the impacts of stress on different individuals. Thus, this instrument can help the management of the organization to comprehend the effect of the longer hours of work and fatigue on the overall performance of the workers (Carayon 2016).

Discussion of solutions as well as anticipated challenges

Analysis of the given case study can help in presenting recommended solutions and anticipated challenges. As per the findings of diverse studies, it can be hereby mentioned that ergonomic risks associated to the case of longer work hours include reduced performance level on job, decreases the entire capability of the employees to focus; lowers time of reaction; and lessens the overall potential to memorize and learn diverse new facts as well as skills. In addition to this, it can be said that this sleep deprivation can lead to diverse anticipated challenges (Pheasant and Haslegrave 2016). The anticipated challenges direct the way towards tetchiness, awful mood, condensed communication proficiency and capability to deal with the emotional burden of the place of work. Furthermore, researchers also report that potential of decision-making worsens and risk-assuming behaviour enhances. Significantly, learners discovered that sleep-deprived workers failed to identify their poor performance. The solutions for the identified problems involve designing strategies for promoting progress, developing education and training programs for diverse managers that can assist in enhancing appreciation as well as knowledge regarding demands of shift work, longer hours of work, and associated sleep and fatigue concerns. Strategies for diverse managers as well as employers involve improvement of design of work schedules, promotion of frequent breaks during shifts of operation, fostering different policies as well as systems that can lessen the overall fatigue risk and related problems of health. Additionally, places of work can necessarily undertake periodic evaluation to assess the influence of schedules of operation on both factors on as well as factors off the particular job accountabilities. Particularly, no blame system of reporting that is anonymous can help in acquiring pronouncements on certain incidents and evaluate in case if fatigue was necessarily a contributing facet (Thatcher 2013). Stratagems for workers comprise of permitting adequate time specifically for sleep and adopting best business practices as well as behaviours for maximization of sleep as well as consciousness. Workers having sleeping disorders due to longer working hours can ask for an evaluation along with treatment for sleep disorder expert. Again, workers can also acquire advantage from educating regarding their particular needs and reducing conflicts that arise between work and home (Thatcher 2013).

Conclusion

The current study helps in identifying the extensive negative influences of longer working hours and subsequent issues and ergonomic injuries. Essentially, the current section also presents ergonomics investigations based on particular issues and problems. Furthermore, the study also utilizes specific testing mechanisms such as multi-latency tests, cognitive testing mechanisms as well as Epworth Sleepiness scale for identification of enumeration of fatigue that might be caused by longer hours of work. The findings of the study also show the ill effects that include flabbiness, injuries and extensive range of different chronic diseases. And shows the way this also leads to fatigue associated errors. Thereafter the study illustratively explains the way it harms employees and hampers level of efficiency of employees. Thereafter, the study discusses the solutions to the identified problems that include implementation of education as well as training programs for different managers along with staff members. This in turn can help in enhancements of knowledge regarding the demands of work shift and appreciation and development of stratagems for reduction of the identified risks.

References

Carayon, P. ed., 2016. Handbook of human factors and ergonomics in health care and patient safety. CRC Press.

Jonker, D., Gustafsson, E., Rolander, B., Arvidsson, I. and Nordander, C., 2015. Health surveillance under adverse ergonomics conditions–validity of a screening method adapted for the occupational health service. Ergonomics, 58(9), pp.1519-1528.

Pheasant, S. and Haslegrave, C.M., 2016. Bodyspace: Anthropometry, ergonomics and the design of work. CRC Press.

Stanton, N.A., Young, M.S. and Harvey, C., 2014. Guide to methodology in ergonomics: Designing for human use. CRC Press.

Thatcher, A., 2013. Green ergonomics: definition and scope. Ergonomics, 56(3), pp.389-398.

Wilson, J.R., 2014. Fundamentals of systems ergonomics/human factors. Applied ergonomics, 45(1), pp.5-13.

Xie, A. and Carayon, P., 2015. A systematic review of human factors and ergonomics (HFE)-based healthcare system redesign for quality of care and patient safety. Ergonomics, 58(1), pp.33-49.

Young, M.S., Brookhuis, K.A., Wickens, C.D. and Hancock, P.A., 2015. State of science: mental workload in ergonomics. Ergonomics, 58(1), pp.1-17.