Seminars
This event featured several seminars on both days. Presentations about workplace ergonomics and productivity were given by prominent speakers, who have kindly made their presentations available to download here, with further details about the speakers and their chosen topics below.
Details of all speakers and their presentations are given below.
The significance of motion: the biomechanical aspects of postural changes, by John Rasmussen, Professor of Biomechanics, The AnyBody Group, Aalborg University, Denmark
For several years we have had the notion that static postures sustained over a long time may be unhealthy, but precisely how much motion is necessary to significantly reorganise the forces acting in muscles and joints? From a superficial point of view, mechanics tells us that small movements create small changes in forces, but accurate biomechanical computer models reveal that this is not completely true; in certain cases, small postural changes can indeed create large alterations of muscle and joint forces. 
This presentation introduces musculoskeletal computer models in the AnyBody Modeling System for investigation of the effects of motion and explains how these models may help us understand the importance of movement for safety, comfort and productivity.
John's attendance is sponsored by RH Chairs.
Workplace Ergonomics - encouraging compliance, cooperation and mutual reward, by Jonathan Berman, Director, Greenstreet Berman Ltd, President-Elect IEHF
Productivity is one measure of how well we have optimised the fit between the person and their job, and is influenced by a host of factors, and whose importance is underlined by this conference. However, people continue to choose to do things at work which at best surprise, and frequently dismay, employers. Improved productivity occasionally appears to be associated, with hindsight, with increased risk. How do we encourage people to comply with the organisation's goals (and rules) without the need for a big stick? Ergonomics can help to attain 'rewarding compliance' - people who follow the rules of the organisation because of mutual benefit.
Workplace ergonomics and productivity - the changing face of the technology based office, by Tom Stewart, Executive Chairman, System Concepts
When 'office automation' was being developed in the 1970s, we were promised productivity gains equivalent to those that had come from agricultural and industrial automation. But office productivity is notoriously difficult to measure and many would question how much improvement there has been in practice. Why are we still surrounded by paper and swamped by data? In this presentation, we will look at three key productivity challenges that office technology brings:
- the merging of work and leisure (homeworking and fun at work)
- the impact of more shared workplaces and hot-desking
- the increased use of laptops, tablets and smartphones
Work Screen: the tool that gives you early insight into employees at risk of sickness absence, by Gill Gilworth, Work Fit
Wouldn't it be reassuring to find out exactly what shape your employees are in? Work Screens are short, simple to use screening questionnaires, based on the concept of work instability. Work Screen questionnaires are founded on sound research and incorporate physical and psychosocial factors in a single construct. To improve accuracy there are different Work Screens for different groups of workers, for example an Office Work Screen and a Manual Work Screen. Work Screens can help management and improve work attendance by:
- Identifying how well people are coping at work
- Identifying individuals at risk of sickness-absence
- Targeting occupational health support and resources at the people who need them most
- Supporting and monitoring job retention and return to work programmes
How does occupational health ergonomics play a part in safe working practices and productivity? Theory versus practice, by Professor Sayeed Khan and Melissa Sweeney.
This talk will cover how practical is occupational health and where are the gaps? And health ergonomics practical solutions and applications. Professor Khan is the Chief Medical Adviser at EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, Honorary Professor in Occupational Health at the University of Nottingham and Health and Work Clinical Leader at the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Happiness and motivation in the workplace: psychosocial aspects of quality and productivity, by Patrick W Jordan, Honorary Professor, Digital World Research Centre, University of Surrey
Perhaps the single biggest factor influencing both productivity and quality is how happy and motivated people are in their work. In this presentation we will look at the psychosocial factors that influence happiness and motivation in the workplace. These include:
- How people think about their work and whether they find significance in it
- The content and tone of communication between people
- The cultural norms associated with a workplace
- How and why particular behaviours and outcomes are rewarded
Musculoskeletal disorders at work: rehabilitate and reintegrate or replace?, by Nicola Hunter, Occupational Physiotherapist
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have consistently been the most commonly reported type of work-related illness since records began. In 2008/9 an estimated 9.3 million working days were lost through MSDs in UK. Occupational Physiotherapy can prevent people going off work and can get people back to work faster, delivering an average return on investment of £3 for every £1 spent. Proper rehabilitation with appropriate work modifications reduces the need for redeployment and ill health retirement by restoring employees' fitness and capability for work. This session will look at the costs and benefits of providing occupational rehabilitation and will challenge why these services are not more readily available in the UK.
Ergonomics interventions and their impact on productivity, by Claire Williams
Dr Claire Williams teaches on the Ergonomics MSc at Derby University, which is an on-line programme. Her research interests have largely been for ergonomics within a health and safety environment and recently she has been investigating aspects of expertise within the ergonomics community. She has just started a collaborative investigation with health psychology colleagues at Derby and in industry, looking at behaviour change techniques and break taking within an office environment. This session will provide an overview of the available research evidence for the impact of ergonomics on productivity.
Making workplace ergonomics inclusive: the challenge of an ageing workforce, by Jeremy Myerson, Director and Chair, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art
This presentation will explore the changing ergonomic demands of an ageing workforce in an increasingly knowledge-oriented economy. It will draw on the findings of an EPSRC-AHRC research study, Welcoming Workplace, carried out by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design in three knowledge-based industries with academic partners in Japan and Australia.
Getting the Board on-board, by Nigel Heaton, Director, Human Applications Ltd
Organisations exist either to make money or to provide defined services. They do not exist to provide an ergonomically sound workplace. They are required to understand the nature of the risks they face and the impact on their organisation should those risks be realised. Boards are often ignorant or misinformed as to the nature and extent of the risk they face associated with the people they employ and have poor models for quantifying the cost to the business should those risks be realised. This session will look at how PLCs and Government organisations are starting to model risks and apply these models to ergonomics problems. It will also suggest how to improve the upward communication of risk in a way that allows boards to manage them better. The session will offer practical tools delivered to Boards such as those at Tesco, Asda, Hong Kong Police Force, Her Majesty's Courts Service, Goodrich and many others.
Fit for Work Service, by Christine Hunter & Rebecca Yeoh, Employee Health, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.
Many of the 172 million days lost to sickness absence in the UK each year are caused by mild to moderate health problems such as bad backs and stress, and with the right support, many employees can go back to work. This session looks at the introduction and progress of Fit for Work Service (FFWS) pilots across the UK, focusing on the model operating in West London. FFWS was introduced to provide a biopsychosocial model of support to sickness absentees, looking at factors such as debt, as well as offering access to services dealing with physical and mental rehabilitation. The service also supports employers in dealing with sickness absence. Case studies will be presented to illustrate the client journey and outcomes achieved. The session will highlight that robust occupational health provision is pivotal to the model.
Christine is the Head of Employee Health Service, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, and she over 40 years' experience in occupational health. Rebecca is the Senior Vocational Rehabilitation Manager for the Fit or Work Service and has a clinical background in dietetics and human movement.
Personal efficiency during computer work, by Hugo Bos, BakkerElkhuizen
Many factors influence personal efficiency during computer work, but how can we measure them and how can you make efficient interventions? This presentation will tell you about the major hardware and software factors influencing personal efficiency. We will evaluate new trends in Smart Working and the impact on working hours in relation to our biorhythms and productivity.
Why personal wellness management is emerging as a core life skill: benefits to employee / employer, by Steve Boley, WellKom
How do you help people discover how to find more enjoyment and fun in life? How do your team members support each other in achieving their life and work goals? What energises and motivates your team to succeed in their market place? At the heart of these and similar questions are the solutions that will help your organisation achieve its goals. Steve has a background of helping high performing business people to lead, engage and motivate their teams. Wellkom has develop a simple electronic intervention that can help everyone assess their personal productivity levels and suggest routes for improvement. Link this with expert coaching and well facilitated team interventions and you can jump-start productivity levels in your organisation.
Increasing productivity in the first workplace: school, by Levent Caglar, FIRA
For too long, we have failed to recognise schools as children's workplaces or appreciate the importance of the application of ergonomics to this workplace in order to improve children's productivity and well-being. This is the place where children spend over 10,000 hours, often seated at unergonomic furniture in an unergonomic environment with too much of the time spent in static postures. It is where bad posture habits and musculoskeletal problems, which impair productivity in adult life, can start. This session will discuss how studies have begun to investigate children's productivity and the remarkable findings about the relationship between concentration and even minor ergonomic interventions to their workplace, illustrated with video clips. It will describe effective methods for a systems approach in partnership with educators. It will attempt to set out issues that need to be addressed as effectively as we have examined the office environment.
Enabling people to cope with the economic climate: research into financial wellness, by Anthony Phillips, WellKom and the Police Mutual Association
We are increasingly surrounded by technology in our work and home. This has the potential to enhance productivity but also leads to a blur between the home-work boundary. There is a role for ergonomists and system designers in ensuring that novel technologies are implemented in work in an effective manner.
Everyware everywhere: impacts of new technology on workplace productivity, by Dr Sarah Sharples, Nottingham University
Basic financial life skills are important to a good psychological balance and giving people better control over their lives. This premise has been researched previously in the workplace. WellKom, supported by PMAS, have done further research and have clearly identified that people who invest quality time in managing their wellness, including financial health, are more productive at work and enjoy life more.