OT Services in Ergonomics
Occupational Therapy's Goal: Promote the health and safety of the workforce of all ages by reducing/minimizing employee:
- Exposures to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) through the analysis of:
- Repetitions
- Forceful exertions
- Awkward postures
- Contact stress
- Vibration
- Extreme temperatures
- Risk of injury associated with cognitive process changes (e.g. manufacturing process changes such as computerization, increased automation, decreasing mental alertness)
- Technology
- Communication
- Aging
- Risk of injury associated with sensory and physiological changes
- Lighting
- Reaction time safety barriers
Occupational therapists performing ergonomic interventions utilize a variety of measuring devices, image recording equipment, symptom surveys, and nationally standardized tools to measure and analyze potential risks to the work force. The data acquired can then be applied directly and indirectly in the following manners:
Administrative Controls
The way in which work is assigned or scheduled that reduces the magnitude, frequency or duration of exposure to MSD risk factors
- Job rotations/ alternative tasking
- Task enlargement
- Education and training programs
- Safety teams-management and employee participation
- Job demands analysis
The way in which employees are matched to work assignments
- Human resource controls
- Functional job descriptions
- Post offer preemployment physicals
- Transitional work programs
Engineering Controls
Physical changes to a job that reduce MSD hazards
- Workstation re-design
- Tooling
- Equipment/manufacturing process changes
- Material handling equipment
- Machine guarding
Work Practice Controls
The way in which an employee performs physical work activities of a job that reduce or control exposure to MSD hazards
- Neutral postures
- Lift teams
- Micro breaks
- "Best practice" standards of training
- Personal protective equipment
Desired outcomes include:
- Increased health, safety and wellness of the workforce
- Increase workplace morale
- Increase profitability of the employer by maintaining:
- Highly skilled workforces
- Control of Worker's Compensation expenses
Ergonomic services are provided by:
Occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants with advanced training, either from continuing education courses or on the job training, in the field of ergonomics
Certification with AOTA is currently being explored.
Ergonomic services are reimbursable by:
- Third party payers-when directly related to return to work and reasonable accommodations surrounding an injured worker
- Vocational rehabilitation services when performing job retraining/matching
- Corporations-when directly negotiated for cash payment to assist in Administrative controls
Why choose an occupational therapist to perform your ergonomic assessments?
Occupational therapists are prepared to consider all human factors when evaluating and analyzing the influence of work and ergonomic principles placed upon workers who are limited by injury or disease. Occupational therapists consider all domains of occupation: performance skills, performance patterns, context, activity demands, and client factors through the process of evaluation, collaboration, intervention, and measurement of functional outcomes.
Occupational Therapists understand cognitive stress (the social/emotional/analytical components of work) and the influence it has upon the healing process of the human body. This understanding enables the occupational therapist to identify work processes that place excessive stress on the cognitive, motor control and physical capacity of the worker. It is the combination of both the physical and psychological domains of human performance that the occupational therapist brings to ergonomic assessment and intervention, which makes occupational therapy uniquely qualified to span the gap between the purely engineered systems of work and the purely biomedical-based treatment of individuals. This knowledge base enables occupational therapy services to have a positive impact on production, quality, and safety in the work place.
Revised by Work Programs SIS, January 2007
Jeff Clinger, Matthew Dodson, Kathy Maltchev, Jill Page
Updated 3/2007