Facts

• The average person working at a keyboard can perform 50,000 to 200,000 keystrokes a day

•    Overexertion, falls  & RMI are the most common cause of workplace injury

•    An average of 125,000 back injuries due to improper lifting each year.

•     Muscles overuse results in tiny tears in the muscles and scarring; these contribute to inflammation and muscle stiffness

3 Main Ergonomic Principles

1.Work activities should permit worker to adopt several different healthy and safe postures.

2.Muscle forces should be done by the largest appropriate muscle groups available

3.Work activities s/b performed with joints at about mid-point of their ROM (esp. head,trunk,UE)1

History

The word Ergonomics comes from the Greek words “Ergos”--(work) and “Namos”-- (natural law).

Objectives Of Ergonomics

Provide basic training regarding the identification, evaluation, and control of ergonomic exposures and hazards.

What is Ergonomics?

Ergonomics is the science of fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capabilities of employees

l  Ergonomic principles are used to improve the “fit” between the worker and the workplace.

l  A practical approach to Ergonomics considers the match between the person, the equipment they use the work processes and the work environment.

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Employee involvement provides the means by which workers develop and/or express their own commitment to safety and health protection for themselves and for their fellow workers.

In implementing a safety and health program, there are various ways to provide commitment and support by management and employees. Some recommended actions are described briefly as follows:

• State clearly a worksite policy on safe and healthful work and working conditions, so that all personnel with responsibility at the site (and personnel at other locations with responsibility for the site) fully understand the priority and importance of safety and health protection in the organization.
  
• Establish and communicate a clear goal for the safety and health program and define objectives for meeting that goal so that all members of the organization understand the results desired and measures planned for achieving them.
  
• Provide visible top management involvement in implementing the program so that all employees understand that management's commitment is serious.
  
• Arrange for and encourage employee involvement in the structure and operation of the program and in decisions that affect their safety and health so that they will commit their insight and energy to achieving the safety and health program's goal and objectives.
  
• Assign and communicate responsibility for all aspects of the program so that managers, supervisors, and employees in all parts of the organization know what performance is expected of them.
  
• Provide adequate authority and resources to responsible parties so that assigned responsibilities can be met.
  
• Hold managers, supervisors, and employees accountable for meeting their responsibilities so that essential tasks will be performed.
  
• Review program operations at least annually to evaluate their success in meeting the goals and objectives so that deficiencies can be identified and the program and/or the objectives can be revised when they do not meet the goal of effective safety and health protection.

Management Commitment and Employee Involvement

The elements of management commitment and employee involvement are complementary and form the core of any occupational safety and health program. Management's commitment provides the motivating force and the resources for organizing and controlling activities within an organization. In an effective program, management regards worker safety and health as a fundamental value of the organization and applies its commitment to safety and health protection with as much vigor to other organizational goals.

Continue...OSHA 1994

2.Consultation- tri partite

  where employers, employees and the government must negotiate

to settle issues and problems relating to occupational safety and health

at the workplace.

3.Co-operation

  where employers and employees must co-operate to take care, nurture

 and to increase the quality of occupational safety and health at the workplace.

  Without co-operation between employers and employees, none of the

occupational safety and health programmes carried out would succeed.

OSHA 1994

nMain principles that had been taken as the foundation in the drafting of this Act.

1.Self-regulation

  To handle issues relating to occupational safety and health, employers must develop a good and orderly management system. Starting with formation of a safety and health policy and consequently employers have to make the proper arrangements to be carried out

Introduction to the Acts

n  This legislation was made considering the fact that the Factory and Machinery Act 1967 only covers occupational safety and health in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying and construction industries, whereas the other industries are not covered.
n  The purpose of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is to promote and encourage occupational safety and health awareness among workers and to create organization along with effective safety and health measures.

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n  In the year 1967, the Factory and Machinery Act was approved by the Parliament of Malaysia.
n  In 1970, the Factory and Machinery Act and eight regulations under the act were enforced.
n  This act was legislated to overcome the weaknesses in the Machinery Ordinance 1953,
¡  They were not protected if they are working in a workplace that doesn’t use machinery.

Occupational Safety and Health Legislation

 

nThis legislation was made considering the fact that the Factory and Machinery Act 1967 only covers occupational safety and health in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying and construction industries, whereas the other industries are not covered.

nThe purpose of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is to promote and encourage occupational safety and health awareness among workers and to create organization along with effective safety and health measures.