The Center Introduces edgar, Our Online Suite of Assessment Tools

The Ergonomics Center is pleased to introduce edgar, our intuitive, online suite of assessment tools designed to assist your company in producing the best analysis of your operations. Coupled with the Center’s workshops, edgar is the tool of choice when you need to assess work areas to indentify the risk associated with each job. With edgar you can conduct any number of ergonomic task analyses including pushing and pulling, lifting and lowering, carrying, hand intensive tasks, and repetitive and forceful work. edgar guides the user by selecting the best analysis tool given task characteristics. The following tools are integrated into edgar’s construction:

• RULA
• NIOSH Lifting Equation
• NIOSH Composite Lifting Index
• Strain Index
• Rodgers Muscle Fatigue Assessment
• Anthropometric Data
• Liberty Mutual Materials Handling Guidelines
• University of Michigan 3D Static Strength Analysis
• Other published studies and guidelines

edgar is designed to be user-friendly and provides an objective set of illustrations and descriptions to guide users in their task analysis. edgar is an exclusive benefit of the Center’s Membership Program.

The Applied Ergonomics Committee is proud to announce the winners of the 2008 Prestigious Ergo Cup® and the Graduate Student Design competitions

A total of thirty-five companies from across the world demonstrated their innovative ergonomic solutions to compete for the prestigious Ergo Cup awards in three major categories. The Graduate Student Design competition featured five universities, with the first ever international university student team as one of the finalists. 

The judging panel of master Ergonomists selected the Ergo Cup winners based on stringent criteria including innovation, simplicity, cost-savings, ergonomic risk, and presentation quality. The selection process was highly competitive due to each team's creative approaches. In addition to the three Ergo Cup awards and the Graduate Student Design Ergo Prize, Ergo Excellence awards, using the same criteria as for the Ergo Cup, were awarded to five companies selected by attendees.

The winners are:

Ergo Cup Awards

Training and Education: Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., Partnership for a Healthy Workforce, East Liberty, Ohio

Team-Based Workplace Solution: PPG Aerospace Transparencies, Clamp Assist System, Huntsville, Alabama

Engineering/Ergonomist-Based on Workplace Solution: Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., Ergo Start Cart, Anna, Ohio

2008 Ergo Excellence Awards

Innovation: Boeing - Interiors Responsibility Center, Versatile Bin Holding Carriage, Everett, Washington

Simplicity: Honda Power Equipment Mfg Inc., Fuel Tube Insertion Tool, Swepsonville, North Carolina

Cost Savings: Boeing Company, 767 Overhead Video Monitor Lift, Everett, Washington

Ergonomic Risk: Johnson & Johnson - Ethicon, Easy Access for the Loading and Unloading of Suture Cans, Cornelia, Georgia

Presentation Quality: GE Energy, Gen II ICB Rhombic Assembly Process, Bangor, Maine

Graduate Student Design Team Award

University of Memphis - Feels Good Ergonomics Team

Winners were recognized with an awards ceremony; they will also receive public recognition of their winning project. To see past winners, videos, FAQs, and other details, visit the Applied Ergonomic Community Web site at www.iienet.org/ergo.

The Ergo Cup competition is sponsored by the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina and is in its tenth year. The Graduate Student Design competition is sponsored by Auburn Engineers, Inc.  Both are endorsed and supported by the Institute of Industrial Engineers, producers of the Applied Ergonomics conference.

Heather White, Senior Ergonomist, Presents Two Topics at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008

Heather White, Senior Ergonomist, presented two topics at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008, Orlando, FL, March 11-13, 2008. Her first session was "Lean Office: Ergonomics Beyond Proper Workstation Setup" and was held on Tuesday, March 11, from 1:45pm-3:15pm (three 30 minutes sessions). Her second session is "Product Selection: Adjustability Is Not the Only Key" and was held on Thursday, March 13, from 8:00am-8:45am.

Julia Greenwald, Senior Ergonomist, Presents Topic at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008

Julia Greenwald, Senior Ergonomist, presented the topic "Ergonomics Programs: Building on the NIOSH Elements" on Wednesday, March 12, from 3:30pm-4:15pm at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008.

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, Was a Panelist at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, was a panelist for the session "Considerations for the Aging Workforce" at the Applied Ergonomics Conference 2008. Brian's session also featured Sharon Joines, PhD, and Co-director of Research at the Center. The Session was held on Wednesday, March 12, from 1:45pm-3:15pm.

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, Presents the Topic "Aging of the American Workforce"

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, presented the topic "Aging of the American Workforce" at the Safety and Health Professional Development Conference 2008. This conference will be held at the NCSU McKimmon Center, Raleigh, NC on February 4, 2008.

Dennis Paine Joins the Center as a Senior Ergonomist

Dennis Paine, BSc, has become the Center's latest Senior Ergonomist. Dennis previously was employed at Johnson Controls, Inc. in Holland, Michigan as the Corporate Health/Safety/Environmental & Ergonomics Regional Manager. Dennis held various ergonomics positions with JCI in his 11 years with the company. Dennis recieved his degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH, majoring in Manufacturing Engineering and Human Factors/Industrial Ergonomics. Dennis brings a wealth of experience and success to the Center and adds even further depth and talent to the Center's experienced group of ergonomists.

Allison Anderson, Ergonomist, Has a Research Project, "A Biomechanical Analysis of Front Load Carriage, " Published in Ergonomics

Front load carriage is a common occupational task in some industries (e.g. agriculture, construction), but, as compared to lifting tasks, relatively little research has been conducted on the biomechanical loading during these activities. The focus of this study was to explore the low back biomechanics during these activities and, specifically, to examine the effects of load height and walking speed on trunk muscle activity and trunk posture. The muscle activation results showed that workers should keep loads close to the body, in the knuckle to elbow height range.  Understanding biomechanical activation patterns during load carriage can shed light on the best injury prevention techniques.

Anderson, A.M., Meador, K.A., McClure, L.R., Makrozahopolous, D., Brooks, D.J., and Mirka, G.A. (2007). A biomechanical analysis of anterior load carriage. Ergonomics, 50, 2104-2117.

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, Has His Article "The Age Shift" Published in IE Magazine

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, had his article "The Age Shift" appear in the October, 2007 issue of IE Magazine,the trade journal for industrial engineers. The article outlines the challenges companies face with our ever-expanding aging workforce. To read the article click here.

Allison Anderson, Ergonomist, Presented Her Thesis at HFES 51st Annual Meeting

Allison Anderson, Ergonomist, presented her thesis work, "Learning Curve Analysis for Alternative Keyboards" at the HFES 51st Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, October 1-5, 2007. A description of her presentation follows:

Although alternative keyboards offer postural and muscular benefits over the standard keyboard, the standard Qwerty keyboard is still the most widely used.  This study was performed to quantify learning rates for four alternative keyboards (chord, contoured split, Dvorak, and fixed split) and understand how physical, cognitive, and perceptual demands affect learning rate by quantifying these measures.  Sixteen proficient typists participated in five, three-sentence typing trials on each alternative keybard, and nine more subjects participated in 20 typing trials on one alternative keyboard.  Time-to-complete and error percentage were collected after every trial, and subsequent learning rates were calculated.  Results demonstrated that the learning rate for the fixed split keyboard was significantly different from the learning rates for the other three keyboards.  Learning rate negatively correlated to all types of demand (physical, cognitive, and perceptual), so learning rate was slower with higher demand, regardless of the type of demand.  The goal of this study was to quantify the learning time to make alternative keyboards more approachable.

Tim McGlothlin, MS, CPE Presented Topic at the National VPPPA Conference

Tim McGlothlin, Executive Director, spoke at the National VPPPA Conference that was held in Washington, D.C., from August 27-30, 2007. Tim's topic was "Ergonomics and the Aging Workforce". An aging workforce is a trend that most corporations must address in the near future. The presentation summarized this trend and showed how ergonomics can be used as a key strategy in coping with this reality

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, Presented Topic at Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic Worker's Compensation Seminar

Brian Sherman, the Center's Director of Ergonomic Services, presented the topic "The Ergonomist's Role in Back Injury Prevention and Return to Work Accomodation" at the Annual Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic Worker's Compensation Seminar in Raleigh, NC on August 17, 2007 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

Julia A. Greenwald, MSE, CPE Has Her Article "Taking Ergonomics Home" Published in fitAtlanta Magazine

Julia Greenwald, Senior Ergonomist, had her article "Taking Ergonomics Home" appear in the premiere issue of fitAtlanta Magazine,a health and fitness publication for the greater Atlanta area. The Center is a Community Partner of the magazine, along with organizations that include the American Heart Association and Grady Health System. To read the article click here.

Brian Sherman, MS, CPE Presented Two Topics at the Eastern Ergonomics Conference

Brian Sherman, Director of Ergonomic Services, presented two topics at the Easteren Ergonomics Conference that was held in New York, NY from May 30-31, 2007.  Brian's topic “The Aging Workforce Defined" was given on Wednesday, May 30, from 8 am to 9:15 am. On that same day Brian presented "Evaluating Risk Associated with Manual Materials Handling." For more information about the conference and topics visit their website.

Tim McGlothlin, MS, CPE Spoke at the Annual IIE Conference

Tim McGlothlin, Executive Director, spoke at the annual IIE Conference to be held in Nashville, TN, from May 19-23, 2007. Tim's topic was "Ergonomics and the Aging Workforce". An aging workforce is a trend that most corporations must address in the near future. The presentation summarized this trend and showed how ergonomics can be used as a key strategy for coping with this reality.

Ergonomics Products for Sale

The Ergonomic Center is now offering posters, mouse pads, pocket guides, office reference guides, and ErgoTips for sale. You can download a price list or call Stephen McNierney at 919-515-2052 to receive more details.