How to implement an ergonomic approach in your company?

‍Working to adapt work to people, ergonomics is an essential concept in corporate risk prevention. It not only protects the health and safety of employees, but also boosts productivity. Find out more in this article.

Why implement an ergonomic approach in your company?

What is an ergonomic approach and when should it be implemented?

Ergonomics is a scientific discipline that studies the interactions between people and other elements of a system. In the workplace, the implementation of an ergonomic approach aims to adapt work to people in order to preserve the health and safety of workers.

Although not the subject of a dedicated section in the French Labour Code, ergonomics is a concept that permeates all occupational health and safety regulations. It is in line with the general principles of prevention laid down in article L. 4121 C. trav. L. 4121-2, which require employers to "adapt work to peoplein particular with regard to the design of workstations as well as the choice of work equipment and work and production methods (...)".

Ergonomics must permeate the company's entire risk prevention policy. Its role is both preventive and corrective. Indeed, a company that observes a drop in productivity, an increase in the number of workplace accidents, recurring complaints from employees about their working conditions, or even growing absenteeism, may decide to call in an ergonomist to understand the origin of the various problems observed, and to remedy them.

Implementing an ergonomic approach sometimes requires a major investment on the part of the company, but its long-term effects ensure a positive evolution in the company's relationship with work. It also enhances the company's quality and productivity by making it easier for workers to carry out their various tasks.

What are the different approaches to ergonomics?

How can we help you implement an ergonomic approach?

Ergonomics is a discipline in its own right, requiring specific scientific, technical and legal skills. This is why many companies choose to call on specialist service providers to implement an ergonomic approach.

Professional ergonomists each have their own way of working to meet a company's specific needs. Thanks to their expertise, they are able to analyze risk situations and come up with concrete solutions.

The ergonomist generally acts on three ergonomic factors:

• Organizational or environmental ergonomics, which includes the organization of workspaces, the environmental atmosphere, staff relations and communication, work planning, etc. ;
• physical ergonomics, which concerns workers' posture, handling of work tools and equipment, etc. ;
• cognitive ergonomics, which focuses on mental processes, perception, memory, the reasoning required to perform a task, etc.

Depending on the company's needs, the ergonomist can carry out design ergonomics or corrective ergonomics.

Ergonomic design

Ergonomic design comes into play before a work situation is set up. It applies to the actual organization of a work situation, the design of equipment and machines, and the design of workspaces.

This type of ergonomic intervention offers upstream thinking to ensure optimal work ergonomics, taking into account human, material and environmental characteristics.

Ergonomic correction

Corrective ergonomics is applied to existing work situations requiring modification. It applies in particular to work situations whose design is unsuitable.

Although this is the most common approach, corrective ergonomics is generally less effective than design ergonomics, as it is limited by existing constraints. It can, however, produce significant benefits in terms of improved working conditions.

What are the different stages in an ergonomic approach?

Analysis of the work situation

Analysis of company demand

When an ergonomic approach is initiated, the ergonomist first carries out a detailed examination of the needs of the company requesting his services. Depending on the case, a company may call on the services of an ergonomist for a specific need, or to improve health and safety in the workplace more generally.

In the case of a specific need, such as recurrent work stoppages due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in one of the company's departments, the ergonomist will already be in a position to target the causes of the problem in order to find a specific solution.

On the other hand, if the aim is to improve working conditions in general, the ergonomist will approach the company's request from a broader angle, in order to define for himself the various points to be improved in the company, whether at the level of the company as a whole, or only on a specific workstation.

The request may also be made in the case of a company start-up or the creation of a new branch of business. In this case, the ergonomist will work with the company's steering committee (COPIL) to implement an ergonomic design.

Positioning the work situation

Once the work situation(s) to be improved have been defined, the ergonomist will need to establish precisely what makes up the given work situation. He will then ask the company a series of questions aimed at defining :

• worker profile (age, gender, qualifications, seniority, experience, training, etc.);
• the purpose of their actions (production, control, service, support, etc.);
• the environmental atmosphere in which the situation takes place(noise, light, etc.);
• the equipment used to carry out the work (vibrating machine, etc.);
• the operating mode of the action (repetition of the same gesture, production quantity required per day and/or per month, number of production stages, etc.);
• the timing of the work situation (working hours, work rhythm, etc.);
• the people with whom the work is carried out (alone, in a team, under the supervision of the hierarchy, etc.).

Document exploitation

The analysis of the work situation with a view to implementing an ergonomic approach also involves the study of company documents, which should provide the ergonomist with useful information not only on the overall structure of the company, but also on the various activities carried out and the associated risks.

These documents should first provide the ergonomist with general information on :

• company sales ;
• company size ;
• the business sector in which the company operates;

Depending on the problems encountered, it may also be useful for the ergonomist to have access to (non-exhaustive list):

• documents relating to absenteeism and accidents at work and occupational illnesses (AT/MP);
• at document unique d'évaluation des risques professionnels (DUERP)(article L4121-3-1 C. trav.) ;
• public health and environmental alerts register ;
• the register of serious and imminent dangers ;
• the company's safety register ;
• workstation-specific documents (job descriptions, safety data sheets, etc.).

In order to check the conformity of work equipment, the ergonomist may also ask to consult the documents relating to the various items of equipment used (certificates of conformity to NF standards, user manuals, etc.).

Individual interviews with stakeholders

Once the documentary information has been gathered, the ergonomist will generally begin a series of interviews with the workers concerned, in order to obtain their personal impressions of the work situation in need of improvement.

Observation of the work situation

Finally, to complete his analysis, the ergonomist usually observes the work situation in real-life conditions. This stage enables the ergonomist to record all the details of the working conditions , resulting in a precise report on the risk factors associated with the activity.

This observation can be carried out by taking notes, by video or using measuring instruments, depending on the situations and risks to which workers are exposed. The ergonomist then applies a specific reading grid which generally comprises three main factors:

• analysis of environmental factors: sound, light, air quality, ambient temperature, etc. ;
• analysis of physical conditions: repetitive movements, elbow angles, excessive strain, etc. ;
• analysis of cognitive stimuli : quantité trop importante d’informations, temps de réflexion insuffisant pour l’exécution du travail, etc.

If workers are exposed to multiple factors, this accumulation of risks will also be taken into account in the analysis data.

The data gathered during observation is then examined, studied and summarized. Once the analysis of the situation has been finalized, the ergonomist can make a pre-diagnosis of the situation with a view to drawing up an action plan.

Defining the action plan

The action plan to be put in place is highly variable depending on the given situation. It is indeed difficult to generalize in this field, as the factors defining a work situation are particularly numerous.

However, following on from the analysis of the work situation, and in order to begin drawing up the action plan to be implemented, the ergonomist needs to deduce the effects and risks of the actual work on the worker, the company and/or its environment.

On the basis of the data collected, his knowledge of human characteristics (muscular work, posture, bodily stress), his analysis of the situation and his consideration of occupational risk factors(article L4161-1 C. trav.), the ergonomist will draw up an action plan to be implemented to adapt working conditions to the worker.

Here are a few examples of actions that can be defined as part of the action plan:

• replacement of existing equipment by more ergonomic equipment(office equipment, work equipment, etc.);
• eliminating unnecessary journeys;
• creating greater proximity or distance between workers ;
• space reorganization (removal or creation of a partition, extension of an aisle, etc.)
• machine sound insulation ;

Once the action plan has been defined, the ergonomist makes an initial proposal to the company, which then decides on the solutions to be implemented , based on its technical capabilities and financial resources. This stage is carried out in collaboration between the ergonomist, the company and the health, safety and working conditions commission (CSSCT) of the social and economic committee.

Finally, a schedule is drawn up to define the deadlines for the various actions and the people responsible for implementing them.

Regulatory references

Labor Code, articles L4121-1 to L4121-5 (general principles of prevention), L4161-1 (occupational risk factors)

Photo credit: 88560614 @Nataliya Hora