Ergonomics—Costs and Benefits Revisited

Beevis, David

doi:10.1016/s0003-6870(03)00068-1

Cited by 63 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Recently, more evaluation models have been developed, and several evaluations showing the cost savings of ergonomic initiatives have been published [3,18,35,36,37]. Despite the identified difficulties in expressing the cost benefits of ergonomic services, we support previous publications [10,33], which argue that ergonomists need to be able to enter into dialogue about the cost benefits of ergonomics in order to be able to demonstrate the value of ergonomic services and thus sell ergonomics to main stakeholders. In relation to the identified resource constraints, however, it is a challenge that economic evaluations and cost benefit analyses can be quite time consuming to conduct [35].…”

Section: Ergonomists Lack Cost Benefit Argumentationsupporting

confidence: 67%

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Integrating ergonomics knowledge into business-driven design projects: The shaping of resource constraints in engineering consultancy

Hall-Andersen

Neumann

Broberg

2016

WOR

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Abstract.BACKGROUND: The integration of ergonomics knowledge into engineering projects leads to both healthier and more efficient workplaces. There is a lack of knowledge about integrating ergonomic knowledge into the design practice in engineering consultancies. OBJECTIVES:This study explores how organizational resources can pose constraints for the integration of ergonomics knowledge into engineering design projects in a business-driven setting, and how ergonomists cope with these resource constraints.PARTICIPANTS: An exploratory case study in an engineering consultancy was conducted. A total of 27 participants were interviewed. METHODS:Data were collected applying semi-structured interviews, observations, and documentary studies. Interviews were transcribed, coded, and categorized into themes. RESULTS:From the analysis five overall themes emerged as major constituents of resource constraints: 1) maximizing project revenue, 2) payment for ergonomics services, 3) value of ergonomic services, 4) role of the client, and 5) coping strategies to overcome resource constraints. CONCLUSION:We hypothesize that resource constraints were shaped due to sub-optimization of costs in design projects. The economical contribution of ergonomics measures was not evaluated in the entire life cycle of a designed workplace. Coping strategies included teaming up with engineering designers in the sales process or creating an alliance with ergonomists in the client organization.

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Section: Ergonomists Lack Cost Benefit Argumentationsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Waterson and Kolose [9] report similar findings. An often-discussed challenge among ergonomists is to argue for the cost benefits of ergonomic initiatives [5,8,10,11,12,13,14,15]. These challenges are often linked to the intangible benefits of ergonomics [8,11,16,17] and the hidden nature of the costs of employees' ill health [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating ergonomics knowledge into business-driven design projects: The shaping of resource constraints in engineering consultancy

Hall-Andersen

Neumann

Broberg

2016

WOR

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“…In architectural design practice, there are many reported cases in which ergonomics is not applied, so that reduced costs and improved effectiveness are not achieved (Beevis, 2003). The complexity of handling usability problems during the late phases of the design process results in unsuccessful universal design applications that are generally discovered after construction is completed.…”

Section: Need For a Cost-effective Universal Usability Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An interdisciplinary heuristic evaluation method for universal building design

Afacan

Erbuğ

2009

Applied Ergonomics

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a b s t r a c tThis study highlights how heuristic evaluation as a usability evaluation method can feed into current building design practice to conform to universal design principles. It provides a definition of universal usability that is applicable to an architectural design context. It takes the seven universal design principles as a set of heuristics and applies an iterative sequence of heuristic evaluation in a shopping mall, aiming to achieve a cost-effective evaluation process. The evaluation was composed of three consecutive sessions. First, five evaluators from different professions were interviewed regarding the construction drawings in terms of universal design principles. Then, each evaluator was asked to perform the predefined task scenarios. In subsequent interviews, the evaluators were asked to reanalyze the construction drawings. The results showed that heuristic evaluation could successfully integrate universal usability into current building design practice in two ways: (i) it promoted an iterative evaluation process combined with multi-sessions rather than relying on one evaluator and on one evaluation session to find the maximum number of usability problems, and (ii) it highlighted the necessity of an interdisciplinary ad hoc committee regarding the heuristic abilities of each profession. A multi-session and interdisciplinary heuristic evaluation method can save both the project budget and the required time, while ensuring a reduced error rate for the universal usage of the built environments.

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“…Notably, the distinction between the micro-, meso-and macro-levels is somewhat artificial. An intervention on the individual level leading to, for example, less absenteeism, will probably result in outcomes on an organizational level, such as cost savings and increased productivity for the company (31,32). Still, several "macro" organizational theories or models that have not been used in any of the reviewed ergonomics interventions should have a potential in an ergonomics context (93)(94)(95).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several excellent reviews and numerous studies have been devoted to identifying work-related MSD risk factors (14)(15)(16)(17)(18), how to assess exposure to these risk factors (19)(20)(21)(22)(23), physiological mechanisms explaining MSD (24,25), effective levels of action (5,26,27), ergonomics effects of changes caused by rationalizations (28), and outcomes of interest to ergonomics interventions such as health (29,30) and profitability (31)(32)(33). While these issues are central to the understanding of how to design an effective intervention, they do not address the process of change per se.…”

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confidence: 99%