1. Effectiveness of Ergonomic Evaluations of Computer Workstations Carol A. Giles, MPH, CIH ESH-IH & Safety Argonne National Laboratory Argonne, IL 60439 cgiles@anl.gov

2. Overview Goals Computer Workstation Conditions Questionnaire & Results

3. Goals Effectiveness Satisfaction Needs Assessment/Prioritization Cost Estimate Justification of Program

4. Description of Conditions Most employees use computers Work stations not designed for this Increased use of mouse Variety of equipment, furniture, interest Optional Computer User Ergo course

5. How Are Evaluations Requested? Referrals from Medical Dept. Direct call to ESH-IHS Call to/from their division safety rep.

6. Nature of the Evaluations Most complained of pain Over 100 evaluations per year Increasing #’s over 7 years Photographs…..

16. Survey History Initial study at ANL by summer intern ‘97-98 Intern surveyed 50, found 23 w/problems Incentive for formal study

17. Survey Procedure Survey 2000 –Test group of 10 –Questionnaire refined Programming

18. Survey Procedure Web-based survey HTML E-mail notices to previous 3 yrs’ customers, batches Data returned & categorized via web site

19. Survey Procedure Reminder sent to non-respondents Several returns by mail (recovery mechanism) Several returned after deadline

20. Survey Data Addressees:238 Duplicates: 13 Total: 225 individual names Respondents:135 Survey Response rate = 60%

21. 1a. Did you follow the ergonomic recommendations provided (either verbally or in a written report)? Total answers: 135 Yes answers = 134 (99%)

22. 1b. Who provided the recommendations to you? (Check all that apply) Total answers: 135 98.5% 20.0% 3.7%

23. 2.If you implemented the ergonomic recommendations, did the recommendations help you and how much? Total answers: 135

24. 3.If the recommendations were to purchase or have something moved, did you feel your division supported these recommendations? Total answers: 135

25. 4a.What were the recommendations? 4b.What changes were actually made? (Check all that apply)

26. 4a.What were the recommendations? 4b.What changes were actually made? (Check all that apply) (Cont)

27. 4c. Can you estimate the cost of the changes made? Total Costs: $25,910

28. 5.What tasks or work do you do? (Check all that apply)

29. 6. What is your average total exposure to computer work in hours per day (at work and home)? Total answers: 135

30. 7.How many hours per week on average, including overtime, do you spend on all work-related tasks (at work and home)? Total answers: 135

31. 8. What body parts were affected? (Check all that apply)

32. 9.What were your symptoms? (Check all that apply)

33. 10.What seemed to be the nature(s) of the problem(s)? (Check all that apply)

34. 11.How long did you have the earliest symptoms prior to the evaluation? Total answers: 135

35. 12.Were you satisfied with your ergonomic consultation? Total answers: 135

36. 13.Do you need to schedule a follow-up visit? Total answers: 135

37. Conclusions Effectiveness 86-90% Satisfaction 96-98% Costs of corrections $26,000/3 yrs =$8,667/yr = $64/respondent

38. Conclusions--continued Ergonomic evaluations are justified Prevention would likely yield more benefits with less cost

39. Acknowledgements Eve Yates & Lisa Reyes, ESH, & Wm. Nowicki-- Computer Support Glarycelis Pabon-Jimenez, former intern Lori Meisinger, IPD Graphic Arts Survey participants--ANL employees Nsima Obot ESH Division

40. Computer Resources Software-- –Allaire Homesite for HTML –Visual Basic 6 –IIS Webserver on NT machine –MS Access with a recovery mechanism