What’s New | CHAMBER CHAT
October Is National Ergonomics Month by Dr. Ronald G. Shapiro All of us want our products, processes and systems to be safe, easy and fun to use. None of us want to have accidents, work inefficiently or be miserable at work. Nonetheless, nearly all of us have had some sort of an accident, have not worked as efficiently as we could, and have had an off day. One reason for having less than ideal experiences is that the systems we use may not be designed optimally for us to use. We may: • Enter a room for the first time and not be able to find the light switches. • Be driving a rental car, it may turn dark, and we may start the windshield washer instead of turning on the lights. • Not be able to find a feature we need to use on our computer. • Injure ourselves because we are lifting too much weight. • Forget to buy something in the store on the way home from work. Professionals who work in the human factors / ergonomics field strive to eliminate these problems and improve safety, productivity and enjoyment of work by designing new systems based upon understanding human capabilities and limitations. The professional in the field most likely has studied both psychology and engineering and has a doctoral or master’s degree. National Ergonomics Month (NEM) was developed to provide opportunities for human factors/ergonomics professionals to explain what you can do to improve safety, efficiency, and enjoyment at work, school or home. Keeping with the NEM objectives, here are six human factors/ergonomics suggestions to help you and your associates stay safe and improve productivity and enjoyment: Help save a life. Establish a company policy that prohibits cell phone use while driving. While using a handheld cell phone is prohibited by law, in fact, having a meaningful conversation on a telephone uses thinking capability which really needs to be used to attend to the driving environment. Thus, using the cell phone,
even if it is not handheld, is not safe because it distracts the driver. Stay healthy. Stand up more than once an hour. Ergonomist Airdrie Long from Australia reminds us that sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy even if one exercises for three quarters of an hour a day. If you have employees who need to be seated to do much of their job, remind them to stand up to get a printout, answer the phone, discard trash, or obtain supplies, etc. at least twice an hour. Compose and use checklists. Do you ever forget to complete a task or bring a needed tool or supply to a worksite? Do what professional pilots do. Improve your company’s safety and quality of work by using a written checklist to be sure that all jobs are completed successfully. Study a little at a time. When you need to learn new material, study a little bit, do something else, and then study a little bit more rather than concentrating all of your studying into a single block of time. You are more likely to remember what you have been studying for a longer period of time if you allocate lots of short intervals of time for studying rather long study sessions. Don’t pressure employees to work too fast. While all of us can frequently work faster than we do, oftentimes working faster does not make us more productive. Instead, it causes us to make speed/quality tradeoffs. Thus, faster working may encourage more errors and accidents. Encourage open communication. Oftentimes, employees may observe unsafe or unproductive environments, but the organizational culture encourages them to avoid discussing these and/or encourages management to defend its position rather than listening. This “silence” has led to disasters in some situations, and accidents and lack of productivity in others.
Dr. Ronald G. Shapiro Independent Consultant in Human Factors Learning & Human Resources
North Central Chamber
Deborah Ramos, President 255 Greenville Avenue, Johnston, RI 401 349 4674 | www.ncrichamber.com
On tap, we have several events including our “Business Booster” Series – educational workshops for our members and the business community. Please consider joining us for “What is Your Color Personality” (helping you to understand how to deal with those of the same “color” and different “colors” in your professional life); Recycling for Your Business; and Human Resources in Your Place of Business. Be sure to check our website and “Like” us on Facebook. For more details on membership or our upcoming events, please visit www.ncrichamber. com and be sure to make us one of your “Favorites.” Follow us on Facebook, we’ll follow YOU, too!
Southern RI
Elizabeth Berman, Coordinator 230 Old Tower Hill Road, Wakefield, RI 401 783 2818 | www.srichamber.com With two successful September events behind us — Twisted Puzzle Run and International Wine & Local Cuisine of Southern Rhode Island, plus seminars regarding healthcare reform and small business practices, the SRI Chamber is now planning its second Ignite! Southern RI. The event takes place November 23, 7:00 p.m., at The Contemporary Theater Company, 327 Main Street, Wakefield. Upcoming networking events include the November 1 First Friday Coffee, hosted by The Hive RI, 650 Ten Rod Road, North Kingstown, 8 to 9 a.m.; and the November 20 Business After Hours, hosted by Museum of Primitive Art and Culture, 1058 Kingstown Road, Wakefield . All networking events are $5/person; all are welcome. Details on all events may be found at www.srichamber.com. New Members Kinesics - Studio Sign A Rama Coldwell Banker/Mary Kammerer Lighthouse Real Estate Group Sherri L. Marshall, CPA AM 1230 WBLQ & 96.7 The Buzz Carol J. Charters Re/Max Central – Christine DiNardi
Greater Westerly
Lisa Konicki, Executive Director 1 Chamber Way, Westerly, RI 02891 401 596 7761 | www.westerlychamber.org Our Chamber is thrilled that our campaign to win Benjamin Moore’s “Main Street Matters” national contest was a huge success. Westerly was one of 20 towns, and the only one in RI, to be selected for a FREE downtown paint makeover. Three blocks of businesses will receive a complimentary paint job in spring 2014. Our Downtown Façade Improvement grant program continues to award money to businesses for new awnings, doors, windows and paint jobs. This private/public partnership encourages economic investments in our community. Our gift certificate program remains strong and generates over $260,000 annually for our members. New Members Claus Encounters Orange Leaf Westerly Successwatchers.net Marketing & PR Consultants www.risbj.com | volume two issue eight
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