Doing 'organizational work': expanding the conception of professional practice in ergonomics.

Literature on ergonomic practice contains many discussions of how ergonomists should work but far less attention has been paid to how they do work and the factors that influence their practice. In an effort to improve our understanding of ergonomic practice as it occurs and how it is conditioned by broader contexts, we conducted an interview study with 21 ergonomists in Canada. We were particularly interested to understand the different kinds of activities study participants engaged in during the course of their work, the challenges they faced and the strategies they employed for facing these challenges. Findings indicate that in the course of their professional practice ergonomists engage in a variety of types of activities. This includes consulting on risk factors as well as a proactive role of fostering the application of ergonomics in organizations. The process of advocating for ergonomics brought study participants into a variety of interactions and collaborations with workplace parties in a type of activity we have called "organizational work". In the course of doing organizational work, ergonomists utilize different strategies, including "political manoeuvring", tailoring data collection and report presentations to clients' concerns and 'goal hooking' in order to make the case for implementing ergonomics in workplaces. The article concludes with a list of "tips" for practicing ergonomists that are suggested by the analysis.

[1]  A. Pettigrew,et al.  Studying Organizational Change and Development: Challenges for Future Research , 2001 .

[2]  Svend Erik Mathiassen,et al.  A case study evaluating the ergonomic and productivity impacts of partial automation strategies in the electronics industry , 2002 .

[3]  Brian M Kleiner,et al.  Macroergonomics: analysis and design of work systems. , 2006, Applied ergonomics.

[4]  Jan Dul,et al.  Ergonomics Contributions to Company Strategies , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[5]  Chris Argyris,et al.  Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change , 1993 .

[6]  Mitsuo Nagamachi.  Relationship between job design, macroergonomics, and productivity , 1996 .

[7]  Peter Checkland,et al.  From Optimizing to Learning: A Development of Systems Thinking for the 1990s , 1985 .

[8]  Gavriel Salvendy,et al.  Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics , 2005 .

[9]  John R. Wilson,et al.  The role for qualitative methodology in ergonomics: a case study to explore theoretical issues , 2004 .

[10]  Hal W. Hendrick,et al.  Macroergonomics: An Introduction to Work System Design , 2000 .

[11]  J Eklund,et al.  Development work for quality and ergonomics. , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[12]  Ole Broberg,et al.  Integrating ergonomics into the product development process , 1997 .

[13]  Bjørn Gustavsen,et al.  Beyond Theory: Changing organizations through participation , 1996 .

[14]  M. E. Philips,et al.  Dialog och uppslutning : Arbetsorganisatorisk förnyelse i industriarbetet , 1990 .

[15]  Isabella Poggi,et al.  The goals of persuasion , 2005 .

[16]  R. Valois,et al.  Ergonomic decision-making: a conceptual framework for experienced practitioners from backgrounds in industrial engineering and physical therapy. , 2006, Applied ergonomics.

[17]  D Denis,et al.  Intervention practices in musculoskeletal disorder prevention: a critical literature review. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[18]  Monique Lortie,et al.  Observation Procedures Characterizing Occupational Physical Activities: Critical Review , 2000, International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE.

[19]  Donald A. Schön,et al.  Organizational Learning: A Theory Of Action Perspective , 1978 .

[20]  Andrew S Imada,et al.  Editors' comments on this special issue devoted to macroergonomics. , 2008, Applied Ergonomics.

[21]  Waldemar Karwowski,et al.  Epistemological Issues about Ergonomics and Human Factors , 2006 .

[22]  Bjørn Gustavsen,et al.  Concept-Driven Development and the Organization of the Process of Change: An evaluation of the Swedish Working Life Fund , 1996 .

[23]  J C Rosecrance,et al.  The use of participatory action research and ergonomics in the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the newspaper industry. , 2000, Applied occupational and environmental hygiene.

[24]  Ben-Tzion Karsh,et al.  A change management framework for macroergonomic field research. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[25]  B Rasmussen,et al.  Ergonomic criteria in large-scale engineering design--II. Evaluating and applying requirements in the real world of design. , 1999, Applied ergonomics.

[26]  Patrick G Dempsey,et al.  A survey of tools and methods used by certified professional ergonomists. , 2005, Applied ergonomics.

[27]  B. Latour.  Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory , 2005 .

[28]  Margaret A. Hanson.  Contemporary Ergonomics 2001 , 2001 .

[29]  Ole Broberg,et al.  Participatory workspace design: A new approach for ergonomists? , 2010 .

[30]  Geneviève Baril-Gingras,et al.  The contribution of qualitative analyses of occupational health and safety interventions: An example through a study of external advisory interventions , 2006 .

[31]  Ole Broberg,et al.  Integrating ergonomics into engineering: Empirical evidence and implications for the ergonomists , 2007 .

[32]  Emma Irvin,et al.  Effectiveness of participatory ergonomic interventions: a systematic review , 2005 .

[33]  van Fm Frans Eijnatten.  The paradigm that changed the work place , 1995 .

[34]  Ole Broberg,et al.  The OHS consultant as a ‘political reflective navigator’ in technological change processes , 2004 .

[35]  P Vink,et al.  Validating a framework for participatory ergonomics (the PEF) , 2002, Ergonomics.

[36]  C. Haslam,et al.  Implementing Health and Safety Interventions in the Workplace: An Exploratory Study , 2006 .

[37]  R. Brugha,et al.  Stakeholder analysis: a review. , 2000, Health policy and planning.

[38]  Emma Irvin,et al.  Process and implementation of participatory ergonomic interventions: a systematic review , 2010, Ergonomics.

[39]  B Kirwan,et al.  Soft systems, hard lessons. , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[40]  R. Wells,et al.  Roles and Relationships for Making Ergonomics Change: Results of a 2-Day focus session with industry personnel , 1999 .

[41]  W. Neumann,et al.  Effect assessment in work environment interventions: A methodological reflection , 2010, Ergonomics.

[42]  W Patrick Neumann,et al.  Integrating ergonomics into production system development--the Volvo Powertrain case. , 2009, Applied ergonomics.

[43]  Svend Erik Mathiassen,et al.  Systematic evaluation of observational methods assessing biomechanical exposures at work. , 2010, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[44]  Peter Checkland,et al.  Achieving ‘Desirable and Feasible’ Change: An Application of Soft Systems Methodology , 1985 .

[45]  E Viikari-Juntura,et al.  A randomised controlled trial on whether a participatory ergonomics intervention could prevent musculoskeletal disorders , 2008, Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

[46]  P Vink,et al.  Defining stakeholder involvement in participatory design processes. , 2008, Applied ergonomics.

[47]  J R Wilson,et al.  Fundamentals of ergonomics in theory and practice. , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[48]  W. Karwowski.  International encyclopedia of ergonomics and human factors , 2001 .

[49]  R A Haslam,et al.  Processes, barriers, and outcomes described by ergonomics consultants in preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. , 2004, Applied ergonomics.