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Ergonomics is the study of people and their well-being
in the workplace. It is the science of fitting the task to
the individual, not the individual to the task. At Exponent,
our goal is to understand and assist in the mitigation of
health concerns that can result when there is a disparity
between the physical requirements of a job and the physical
capacity of the worker. We can determine the combination of
appropriate controls, whether they are engineering changes
(e.g., workplace redesign) or administrative changes (e.g.,
training), that can eliminate or reduce the occurrence of
back injuries and other musculoskeletal
and ergonomic-related health problems. These changes ultimately
result in increased productivity and substantial savings of
time and money for the employer.
Our services include:
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Providing customized, cost-effective training programs,
including web-based
training |
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Developing and customizing comprehensive life-cycle
ergonomic programs |
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Conducting research in the physical, physiological,
biomechanical, environmental, and cognitive aspects of
ergonomics |
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Assisting companies in providing comments to proposed
ergonomic-related regulations and responding to OSHA violations |
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Providing litigation support for technical issues in
the areas of ergonomics, safety, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) |
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Evaluating patterns, likelihood, and severity of injuries
through epidemiological analysis of injury and accident
data |
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Providing training to increase awareness and to identify
and control potential ergonomic-related hazards in office
and manufacturing settings |
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 Many
businesses have significant liabilities associated with ergonomics,
such as lost time at work or workers' compensation costs.
Workers who repeat the same motion throughout their workday,
conduct their work in an awkward position, use excessive force
to perform their jobs, lift heavy objects repeatedly, work
in adverse environments, or face a combination of these risk
factors are likely candidates to develop ergonomic-related
health problems. Exponent ergonomists apply state-of-the-art
principles and methods to allay these risk factors in the
workplace. Research studies have demonstrated numerous positive
benefits from ergonomic solutions, such as:
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Increased productivity |
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Lower worker turnover |
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Improved health and safety of workers |
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Improved compliance with government regulations
(e.g., recent OSHA developments) |
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Increased work quality |
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Decreased absenteeism |
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Decreased lost work time |
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Increased job satisfaction |
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Lower workers' compensation costs |
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Improved employee morale |
 Exponent
staff conduct case-by-case ergonomic evaluations that may
include the collection of relevant data regarding the workspace
and workers, analysis of these data using scientific and engineering
expertise, recommendation of possible abatements, evaluation
and implementation of abatements, and regular audits. Often,
a client's ergonomic-related problems require the skills of
a multidisciplinary staff to provide a comprehensive solution.
At Exponent, we draw from the scientific and engineering expertise
throughout the firm, including staff with experience in human
factors, biomechanics, environmental science, health science,
epidemiology, medicine, and physics.
Members of Exponent staff have provided ergonomics consulting
for the following industrial sectors:
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Aerospace |
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Furniture manufacturing and distributing |
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Automobile |
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Newspapers |
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Computer chip manufacturing |
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Pharmaceutical |
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Computer peripheral manufacturing |
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Plastics manufacturing |
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Construction trades |
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Railroad |
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Electronic manufacturing |
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Small and large assembly |
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Energy |
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U.S. Government |
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Food processing |
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