2Awareness and Reporting

The Awareness/Reporting component increases the user's knowledge of potentially hazardous

postures. Users may review the information at their own pace, view illustrative examples (typically
photographs), and respond to identified risk factors that apply to their own work environments. The
Awareness/Reporting component produces a risk factor checklist based on the users responses. The
conclusions point to analytic tools that may be applied to help reduce risks posed by potentially
hazardous postures or work conditions.
The content and organization of the material in this component reflects information presented in a
draft of a proposed ergonomic protection standard (Bureau of National Affairs, 1995) prepared by the
U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Specifically,
five signal risk factors help to organize the material into easy to use categories. A large set of Risk
Factors is defined and illustrated within this component. In reviewing this information, users may
indicate aspects of their work environment that involve such risks; this information is collected and
reported back to the user in summary form with recommendations.

Working with the Awareness/Reporting Component

Screen Layout and
Navigation

Awareness/Reporting is divided into five topic areas, as shown in the

topic list in the upper left of the AWARENESS/REPORTING window, as
shown on the following page.
To open the Introduction, Understanding the Problem, Responsibility
and Reporting, Preventing WMSDs, or Recommended Analyses
topics, position the mouse pointer on the topic name and click the
mouse.
The bulk of the material is presented in the section on preventing
work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), which reviews
and illustrates occupational injury hazards.
As each topic is selected, an explanation of the main points appears
beneath the topic list. Use the left/right arrow buttons at the bottom
left of the screen, or left/right arrow keys on the keyboard to move

ErgoEASER

User's Guide

Introductory Awareness/
Reporting Window

through the presentation one page at a time. Or, click and type a
page number directly into the page number box at the bottom of the
screen to go to a specific page.

Understanding the
Problem

Understanding the Problem includes a brief presentation about

WMSDs and their causes.

Responsibility and
Reporting

Responsibility and Reporting discusses the shared responsibility for

understanding ergonomic risks in the workplace, reporting potential
hazards, and implementing changes to eliminate the risks.
Also, this section describes how you can respond to the risk factors
presented in Awareness/Reporting. At this time, you may provide
some job information that the tool will use in keeping track of your
responses. Data will be stored in a specified user file that will
contain information about the user and the daily tasks the user
typically performs. The user and task information are used in the
Preventing WMSDs section, described later in this chapter.
You may wish to save the information that you will provide during
an awareness/reporting session. You may save a session at any time
during your review of the Awareness/Reporting component.

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2Awareness and Reporting

To save a session:
1.

Select the Save Session As menu option from the File pulldown menu.

2.

Provide a filename (no more than eight alphanumeric

characters) for the session. All filenames are automatically
appended with the extension ".usr" (do not type in this
extension yourself; the software does it automatically).

To specify the operator:

or

On page 5 of Awareness/Reporting, click on the

Specify Operator button;
from any page of Awareness/Reporting, select the Operator
Info... option from the File pull-down menu.
The OPERATOR INFORMATION window is then displayed, as shown
below. Tab between the fields as you enter the information on the
form.

Operator Information
Window

After completing the operator information, you may wish to enter

information about the tasks that the operator performs during a
workday. You may specify tasks now (while viewing page 5 of
Awareness/Reporting) by clicking the Specify Tasks button on that
page, or you may define or modify tasks at any time as you review
the risk factors in the Preventing WMSDs section by selecting the
Define Tasks option from the File pull-down menu.

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ErgoEASER

User's Guide

To specify tasks:
1.
2.

Bring up the TASKS window (see previous paragraph), e.g.,

by selecting the Define Tasks option from the File menu.
In the TASKS window, the cursor is positioned in the first
available task name field. Type a short name to identify the
task, then press the Tab key and type its duration.

3.

Tab again or use the mouse to choose an appropriate task

type (VDT Workstation, Lifting, or Other). To indicate task
types, click on the corresponding radio button or press the
space bar on the keyboard. If Lifting is selected, you will
also need to provide information about the heaviest object,
the average weight, and the distance of the object from the
operator during the lift.

4.

When you have completed the entry of task information,

press the Accept button.
The Cancel button closes the TASKS window without
recording the task definitions.

The tasks listed in the TASKS window are available as you review
ergonomic risk factors so that you may report or associate these
tasks with risk factors, as described below. You may also add to the
task list at any time, up to a maximum of eight tasks. You may
delete a task from this list using the Delete Task button, which is
displayed whenever the cursor is within a task name field. The
example below shows the TASKS window with some tasks defined.

Tasks Window with

Example Tasks Defined

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2Awareness and Reporting

Reviewing the
Information in the
Preventing WMSDs
Section

The Preventing WMSDs section is organized according to the five

signal risk factors:

Examples and details about each of the signal risk factors are
available in five corresponding subtopics displayed as tabs. To
review information about one of the signal risk factors, click on the
corresponding tab. An overview page about the signal risk subtopic
will display beneath the tabs in the AWARENESS/REPORTING window.
Each successive page illustrates a specific risk factor associated with
the signal risk factor (a Sample Risk Factor display is shown below).

Sample Risk
Factor Display

The examples shown represent

bad postures or situations (on the
left side of the window) and
improvements or solutions (on the
right side of the window).

The example photos are stored as

individual files on your hard disk. If
these files are missing or have
been moved to a different
directory, a message will be
displayed that no photos are
available. You may install the
photos at any time using the
ErgoEASER installation disks.

A viewer is located at the top right of the AWARENESS/REPORTING

window to display examples (photographs or illustrations) associated
with a risk factor. The number of examples available is displayed
along with left/right arrow buttons to move sequentially through the
examples. If only one example is available, the arrow buttons are
ghosted out and cannot be used.
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ErgoEASER

User's Guide

Associating Tasks With Risks

As you review the risk factors, notice the checkbox below the
viewer, as shown below.

If you have not previously associated any tasks with a given risk
factor, the checkbox will be unchecked. If you have previously
associated one or more tasks with the risk factor, the list of associated tasks is displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, and
an Add Task button is visible.

Reported Task in
Awareness/Reporting
Component

You may have already defined

some tasks in the Responsibility
and Reporting section; here you
may define other tasks or modify
task definitions.

To display the TASKS window for associating a task:

Click on the checkbox (if it has not been previously checked)
or
Click the Add Task button (if the checkbox has already been
checked).
The TASKS window is displayed so that you may add, identify, or
change task(s) that apply to the current risk factor.
The TASKS window now contains two additional columns, displayed
on the left side of the window (see next page). This enables you to
report or associate tasks with the current risk factor. The first
column displays checkboxes for reporting (associating) the task
listed, and the second column displays fields for reporting the
duration of exposure to the current risk factor.
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2Awareness and Reporting

Associating Tasks With Risks

in the Awareness/Reporting
Component
Durations of at least 2 hours are
required to record most risk
factors. Exception: Lifting task
risk factors (in the Lifting Factors
subtopic) do not have minimum
durations.

If the task you wish to report for the current risk factor is not listed,
click in the Task Name field and add it to the list, as described in the
instructions for specifying a task on page 12. For tasks that are
listed, they may be associated with the risk factor as follows.
To associate a listed task with the current risk:
1.

Click on the appropriate checkbox.

2.

Enter the estimated amount of time that the operator is

exposed to the risk factor while performing the task. You
may specify any duration up to the total duration specified for
the task.
You may associate any number of tasks listed in the Tasks
window by clicking on the respective checkboxes and
entering durations of exposure.

3.

To report the associations with the current risk factor, click

the Associate All Checked Tasks with Risks button.
This will dismiss the TASKS window and add the associated
tasks to the list of tasks in the reported list, as shown in the
illustration on page 14.

The task information you provide is compiled and later summarized

in the Recommended Analyses section. In general, only those tasks
that exceed specific minimum durations will be recorded in the
Recommended Analyses section, as determined by the risk factor
checklist (see the section titled The Risk Factor Checklist).

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ErgoEASER

User's Guide

Removing a Task from the Reported Task List

To disassociate a task from a risk factor, click on the task name in
the reported tasks, and then click on the Remove Task button.

Reported Task List with a

Task Selected

Recommended
Analyses

As you review the information in the Preventing WMSD section and

report on tasks that involve the risk factors shown, the information
you provide is collected and organized. You may view the status of
the information collected by displaying the Recommended Analyses.
The Recommended Analyses section of the AWARENESS/REPORTING
window summarizes the information collected about an individual's
work environment (shown below).

Recommended Analyses for

Awareness/Reporting

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2Awareness and Reporting

The Recommended Analyses section comprises one display with two

main elements: A bar chart showing the Risk Factor Checklist
scores and a list of recommended analyses.
Bar Chart
The bar chart (in the upper right corner of the AWARENESS/
REPORTING window example above) indicates the status of the scores
for the Risk Factor Checklist by plotting the total upper and lower
extremity risk scores from the Checklist. If either score exceeds a
threshold of five points, the job is considered a "problem job,"
requiring further ergonomic assessment or possible modification.
The bar chart indicates this by changing the color of the bar from
green to red as the score goes above five points.
You may view a checklist by clicking on one of the checklist buttons
(Upper Extremity, Lower Extremity, or Manual Handling) at
the bottom of the screen. For more information about the Risk
Factor Checklist, refer to the next section.
List of Recommended Analyses
To review the risk factor screen for
a risk factor listed in column 4,
simply click on the name of the risk
factor. The corresponding display
will appear for you to examine the
tasks you identified or the
associated examples.

Summary information is displayed in a scrollable Recommended

Analyses field. The recommended analyses for the reported tasks
are listed here as well as the tasks reported and the associated risk
factors. The recommended analyses (column 1) and the risk factors
(column 4) are displayed in blue text. This denotes a hypertext
capability that enables you to click on the blue word for an immediate response. If you click on a risk factor, for example, the
display will immediately access the associated screen that describes
the selected risk factor. If you click on the analysis name, you will
be able to launch the appropriate analysis. In ErgoEASER Version
1.0, however, only the Lifting Analysis and VDT Workstation
Analysis are available.
Additional information is displayed to help you keep track of the
analyses that you perform. A status column (column 2, labeled
Resolved) is displayed beside the recommended analyses to indicate
whether or not the problem has been solved (applicable only to
Lifting and VDT analyses). Column 5, Analysis Filename,
identifies the filename used to store the analysis. If an associated
analysis has been created and a filename appears in this column, you
may click on the file name to launch the analysis for that task. You
may also click on the blue text No analysis performed to associate
an analysis file with the task.

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ErgoEASER

User's Guide

To launch an analysis from the Awareness and Reporting

module:

The filename includes the

extension .lft, and the program
assumes the default or current
directory path. To change the
directory, click the Directory
button.

1.

Click on the analysis name in column 1. The SETUP LIFTING

ANALYSIS dialogue window is displayed.

2.

Click on the names of the tasks you wish to include in the

analysis.

3.

Enter a filename in the Analysis filename box.

4.

Click the Begin Analysis button.

Setup Lifting Analysis

Dialogue Window

Generating a Report

You may generate a report summarizing the information collected in

the Awareness and Reporting component of ErgoEASER. The
report may be output to a printer or saved to your hard disk for later
use. The report includes information about the operator and tasks
performed, associated risk factors identified, and recommended
analyses.
To produce a report:
1.

18

Select the File pull-down menu, and click on Results. The

REPORT PREVIEW window will be displayed.

2Awareness and Reporting

2.

To print the report, click the Print button.

To output to a file, click the Write to File button.
To dismiss the window without output, click Cancel.

The Risk Factor Checklist

A risk factor checklist, adapted from an OSHA draft of a proposed
ergonomic protection standard (Bureau of National Affairs, 1995)
has been included in ErgoEASER. If you have responded with
potential problem tasks while reviewing the prevention topic area,
the information necessary to complete the Risk Factor Checklist
has already been compiled. You may then view the completed
checklist in either of two ways:
1.

Select the Risk Factor Checklist menu option in the Window

pull-down menu and choose one of the three checklist options
from the pop-up menu,
or

2.

Click one of the three checklist buttons at the bottom of the

Conclusions display in the Awareness/Reporting component.

Examples of these checklists (the Upper Extremity Table, the Lower

Extremity Table, and Manual Handling Table) are shown on the next
two pages as they appear on screen.
The Risk Factor Checklist scores
are computed automatically. In
general, a minimum threshold
(duration exposure to the risk
factor) is required before a
minimum risk score of 1 is added
to the table. Therefore, the tables
only change when the threshold is
exceeded.

Each row of a checklist table corresponds to a risk factor described

in the Preventing WMSDs section. As you respond to risk factors in
the Awareness/Reporting section, the information you provide is
applied to the corresponding row(s) of the Risk Factor Checklist.
To print the checklist(s):
1.

Select the Print Checklists option from the File pull-down

menu. A second pop-up menu will appear.

2.

Choose the button for All Checklists, Upper Extremity

Table, Lower Extremity Table, or Manual Handling
Table.

The designated checklist(s) will be printed.

From each of the Checklist tables,

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ErgoEASER

you may review risk factor

information corresponding to a row
of the table. Click on the
description of the risk factor, and
the appropriate display will be
shown for review. Use the
Window pull-down menu to go
back to the Checklist.

A Sample Upper Extremity

Checklist Window

A Sample Lower Extremity

Checklist Window

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User's Guide

2Awareness and Reporting

A Sample Manual Handling

Checklist Window

The total score of the Manual

Handling Checklist is entered in
the last line of the Lower Extremity
Checklist.

Resources
OSHA Draft Proposed Ergonomic Protection Standard. BNA
Reporter Special Supplement, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National
Affairs, Inc. March 22, 1995, Pp. S-56 to S-61.

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