Office & Call Center Ergonomics

OFFICE & CALL CENTER ERGONOMICS

WA3	Evaluating and Purchasing Office Equipment Blake McGowan, Humantech Wednesday, May 30th 8:00AM - 9:15AM Whether you are equipping new office workstations or modifying your existing offices, this session will help you identify and select products based on the wide-ranging needs of employees in your organization. Attendees will find out how to assess whether furniture, equipment, and accessories are truly ergonomically designed, and how to make educated buying decisions. You'll learn effective approaches for testing products, selecting vendors and managing the purchasing process including: How to use ergonomic risk factors as a basis for product purchase decisions Understand the link between product design and usability Maximize the ROI of your ergonomics product investments.	BASIC This session will address issues related to the aging workforce.
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WB3	Google Case Study: Ergonomics Best Practices for Call Centers & Offices Kevin Costello, United States Ergonomics Laura Gimpel, Google Wednesday, May 30th 9:30AM - 10:45AM Google was recently named “The best company to work for” by Fortune magazine. The numerous perks at Google include an active ergonomics program that combines workplace design, individual evaluations, and treatment measures. Starting with an examination of best practices in office ergonomics, this session will identify the methodologies and technologies used to provide employees with support and a way to track ergonomics program efforts. A discussion of some common challenges experienced at Google will be explored, including: Extended hours of computer use Multiple computer screens used by each employee Multi-media applications Call center environments Transient workers and frequent new hires and employee relocation.	ALL LEVELS This session will address issues related to the aging workforce.
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WC3	Successful Methods for Reducing Workers' Comp Costs: General Mills Case Study Michael Melnik, Prevention Plus Andrew Wood, General Mills Wednesday, May 30th 2:15AM - 3:30PM Reducing musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace requires a four tier approach. The first is to educate employees and supervisors in musculoskeletal injury prevention concepts. Next you must provide ergonomic design principles and tools to minimize the risk of injury. Then a company must offer comprehensive health promotion and wellness services to offset and enhance the tools being used. And, finally, effectively address injuries when they occur. This session will show you how General Mills has effectively combined these four strategies and other innovative concepts to create a safe, healthy and productive workplace.	INTERMEDIATE / ADVANCED
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WD3	Ergonomics for Small Offices, Home Offices & Traveling Workers Cindy Roth, Ergonomic Technology Corporation Wednesday, May 30th 3:45PM - 5:00PM Workers in small and home office settings, as well as those that engage in frequent business-related travel, or those that travel to multiple office sites for your organization present unique ergonomics challenges. Attendees will learn to recognize and address commonly overlooked ergonomics and safety concerns in these non-traditional work situations. For small and home office environments, the focus will be on low-cost adjustments for desktop computer users, and how to communicate these fixes to remote employees. For traveling workers the focus will be on identifying the risks associated with carrying and using a laptop computer, handheld input devices including smartphones like BlackBerry®, and cell phones. You will leave this session with the ability to: Identify ergonomics risk factors in a variety of workplace situations Communicate risks and solutions to remote employees.	BASIC / INTERMEDIATE
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TA3	Visual Ergonomics and an Aging Workforce Jeffrey R. Anshel, Corporate Vision Consulting Thursday, May 31st 8:00AM - 9:15AM It is estimated that the percentage of workers 55 years old or older by 2012 will be about 21.2%. This signals a need to explore the affects prolonged computer use will have on older workers. As the computer continually ingrains itself in our everyday life, we need to continually evaluate the physical effects of extensive computer use. Much has been discussed and researched on musculoskeletal disorders, but the visual stress associated with computer use is just now being addressed. This session is designed to give participants an awareness and knowledge of the area of visual function and its role in workplace productivity. This session will provide strategies to: Evaluate the visual risk factors that affect older workers who spend extended periods using computers Examine the various visual conditions that arise as a result of aging Understand how the visual system changes with age and how it affects computer users Learn how to troubleshoot visual ergonomic issues for the aging worker.	BASIC / INTERMEDIATE This session will address issues related to the aging workforce.
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TB3	Lockheed Martin Adaptive Information Technology & Employee Accommodation Kevin Dykema, Lockheed Martin - Enterprise Information Systems Division (EIS) Thursday, May 31st 9:30AM - 10:45PM Lockheed Martin has created the Adaptive Information Technology Center of Excellence (ADIT) which supports employees requiring ADA and age-related computer and telecommunications accommodations. ADIT’s online database captures in a single repository, information related to successful accommodations for use by other employees needing adaptive tools. Where tools have not already been identified, the ADIT testbed, in cooperation with the University of Central Florida, provides testing and evaluation of new products. Attend this session and hear how Lockheed Martin is successfully improving the comfort and productivity of its diverse workforce.	BASIC / INTERMEDIATE This session will address issues related to the aging workforce.
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TC3	Proven Strategies for Reducing Recordable Injuries Petti Redding, Pride Wellness Systems, Inc. Thursday, May 31st 2:15PM - 3:30PM Attend this practical session and find out how one company went from 472 lost workdays to zero lost days using these principles of injury prevention. Typically, when employees experience pain, the ergonomics team performs an assessment, and then orders equipment. Often the pain continues, and the employee is sent to a physician, leading to a recordable injury. Attendees will learn how to prevent this, even among older workers, via new techniques to educate and guide employees in resolving pain. Attendees will learn how to implement a program that will result in a 95% reduction of CTD injuries by being able to: Understand physical capacity, referred pain, and structural integrity of the body Address the human perspective and involve employees in identifying the root causes of ergonomics related injuries Implement, maintain, track and evaluate the efficiency and success of an injury prevention program.	INTERMEDIATE
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The National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition and the Eastern Ergonomics Conference are owned and managed by Continental Exhibitions, Inc.
For more information contact Walter Charnizon, President, at Continental Exhibitions, Inc., 370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017,
Phone 212-370-5005, Fax 212-370-5699, E-mail information@ergoexpo.com