How to conduct an ergonomic assessment for home care

Ergonomics is the science of how a work space and the equipment used in that space can best be designed for comfort, efficiency, and safety. No, you don’t have to be an ergonomic specialist to conduct an ergonomic assessment.

Ergonomics is about fitting the equipment to the patient and caregiver. An ergonomic assessment takes all relevant task limitations into consideration when conducting an evaluation, including all relevant physical, psychological and environmental factors. Remember, the objective is two-fold: To prevent injuries to the caregiver and to ensure the long-term safety, comfort and satisfaction of the patient.

The objective of conducting the assessment is to guide you toward an optimal match-up between the patient, caregiver, equipment, and the environment. Following are the principal criteria you should use in conducting the assessment:

• CaregiverTasks
• Force (time of task, weight, distance moved)
• Repetition (how often is action/task repeated)
• Posture (position of body with and without lift equipment)
• Load (force application on individual body parts)
• Ambient Environment
• Available work space (curtain configuration, equipment turning radius, etc...)
• Lighting
• Ancillary equipment
• Environmental factors (floors, screens, furniture, thresholds, etc...)
• Infection Control
• Identification of caregiver cumulative load, fatigue, potential for injury
• Caregiver's "Process Procedures"
• Individual steps (actions of the caregiver before, during and after a lift/transfer)
• Assistive personnel (actions assigned to a secondary caregiver)
• Patient Profile
• Number and type of transfers per day
• Patient weight and body type
• Patient acuity, rehabilitative needs, etc
• Medical conditions

Recommendation: Once you have completed the assessment, contact your lift equipment supplier to take the next step – namely selection of the type of lift and slings necessary to accomplish your objectives.