The Views of Workers
In 2022, the HFESNZ surveyed the views of workers across a broad range of industries concerning to what extent Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) is considered in the workplace.
They were asked questions concerning physical ergonomics, fatigue and wellbeing, psychosocial harm and culture, workplace design and organisational aspects.
So below is a summary of what we are hearing from your workforce:
“How about we make the task more doable for anyone of any height or gender or strength.”
“non-compliant equipment is used”
“My organisation is aware but does very little to mitigate stress, workload, cultural differences, poor communication”
“Blanket "mental health" general discussions nothing in depth or really integrated (a little)”
“No thought given to neurodiverse workforce”.
“… lack of safety precautions for staff against violence”.
“… overloaded vehicles are common”.
The HFE industry understands that many organisations have constraints. However, the cost impacts of these statements becoming apparent in the aftermath of an incident far outweighs the initial investment that can be made to ensure your work environments is worker-centric.
The comments above focus on regulation, equipment, rules, culture, and co-workers which become a system of elements the worker must manage as well as doing their job. Thinking about the broader system is a core competency of HFE professionals.
You can find out more about Systems Thinking here.