A word from the Newsletter Editor
Tēnā koutou katoa
Welcome to our Spring newsletter and happy Labour Day to our members.
Please send any information or news that you would like included in the next edition to gwandkg@gmail.com, news@hfesnz.org.nz or admin@hfesnz.org.nz
Ngā mihi nui
Karen Goodfellow, HFESNZ Editor
In this newsletter
- From the President
- Membership
- Professional Affairs Board
- HASANZ
- Special Interest Groups/Webinar
- IEA News
- General News
A word from the Chair
Kia ora koutou, talofa lava
I hope you are all well and thanks for tuning in to our October newsletter.
A few updates:
- HFESNZ are currently looking at accreditation requirements or criteria for joining HASANZ. Our wonderful HASANZ reps Hamish and Vanessa will provide more details once more information comes to light. Watch this space.
- Thank you to Fiona for organising the HFESNZ workshop at Fisher & Paykel in September. I understand it was a great success. These events are a wonderful opportunity to showcase the amazing research done within Aotearoa. More importantly, it allows us to uncover likeminded individuals with a human factors or ergonomics interest. If you meet any of these individuals, please refer them HFESNZ to help create our community of interest.
- In September, Selena Armstrong from NZISM invited me to present a webinar to their NZISM members. The presentation focused on our society, and how they (NZISM and safety professionals) can best utilise ergonomists (HFESNZ) in New Zealand. Despite some minor technical glitches, the presentation was a success. NZISM are open to having more of us (HFESNZ members) present our work on their platforms and vice versa.
- Several of our members will soon be involved in a software validation trial for the Etiscope system. The Etiscope system designed to assess manual handling risks in the workplace using sensors/accelerometers. Dr Forbes Smith (Joint Actions Solutions now renamed Etiscope) provided a demonstration of the product at the conference in Queenstown and is looking forward to hearing what kiwi ergonomists think about their system. If you know of similar opportunities to test or evaluate tools for our profession, please let HFESNZ know so we can spread the word. To see what it looks like visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkX9ODuy3X0
- November 16-17, NZISM are holding a joint event with ISO called ISO: TC199 Safety of Machinery. The event will be held in Auckland. If you are keen to attend, please see the following link https://www.nzism.org/book/nIXqz2GxvT37VpL7UsKSDF65/
- On November 6, the Open Change Agency are running a 1 day workshop in Wellington called ‘Safety re-crafted’. The workshop will attempt to address the question “How can we create health and safety practices that work for everyone?” If you are interested in attending please visit https://www.openchange.agency/events/p/safety-re-crafted.
Finally, as seen in the media over the past few months, there have been a few reports of restructures or job cuts all over the motu. This has affected people from tertiary institutions, consultancies, healthcare, and government departments to name a few. Several of our people (HFESNZ members) have been affected by this either directly or indirectly. On behalf of the society, to those affected, kia kaha we stand with you, and we are thinking of you. If you know anyone who is affected, please reach out, offer your support or just ‘check in’ if they are ok. If you are affected, please let me know if there is anything I, or the society can do support you (in-confidence).
Lastly, congratulations to our members who have started new roles over the last few months. Your win is a win for us all. Well done and please continue to fly the flag for HFESNZ.
Till next time look after one another and mostly importantly – yourself!
Tofa soifua
Steve
Membership Upate
There are still a number of outstanding member renewal invoices. I will be emailing out statements next week and if you could please get in touch with admin@hfesnz.org.nz to let us know when you will get the invoices paid. Thanks!
We have welcomed one new member to the Society since our last newsletter.
- Lerato Mambolo
- Jackie Heapy
- Ethan Cook
Update from PAB
The PAB meet on the 11th of October. We reviewed and approved three recertifications and one new application to become a Certified Member. The depth and variety of knowledge, skills and experience that was evidenced was great to see. We would like to say congratulations and welcome to HFESNZ to our newest Certified Member, Dan Nathan-Roberts.
The date for our next PAB meeting have yet to be confirmed but will likely be in early February 2024.
For all professional members please keep an eye on your inbox, the vote on possible membership changes will be sent out in the coming weeks. Your feedback is important, so if you want to have your say please take the time to vote.
Professional Membership enquires please contact the Convenor at profmember@hfesnz.org.nz. Please note, all material must be sent to the Convenor at least 3 weeks beforehand as the assessors need time to read the material before the meeting.
Leanne Hunter
Convenor PAB
HASANZ Update
Vanessa has taken on the role of the HASANZ representative, while Hamish remains on the Governance Board. Vanessa reports that HASANZ is in the early phase of reviewing its processes, particularly to the HASANZ register. Vanessa will continue to advocate for HFE while representing HFESNZ and will keep us informed throughout this ongoing review process.
Special Interest Group
Healthcare
The Healthcare SIG was fortunate to have Dr Shanqing Yin (also known as SQ) present on two occasions in the past month, first an online webinar and secondly an in-person workshop. SQ is assistant director, Human Factors & Systems Design, at KK Women’s & Children’s Hospital Singapore and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Duke-Nus Medical School. SQ also leads the patient safety curriculum at the Duke-NUS Medical School, and is also an active faculty member with the SingHealth Duke-NUS institute of Medical simulation (SIMS).
Webinar
SQ presented on the topic Healthcare Human Factors: Past, Present & Foreseeable Future and provided an overview of Singapore’s ongoing experience in adopting human factors principles and methodologies within the local healthcare systems and highlighted specific examples that ranged from site-specific efforts to nationwide initiatives. 16 members attended.
Workshop
The topic was Automation Use, Misuse, Disuse, Abuse at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. Thank you to our SIG member, Dr Alex Payne who completed the necessary steps to make it happen. SQ’s presentation covered the functional role of automation as a team member, problems relating to human-automation and key considerations before implementing automation. It was a well delivered workshop which provided interesting insights into how AI is being integrated into work systems. It was attended by approximately 25-30.
Photos from the workshop at Fisher & Paykel are: Alex Payne and SQ. Dan-Nathan Roberts, SQ, Alex Payne, Fiona Trevelyan and Mark Boocock.
International Ergonomics Association
For more information and to register, click here.
General news
CIEHF
Student areas of research are always of interest and there are good crop in the latest ‘Think’ from the Charted Institute Ergonomics Human Factors. A pilot health monitor, a wearable wellbeing device for women who have had a caesarean section and a high-tech pet to reduce anxiety are just some of the product designs unveiled this year by students at Brunel University London.
The products also include a device to help people with Parkinson’s disease keep walking when their legs freeze. Inventor Jon Fisher created the Peter wearable device for his father, who has the condition. He said: "While Parkinson's is often characterised by shaking, freezing of gait is one of its most common symptoms. Freezing causes individuals‘ legs to become randomly stuck walking, gluing their foot to the floor.
“Amazingly, it can be solved by playing rhythms that shift their attention to moving, helping them focus on their next steps. By applying bone conduction technology, the device plays audible cues through the user's collarbone, providing a comfortable necklace design that anyone can wear. This unique application allows users to hear the rhythms and their environment simultaneously, increasing their awareness. An integrated motion sensor clips to any shoe, ensuring an audible beat is immediately presented only when freezing episodes occur.”
This is a wonderful read and as always the students enthusiasm motivating innovation. You will find all the articles from the latest editions here.
On November 6, the Open Change Agency are running a 1 day workshop in Wellington called ‘Safety re-crafted’. The workshop will attempt to address the question “How can we create health and safety practices that work for everyone?” If you are interested in attending please visit https://www.openchange.agency/events/p/safety-re-crafted
Ngā mihi
