Don’t miss your opportunity to learn from our experts!
Panel Discussion: Virtual motion capture and assessments: Let’s hear from vendors!
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 26 at 8:00 a.m.
Panelist: Blake McGowan, CPE, Solution Executive, VelocityEHS
Description: Two years ago, our master track panelists related Beta testing, strengths, and limitations of virtual motion capture and assessments. Last year, practitioners discussed their experience using the technology to capture video, upload into the system and how the assessments were being used. This year, the Master Track will open with comments from leading academicians and practitioners then move into vendors addressing challenges they face, current technology gains and what the future holds. This session is not to be missed.
Through an Ergonomist’s Eyes: Scaling Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk Solutions with Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 26 at 11:00 a.m.
Presenter: Ben Taft, CPE, Associate Director, Product Management, VelocityEHS
Description: In recent years, there has been a surge in software-based MSD risk assessment tools. Simultaneously, advances in AI, Machine Learning, and Computer Vision have enabled these tools to achieve previously unattainable levels of accuracy and utility for organizations seeking to measure and mitigate MSD risk across their workforce. Collaborating with the University of Michigan and other partners, the VelocityEHS Machine Learning team has developed and is now implementing a purpose-built model. It will enhance automation and simplify the process for non-expert ergonomics team members to conduct job assessments and achieve expert-level results at scale.
During this presentation, VelocityEHS Associate Director of Product Management Ben Taft will delve into the development and deployment of cutting-edge Machine Learning and Computer Vision technology. Attendees will understand how the technology empowers organizations to expand and gain meaningful results from their ergonomics programs.
Communicating the Value of Ergonomics to Business Stakeholders
Date and Time: Tuesday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m.
Presenter: Blake McGowan, CPE, Solution Executive, VelocityEHS
Description: Ergonomics is the science of designing the workplace to match people’s capabilities. When done right, two primary outcomes result–improved employee well-being and enhanced business performance. Sadly, business stakeholders tend to have a limited awareness of these benefits because it is generally not communicated effectively. Data can help. It is the primary language among the c-suite. It gives visibility to the connections between ergonomics and overall outcomes, including employee absenteeism, voluntary turnover, recordable injuries, and worker’s compensation claim costs. It also impacts product quality, manufacturing performance, stock performance and corporate social responsibility. During this presentation, attendees will learn the language and metrics to use when communicating with stakeholders.
Applying Quality Improvement Tools for Problem Solving in Ergonomics
Date and Time: Wednesday, March 27 at 3:30 p.m.
Presenters: Rick Barker, CPE, CSP, Principal Solutions Strategy, VelocityEHS and Jaclyn Faraci, AEP, ASP, Solutions Consultant, VelocityEHS
Description: Current safety management systems, like ISO 45001 and ANSI Z10, are based on well-established quality management systems. Studying quality management can provide useful insights into methods for better ergonomics programs. Quality experts have developed and refined an extensive array of problem-solving tools, yet only a few of these are routinely used, such as:
• Fishbone diagram
• Affinity diagram
• Force field analysis
• Interrelationship Digraph
• Prioritization Matrix
• Storyboarding (A3)
• Process map
This session will provide examples of tools that have been used from a variety of industrial settings, and tips on which tool is most useful when and the limitations of each.
Panel Discussion: Physical Demands Analysis: A Key Driver to Organizational Health and Safety
Date and Time: Thursday, March 28 at 8:00 a.m.
Presenters: Rick Barker, CPE, CSP, Principal Solutions Strategy, VelocityEHS, James Rethaber, Vice President – Technical Operations, Fit For Work, Wendy Chelette, Director of Testing, Fit For Work and Patrick O’Connor, VP Business Development at WorkSTEPS
Description: If the past has taught us anything, it’s that businesses need to be more agile and able to respond to our constantly changing world. This determines the health of an organization. Still, many EHS leaders remain haunted by the ghosts of EHS management’s past—struggling with reactive tasks (like incident investigations) rather than proactive ones like implementing a robust Physical Demands Analysis (PDA) program. Shifting focus to a proactive approach for managing an organization’s health and safety not only maintains a healthier, more productive workforce but ultimately saves significantly on both direct and indirect costs of workplace injuries. This panel discussion will provide perspectives on:
• How Physical Demands Analysis can be a powerful tool for preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and managing the costs when MSDs occur.
• Why PDAs are most effective when integrated into a larger ergonomics process and examples of achieving that integration.
Our Ergonomics Assessment is Done. Now What?
Date and Time: Thursday, March 28 at 8:30 a.m.
Presenter: Josiah Allen, CPE, Senior Solution Consultant, VelocityEHS
Description: Organizations can conduct hundreds of musculoskeletal disorder risk (MSD) assessments and collect thousands of data points, but if you don’t have a system in place to translate that data to implement workplace improvements then all you have are a collection of numbers on a page. The overall goal of most ergonomics programs is to reduce employee injuries and to improve employee wellbeing and performance. Completing MSD risk assessments is just one small step towards achieving that goal. The next step is using that data to drive outcomes. Having an ergonomics management system is what the successful teams have that the unsuccessful don’t. It’s the foundation of the job improvement cycle. It’s the answer to the “Now What?”
VelocityEHS is proud to be a sponsor of the Applied Ergonomics Conference!
Venue
Join us in Louisville at the Kentucky International Convention Center!