Employees at U-M-Flint’s Department of Environment Health and Safety have a lot less trouble transporting heavy equipment with the purchase of a Tommy Lift Gate attached to the back of a facilities management truck.
The purchase, made possible by a grant sponsored by the MHealthy Ergonomics Awareness program, allows employees to easily move heavy objects like lawnmowers and large cleaning machines that used to require a ramp for transportation.
In support of National Ergonomics Month, Ergonomics Awareness will launch its third annual grants and awards program Oct. 1. The program accepts grant applications for projects until Oct. 31.
“The main goal of the program is to collaborate with departments on the campuses to improve the health and safety of as many University employees as possible,” says Suzanne Bade, chairperson of the MHealthy ergonomics team. “The program has generated a lot of improvements on the campuses.”
Ergonomics is the study of people, the work they do and the environment in which they work, as well as the effort to improve the safety of employees in their workplaces. The Ergonomics Awareness program is part of the larger MHealthy Universitywide effort to encourage healthier living through increased physical activity, attention to safety in the workplace, and promoting nutritional, mental and emotional health.
The program received requests for more than a half-million dollars from 50 different departments in each of the last two years. Last year the program awarded $45,000 to units in need of funds and recognized many departments in their efforts to improve the working health and safety of their employees. In addition, funding increased through many departments matching the ergo program contribution.
For prospective projects, the Ergo Grant Incentive will award up to $10,000 for departments to train staff members, purchase the necessary equipment or redesign work processes to improve employee comfort and safety. Applicants will be judged on the significance of the ergonomic issue, the project’s feasibility and the anticipated outcome.
In addition, projects implemented from July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008, are eligible for the Effective Ergonomics Solutions Award. Multiple departments on U-M campuses have received these awards in the past two years.
Nominations for the awards and applications for the grants can be submitted through the program’s Web site, www.hr.umich.edu/mhealthy/improve/ergoindex.html. Recipients will be announced in 2009.
The program uses its Web site to spread the knowledge of ergonomics while offering several comprehensive self-help tutorials and contact information for ergonomics specialists at the University.
“The easiest thing one can do to quickly improve their work environment is to review one of the online tutorials,” Bade says.
The tutorials aim to improve areas all around campus, from the typical office environment and laboratories to hospitals and stockrooms, and the trades. The site also offers several testimonials of past implementations and improvements. While some solutions include buying products, Bade says improvements often can be made “using what is already at the worksite.”
For more information on this and other MHealthy programs go to www.mhealthy.umich.edu.
