Backster and EZ-Stick at AEC

My brother, Rich, is at the Applied Ergonomics Conference in New Orleans this week. While there he has the chance to show off a couple of ergo tools that we've been working on together.

One is Backster,? is a hands-on tool to help educators and safety professionals demonstrate the impact of lifting on low back forces and subsequent risk for injury. Students and employees are able to see for themselves the drastic changes in low back forces resulting from different postures and load positioning. Seeing real world changes on a scale that measures "back muscle force" makes the case for the importance of proper lifting technique in a way that is often missed with more complex discussions of free body diagrams and moment arms. Rich first conceived of the idea for Backster? years ago while at the University of Utah. A few years ago, he built a prototype and has used Backster? in the classroom. Recently, he is introducing him to a larger audience at the AEC. Here is a short one minute introduction to Backster?

For more about Backster?https://www.sesekworld.com/backster

The other tool is the EZ-Stick. The EZ-Stick? is the Elbow Zone Stick, a simple ergonomic tool to allow safety professionals to quickly evaluate workplace tasks. The adjustable stick allows you to quickly evaluate various tasks based on the height of the individuals performing those tasks. Similar sticks have been around for some time, but they take a "one size fits all" approach. The EZ-Stick?allows for customization to the height of individual workers, while still requiring only a single stick.

Our friend Murray Gibson from Saturn Ergonomics with an EZ-Stick prototype at the Applied Ergonomics conference in New Orleans. Murray was kind enough to give Backster? a prominent place to greet visitors at AEC.

For more about EZ-Stick?https://www.sesekworld.com/ez-stick