Introducing the ‘Ergo Wellness’ Trifecta

[Welcome to Issue #5 of Cultivating Vibrant Workplaces. In this issue, I have the honor of profiling my interview with Pamela Dempster (a graduate and program trainer of our Workplace Wellness Ambassador Certification series) that will be featured in our forthcoming book,?Cultivating Healthy & Vibrant Workplaces. We hope you find it enlightening!]

Ergonomics/Human Factors have never been more important to employee well-being than during the pandemic since social distancing measures kicked off a wide implementation of remote working. Many of us can probably still recall the memes of employees working on laptops from their ironing boards. While this may be a bit of an exaggerated reality, it was not far from the truth.

As you will discover from my interview with Pamela Dempster, a graduate of our programs; WWCOE faculty member/instructor; a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist (CCPE)/Corporate Health & Wellness Specialist; and Owner of Dempster Wellness, Ergonomics/Human Factors play a far bigger role in the health and wellness of employees than most realize. (1)

If you ever have the privilege of meeting or working with Pamela, the first thing you will notice is the profound passion she has for her work as a Certified Professional Ergonomist. Her eyes and spirit light up when presenting to our Level 1 Program participants on the importance of Ergonomics/Human Factors in employee wellness programs and the opportunities for them to serve and support employees and organizations as Ergo-Wellness Champions.?

Pam had this to say when asked about the aspects of her work that bring her the most joy. “After 25 years of doing this type of work, it really does come down to being able to help individuals who may be struggling with chronic pain and medical conditions, where workspaces/work tasks/work environments or even unhealthy work cultures may be contributing factors to discomforts. It’s being that “helping link” that gets me up and going every morning, to get out there and help people and organizations as their Ergonomist and Corporate Wellness Specialist.”?

Helping employees reclaim their wellness and productivity. When asked to reflect on a client who perhaps experienced a significant turnaround from undergoing the Ergonomic/Human Factors process with Pamela, she commented that many came to mind. Clients who had relied on pain meds and years of healing modalities, such as massage therapy, to function at work, now—with minor or significant adjustments to their work behaviors and ergonomic workstation modifications—were able to regain their health and wellness while improving their productivity and work performance.

Pamela shared a recent experience that occurred during a follow-up meeting (taking place after her ergonomic recommendations had been implemented and orientation/training provided to an employee.) The employee was literally in tears during the meeting and could not thank Pamela enough for the work, health and life impacts brought about by her Ergonomic recommendations. The employee shared, “Pam, I don't have words to express how you've made my very sore body feel. Within three months of working with you and getting situated at the new workstation you designed for me, my body, which had been so tense and painful for several years, is finally hitting a “resting phase”. I was so close to having to go on short-term disability but thanks to you and your ergonomic process I am able to continue working and am feeling better than ever.”

Heartened by this story, and curious to learn more, I asked Pamela if there was anything specific that she did to help mitigate this employee’s pain and enhance her work abilities. Pamela shared that there was no single recommendation or work modification; rather, it was due to the HOLISTIC approach with which she engages.

Introducing the Ergo-Wellness Trifecta. Pamela explained that she takes a holistic approach as a Certified Professional Ergonomist and with the Ergo-Wellness services offered at Dempster Wellness. (The latter is a term first introduced to me by Pamela during our Level 1 program, and it’s one that she continues to use and promote to describe the importance of connecting/aligning the fields of Ergonomics and Wellness in order to achieve total worker wellness.) Here, the Ergo-Wellness approach and offerings incorporate all three domains of Ergonomics/Human Factors: Physical, Cognitive and Organizational. This is where our conversation really got interesting for me as a Workplace Wellness program trainer and consultant.

She elaborated that “when people think of Ergonomics, they tend to only think about workstation adjustments such as lowering monitors or adjusting keyboard trays or ergonomic office chairs."

Don't get me wrong, that all works and is needed, however that is just one aspect of Ergonomics/Human Factors, that being the Physical Domain of Ergonomics. When I work with clients, I'm not just coming in and looking at their chairs and workstations. Rather, I work constantly within all three Domains when conducting my Ergonomic services. In my initial meetings with employees, to get a full picture of their issues, I capture in detail their full medical history, current discomfort, how long they've been experiencing issues, and what's happening in their home as a parent or caregiver for example—these illustrate the HUMAN FACTORS side of Ergonomics—that provide me with critical information. Through comprehensive assessment and data collection, I also review, in detail, their job requirements and break down with them every specific task they have to perform in their work and workspaces, collecting Anthropometric (body) measurements, assessing in detail the existing seating product, sketching out in detail the existing workstation/furniture product, and capturing all measurements related to the office furniture as well as detailed photos of all seating, furniture and workspace. It is a very time-consuming process—but a crucial one.”?

To provide a little more context to the three Ergonomic domains, I learned from Pamela (and some additional research) that the Physical domain is primarily “concerned with human anatomical, anthropometric, physiological and biomechanical characteristics relating to employee physical activities.” (2) In other words, this is the seating/chair, workstation, body positioning aspects of Ergonomics with which most people are very familiar.

The Cognitive Domain of Ergonomics is concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements of a system. These include topics and issues such as “mental workload, decision-making, skilled performance, human-computer interaction, human reliability, work stress, and training as it is related to human-system design.” (3) Involving this domain in her assessments, she garners a better understanding of the client’s life stressors as well as work stressors. Employees don’t “turn off” their stressors from outside of work once they walk through the corporate doors. Life stressors are with us wherever we go. For example, employees may be happy with their jobs but overwhelmed (both mentally and physically) outside of work with other life responsibilities such as caring for an elderly parent or a sick child, or dealing with divorce, financial stress, and other challenges. These situations can and do impact the overall health and well-being of employees and have to be incorporated within the Ergonomics/Wellness (Ergo-Wellness) assessment for the ergonomic process to be truly successful.

The Organizational Domain is “concerned with the optimization of socio-technical systems, including organizational structures, policies, and processes” or what we often refer to as cultural attributes or artifacts. Topics and issues include, “communication, crew resource management, work design, design of working times, teamwork, participatory design, community ergonomics, cooperative work, new work paradigms, and virtual organizations.” (4) This is also known as an organization’s work culture, and it can impact the success of Ergonomic/Wellness recommendations/solutions.

Aligning Ergo-Wellness with the 'Total Worker Health' model (NIOSH).??A concept and framework that we address with students in our WWCOE Level 1 certification program, and that’s very much at play in Pamela’s work, is that of the 'Total Worker Health' (TWH) model created by NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety in the US). This model promotes an integration of policies, programs/services, and practices for a holistic approach to organizational and employee health and wellness with a particular focus on work-related safety, health hazards and injury and illness prevention. (5)

In contrast to traditional Occupational Health and Safety programs that primarily focus on worker safety, the?TWH model fosters integrated solutions that collectively address worker safety, health, and wellness/well-being (i.e., healthy work design, employee training and development, injury, and illness prevention efforts) to advance the overall well-being of workers. As a practitioner, Pamela also noticed 'gaps' within several organizations she has worked with over the years, each of which impacted employee overall health and wellness, regardless of the health and wellness services being offered within the workplace.

The TWH model promotes consolidating smaller departments into one large program, collectively called Health Protection and Promotion. The goal of the unified departments is the same: to protect and enhance the health and wellness of its employees. So why shouldn’t they collaborate as one large program/committee??This TWH focus exemplifies the heart and soul of Dempster Wellness, and this exact design is continuously recommended and promoted by Pamela and her Associate Team.

The TWH model also recognizes and promotes the following job-related factors as being key 'social determinants of health.' NIOSH thus encourages due consideration by organizations and wellness leaders of the following factors and their impact on personal wellness and organizational culture: wages, work hours, workload, interactions with coworkers and supervisors,?and access to paid leave. It suggests that each impacts the well-being of workers, their families, and their communities, to name a few. (6)

Furthermore, the TWH framework aligns nicely with and reinforces the 13 factors outlined in the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace?(the Standard) as introduced and discussed in other profiles in our forthcoming book. (7)

Partnering to support remote employees. I am a big advocate of program partnerships among our graduates. To this end, Pamela partnered with Ruvi Makuni, another one of our graduates. Combining their talents and areas of expertise, they co-developed and co-facilitated two virtual offerings: a Work from Home Program and a Strengthen Your Spinal Health Workshop. The combined goals of these wellness-enhancing programs were to help illuminate simple strategies to work safely in the office or home-based workspaces and to provide group coaching on lifestyle habits that help prevent musculoskeletal aches and pains. Topics included cost-effective ways to invite holistic ergonomics and wellness into one’s home and office workspace; keys to setting up a safe, efficient space, and establishing a comfortable workspace to avoid or reduce back pain from extended sitting; and stretching and body mechanic recommendations to finish each day free of pain.

Learning about Pamela and her Associate Team’s dedication to their clients and the transitioning of their services to include virtual offerings throughout the pandemic, was truly inspiring.?Pamela’s ingenuity, talents, and enthusiasm for her work became abundantly apparent. Most notable for me was her ability to adapt her Ergonomic Services and Ergo Wellness Champion Course for online delivery to proactively support employee wellness needs, mitigate undue pain and downtime, and facilitate healthy, safe, productive, and high performing work cultures.

Here's what we are working on for you...

The Workplace Wellness Centre of Excellence will be piloting a?Leader Turned Coach Course?this June to help leaders of all levels (including Workplace Wellness professionals) acquire and amplify employee-centered coaching skills to support employee well-being, performance, and development in both virtual and onsite work environments. Join our?VIP list?to be notified of future offerings!

Sign up for our?Book Registry?today to receive notifications of our summer 2022 book launch and special promotional offers!

Also, be watching for future 'Cultivating Vibrant Workplaces' newsletters featuring other previews from our forthcoming book, 'Cultivating Healthy & Vibrant Workplaces,' and future CHVW Podcast (WWCOE YouTube channel).

Sources:

1. Pamela Dempster, Certified Professional Ergonomist/Corporate Health & Wellness Specialist/Owner of Dempster Wellness. Interview with author, Sept. 20, 2021.

2. Matt Middlesworth, “Ergonomics 101: The Definitions, Domains and Applications of Ergonomics,” ERgoplus, March 7, 2021, accessed January 28, 2022, https://ergo-plus.com/ergonomics-definition-domains-applications/.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, “NIOSH Total Worker Health Program,” accessed January 28, 2022, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/default.html.

6. Ibid.

7. Mental Health Commission of Canada, “National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace Video Facilitator’s Guide.” Mental Health Commission, accessed on January 28, 2022, https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/wp-content/uploads/drupal/2017-02/Workplace%20Videos%20Facilitator%20Guide_ENG.pdf.

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