A Bay Area business in Oakland's Northern California San Francisco Bay Area found themselves wanted to analyze productivity and improve upon the robustness of their current process, worker efficiencies, and worker ergonomics. This seems like a lot to ask but this is exactly a job set out for a top rated ergonomic consultant. There are various methods that ergonomic consultants and trainers utilize. One such methodology is activity analysis which determines how long each activity is performed over a defined time. So the experienced consultant meets with production personnel or management to collect a list of all of the activities performed on the production floor and the intervals to which they are performed. This particular example was a medium to larger growing biotechnology company which control room operators shared activities over three shifts (day, swing, and graveyard). The activities included: use of a computer and phone, filling out batch production records and other notes or paperwork, taking breaks and socializing, passive monitoring of the distributed control system (DCS), and active manipulation of the system using the DCS. Another technique used by ergonomic specialists is task analysis which utilizes human factors and placed pertinent information together to understand what the users have to say about the current process and how it can be improved. It puts all the information together usually using AI nowadays and produces information that management can more easily understand. Usually they go further by summarizing the applicable regulations or potential improvements to the issues which could be something such as "the buckle is forcefully placed overhead putting strain on the shoulder" and "forceful exertions over shoulder height can place excessive strain on the shoulder and lead to risk of shoulder impingement. Consider either lowering the height of the action for employees or utilizing a platform for raising the employee up higher." Lastly, link analysis is performed by an ergonomist. It is the greatest most used analytical technique employed in the process industries. The considerations include: services needed by multiple people are placed in a central location, maximizing interactions between the people and the equipment they use, maximizing distance efficiencies between the workers and what they use or people they need to communicate with, and reducing unnecessary physical contact between workers and equipment  Link analysis is applied over various layouts in a office, plant, or even warehouse. Examples of this show the flow of equipment and how personnel interact with or move the equipment throughout the day. If you want to learn more about the various techniques to increase the ergonomic efficiencies of your workplace, contact an ergonomic specialist with Ergobility.