Root Cause Analysis: The Key to Confident Ergonomic Recommendations

In this episode, Darcie breaks down the foundation of every effective office ergonomics assessment: root cause analysis. She shares why jumping straight to solutions leads to costly mistakes, how the “Five Whys” technique uncovers what’s really driving discomfort, and why engineering controls beat posture reminders every time.

You’ll hear real examples from 20 years of assessments, the common traps new ergonomists fall into, and how understanding root causes makes choosing the right mouse, keyboard, or chair almost effortless.

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series on confidently selecting ergonomic equipment—and includes access to brand-new comparison tables for keyboards, mice, and chairs.

Get the Ergonomic Equipment Guide. See how ergonomic task chairs, keyboards, and mice stack up against each other with a variety of ergonomic parameters. If you either WANT TO or are ALREADY doing office ergonomics assessments, you need this. Get started here: https://www.ergonomicshelp.com/free-training 

Are you a healthcare professional curious about how office ergonomics assessments could fit into your services? I’ve got you covered with some valuable (and free!) resources at www.ergonomicshelp.com/free-training.

Transcript

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Well, hey there. Welcome to the Business of Ergonomics podcast. Today in the show, we're gonna be talking about how you can pick the best ergonomic mice and keyboards without second guessing yourself. So without further ado, let's dive into this episode right now. Welcome to the Business of Ergonomics podcast. I'm your host, Darcy Jeremy. I'm a board certified professional agonist with over 15 years of experience delivering ergonomics programs to employers of all different types. In this podcast, I share what other healthcare professionals are already doing and being with ergonomics assessments and how to land those clients that you dream of. Without further ado, let's jump into this episode right now. Today's episode is going to be about the foundation of all effective ergonomic recommendations, and this foundation has to do with the root cause analysis, the causal ergonomic analysis, whatever you want to refer to this as. This is the part. Of the ergonomics world that separates really value added ergonomists from the folks that are just surface level. And I'll get into what exactly this means. And I hope by the end of today's episode you'll be set up to recommend the best type of ergonomic keys and mice, because if you're like me. You're constantly surprised on the new equipment that's almost constantly hitting the marketplace. This episode goes hand in hand with a new PDF that I developed for members of the Accelerate Business of Ergonomics program that I'm sharing with all podcast listeners. I'm gonna be putting the link in the show notes for you to grab. Basically they're comparison tables and they're so valuable. But the reason why they are valuable is that it goes hand in hand with what I want to share with you today, why the root cause analysis is just so fundamental when picking the right type of equipment out there. So I have been fortunate enough to be in the industry for 20 years, so I've gone through. The ropes of learning how to do manufacturing types of assessments, and then I jumped to doing office ergonomics assessments and I thought that doing office ergonomics assessments is going to be a cakewalk because unlike manufacturing where you don't really know what you're gonna see, until you actually get to the assessment, The following equipment, you know, they'll have the mouse, the keyboards, all that stuff. So I thought this was gonna be a cakewalk. And little did I know that without having a thorough process when it came to ergonomics assessments, that just jumping to solutions immediately without fully understanding what the root cause was, will lead to a lot of. Frustration. I like to call this like the fireball of doom, where you're constantly going over the same type of adjustment in the workplace because you haven't identified the root cause. It's all about root cause analysis. So when you're first getting your start, maybe you've taken my program, the ergonomics blueprint, and you're starting to get experience. The first five that you do, I hope, is with your friends and your family. When you do a root cause analysis, you. Should be doing the full ergonomic assessment and the report to fully understand the moving parts to this. What I typically see when I look at the first two reports that my students do is. Getting caught into the symptoms of the issues and not pulling away the layers of the onion to figure out what the one cause for that person's symptoms are. And there usually is one cause. Sometimes root cause analysis are called causal ergonomic analysis, because there might be more than one, might be two, but very rarely there's. A whole bunch of them. Usually just a handful, one or two, especially in the office environment. So after practice doing office ergonomic assessment and report writing, between five and 10 of these, you are gonna be noticing that jumping to an effective root cause analysis is a lot more speedier. Between 10 and 20 even faster. You're streamlining your thought process, and I'm gonna say about 20 is your golden market as someone who really wants to hit their stride doing effective and efficient. Office ergonomics assessments where you're able to identify the root cause. Therefore, you're able to make really good solutions that build your reputation. That's about 20, and what I mean by this, when you're walking in to see a client, after you've done about 20 office ergonomics assessments and reports, you're gonna be able to identify in about five seconds what the root cause of that person's pain is and what to recommend. I kid you not. It's the understanding of a root cause analysis that adds value to yourself in terms of speed and to your client, because you're gonna be able to recommend. Actually good equipment that's gonna build yourself up, it's gonna build your business. And the reason why I am really putting this up on a high level Ergonomics assessments is this. You skip doing root cause analysis in your reports, then you can fall into a trap. And the trap is what I like to call the posture trap. That's where people recommend sitting correctly or they're recommending things that aren't necessary to fill out that report and add more content to the report. So in terms of ergonomic solutions, there's four categories of solutions that your recommendations will always fall with it, starting from the most effective to the least effective. We're looking at engineering solutions, administrative solutions, behavioral solutions, and personal protective equipment. Let's dive into each one of these categories because this is really gonna steer the types of solutions that might work for your client out there in the office. Engineering solutions have to do with the products and the equipment that person is using. You might have at one point or another heard an ergonomists refer to themself as an ergonomics engineer. It's for this reason because as an ergonomists, if you can engineer out that ergonomics risk, then that is something that is gonna be huge for that person's exposure because you're not reducing, you are eliminating the ergonomic risk. So that means that person's symptoms, it is gone. So types of engineering types of solutions in the office would be the keyboard, the mice. These are the things that we're gonna be talking about in parts two and part three, and what you might already know about modern keyboards and mice. Rarely are they the same types that were around 20 years ago. There are different angles and there's different setups, and there's different input devices that really add a level of complexity, and that's why we really need to fine tune that root cause analysis. So engineering solutions are the most effective types of ergonomic solutions. Second on the docket is administrative solutions. Administrative solutions has to do with the way that the work is carried out. Really good examples of this are things like job rotation, work enlargement. A really neat one in the office might have to do with changing the work task throughout the day so you're not overextending a certain part of the body. So this might have to do with that person is filing instead of filing for like 45 minutes in the beginning of the day, breaking it up throughout the day. Third on the docket is behavioral solutions, and as I mentioned in the beginning of this podcast, if you don't have experience doing root cause analysis or you don't have enough experience doing through ergonomics analysis or assessments. Maybe you weren't taught a process via someone who has the BCPE background like I do, and you're not getting the board certification way of doing an ergonomics assessment, then you might be focusing on less effective solutions. And that has to do with behavioral solutions. More often than I like to see. I see a lot of behavioral solutions out there. This has to do with posture and body mechanics. If you are working in an industrial type of standpoint, You might see lift training or stretching programs out there. Not very effective in the office. You might see other behavioral types of solutions having to do with sitting with the best posture, using good mechanics while you're mouthing, or any sort of example related to that. Fourth in the docket is personal protective equipment. Personal protective equipment has to do with comfort items. You might see workplace padding like a mouse pad or anti-fatigue matting to these significantly eliminate ergonomic risk. Absolutely not. But they are comfortable. As I'm standing on my sit stand mat right now, they help. So this is really valuable, right? As an agonist, you know, focusing your solutions on just behavioral solutions is not gonna be the most effective. However, having a wide variety of countermeasures that focus primarily on engineering. Solutions or ergonomic products to significantly reduce that person's exposure to the ergonomic risk is gonna be the most valuable at the same time as that, you can stack these types of solutions. So not only are you looking at like a, engineering solution by itself, you're combining that with maybe a comfort item, maybe behavioral and maybe rotation at the same time. A really good example of this would be combining the administrative with behavioral, which is to include left-handed mouthing throughout the day, especially if that person has high symptomatic right arm, that you just wanna give them a break rotating that throughout the day can be valuable, however. you're keeping it in mind that you're not engineering out the solution. You're looking at administrative and behavioral. So that's a really good example and I hope I'm painting a really thorough picture to you on the value of a root cause analysis. The quality of the root cause analysis that you complete will have a direct bearing on the effectiveness of any solution that you recommend. The reason why this is so useful is that it ensures that you, as the ergonomics assessor. understand why the risk is there before you jump to a solution. the problem that I see, especially when those folks are starting out, getting between one and five office ergonomics assessments. The value of completing a root cause analysis for every assessment that you do is that the root cause has a direct bearing on the effectiveness of your solution. It allows you to understand why the risk exists before you recommend a solution that may not even work in the first place. Generally speaking, if you're gonna be skipping a root cause analysis, you typically see low impact administrative and behavioral recommendations being made. These aren't just mistakes that affect that client's life, because you're not actually engineering out the ergonomic risk. This is going to affect your professional reputation, and it's gonna represent the. Reputation of ergonomists in general as well. If someone is going to be just jumping to generic equipment. Shopping advice, rather than delivering meaningful evidence-based risk reduction, you're going to lose that client's trust. Losing the client's trust not only means that they're not gonna refer you. It also means that person's probably just gonna be sitting in pain thinking that they have to solve whatever problem that they have themselves, and that's not good either. So let's talk big picture here. How I like to do a root cause analysis, and this is the way that I recommend students of my program, the ergonomics blueprint too. The root cause analysis comes into play after you do a thorough interview, a job description, measurements, pictures, and observations, This is the point where you start to analysis what the heck is going on. Normally, there's one element that is leading to a greater proportion of ergonomic risk, and you wanna pinpoint that. There are tons of systems out there when it comes to identifying that root cause. I like to keep it simple. I like to use the five why strategy, and this is as easy as asking why. Five times, and normally you can get to the root cause and fewer than five why's, especially in the office. Let's talk about this five. Why strategy. And I really wanna encourage you, if this is new to you, I do have a program that dives into thorough analysis, and that's my ergonomics blueprint program. And I really wanna encourage you to dive into that if you're not doing a root cause analysis right now, because your reputation is at stake and the. Discomfort and pain of your clients is at stake too. so there's five mistakes that happen when ergonomists skip root cause analysis. Specifically why jumping to solutions is dangerous. Number one, you're gonna be treating the symptoms of the problem and instead of the causes. If you're not doing a root cause analysis, you're gonna just be adjusting the posture. Maybe you're gonna add a cushion, maybe you're gonna suggest micro breaks, none of which actually address the design mismatch. It could be that the root cause is actually the desk is too high, the monitor is poorly positioned, or the workflow itself is forcing repetitive mouse use. Okay, focusing on just the symptoms of that person's problem only gives temporary or superficial relief. Number two, there's an over-reliance on training or posture reminders. If you assume that the problem is with the worker specifically bad posture, behavioral, you might. Default to training, but research suggests that education and training alone is often ineffective for preventing musculoskeletal disorders compared with physical or environmental controls. So this can include break taking software. This reminds employees to take a break and stand every so often. There are a variety of these on the market today, The worst of these will lock out an employee no matter what the best of these, give an employee some sort of choice in the matter. However, one would wonder the total effectiveness of the system if that employee is given a choice, whether or not they're getting to get locked out of their system. I have also seen keyboards that will change colors when that person needs a break. I would wonder first if a thorough root cause analysis has ever been done, including the type of keyboard that's available. Number three, if you're not looking at a root cause analysis, then you can implement costly or unnecessary controls without knowing the root cause. You might tell your clients to buy expensive ergonomic chairs or gadgets without actually addressing the hazard, and you would be surprised. About the amount of times that I go see a client,'cause I still do ergonomics assessments to this day, and they say they have back pain with their chair. If you just wanna jump to solutions, you might recommend another lumbar support for their chair or a new chair in general. However, doing a really thorough ergonomic analysis may figure out that chair has never been adjusted for them. So they're not able to sit with a comfortable position on their lumbar support and that's resulting in their back discomfort. Implementing costly or unnecessary controls is the number one issue with root cause analysis not being performed. The fourth mistake that happens when agonists skip root cause analysis is that you're missing multifactor causes. Musculoskeletal disorder hazards, especially in office work often arise from a combination of factors that could be workstation design, task repetition, psychosocial stress, lighting. Work, organization, equipment, environment, you name it, root cause analysis, and that means doing the five why's combined with all the work that you did up to that point, getting that employee involved, asking them questions. Seeing if certain solutions may work. These help to identify the mix. So the poor desk layout with heavy mouse, work with tight deadlines so you can implement controls that address all the relevant work factors, not just one. What can happen if you skip a root cause analysis is that you can fall into the trap of short term fixes leading to recurrence. If the root cause remains, symptoms will likely return. Musculoskeletal risks in the office, sometimes need more analysis to discover. That's kind of like peeling away the multiple layers of the onion to get to the core especially with musculoskeletal disorders in the office. These types of injuries usually happen over months and years related to the specific risks that you see related to sitting, awkward postures, repetitive movements, forceful exertions, right? That's all happening there. And you might be saying to yourself, forceful exertions, well, hello. No, we're talking about typing on the keyboard. Ergonomic risk assessments, root cause analysis. When you're doing an assessment, should be one of your main priorities. If this takes you five or 10 minutes to really consider and be thoughtful about, then I think that's perfectly fine if you have to go back and forth asking that employee questions to really nail down what's going on in that office when symptoms started. Possible solutions too. That is awesome. Because musculoskeletal disorders in the office happen over years and months, and often they go unnoticed. And we all know those symptoms can be a result of the ergonomic risk factors, whether it's force, posture, repetition. For most of the clients that you see, you're not gonna notice it. It's not gonna be like a red flag moment. It's gonna be very slow. But because these risks accumulate over time, it's especially important to really buckle down on your root cause analysis to figure what's going on. So that the interventions actually prevent long-term harm, whether that's surgery or time off work. Not only that, providing valuable insights to that workplace can lead to a better reputation for yourself as well. And the ergonomics as a whole root cause analysis helps tailor realistic site specific and sustainable solutions. Not generic. One size fits all fixes. any agonist worth. Their salt will tell you average does not exist. And ergonomics is all about fitting the workstation to the worker. So whether or not a particular solution is gonna be relevant to the worker that you see is totally dependent on the context that you are working in. There's no way that what you're recommending for employee is going to work for employee B or employee c. An agonist that has the experience will take the time and really look at employee A, B, and C to develop a control strategy from really thoroughly analyzing that root cause in each of those specific scenarios. So if you skip a root cause analysis. As I mentioned, five why's is my go-to and it's very useful. The risk is that client is going to be buying expensive, ergonomic chairs or accessories that don't even address was actually going on at the workplace. For example, if someone. Is complaining of back pain. Remember that example I talked about so the solution is just to buy another chair? Well, that person's probably gonna still end up with discomfort because that chair probably will never be adjusted for them. So there you have it. That's. Part one of a three part series of how to confidently pick the best ergonomic mice and keyboards without second guessing yourself, without over researching or hoping the manufacturer's marketing claims are accurate. I wanna encourage you to develop your thorough five y strategy when you are looking at the ergonomic risk and developing solutions to fit that. It may seem like overkill, but it is not. This is something that you have to spend time on to fully develop, and if you wanna reach out to me. To help you along the way. I would love to help you do really thorough office ergonomic analysis that your clients are confident in and will pay you the big bucks. I'm going to leave some information, how I can help you get to where you need to be. And then I'm also gonna give you the download. Or how to access it for the comparison charts of the most ergonomic keyboards, mice, and chairs available on the market today so that you can make an educated guess. You can get started with office ergonomics assessments. Today, healthcare professionals are seeing the potential and opportunity to add office ergonomics assessments to their practice and services. Just head to ergonomics help.com/begin