SAN BERNARDINO/SAN FRANCISCO – State Compensation Insurance Fund is conducting a two-day workshop to educate employers about the importance of industrial ergonomics as a preventative measure for employee injuries. The workshop entitled “Industrial Ergonomics” will take place on October 3 and 4 in San Bernardino at State Fund’s Inland Empire Policy Services Office.

Offered only to current State Fund policyholders and provided at no charge, the workshop is designed to help attendees recognize the signs, symptoms, and risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Health and safety professionals, safety program leaders, employers, managers, and supervisors involved with ergonomics; human resources managers, purchasers, and others involved in the ergonomics process are encouraged to attend.

Featured speakers include State Fund Senior Ergonomist R.J. Banks, and State Fund Ergonomics Consultant Ryan Horton.

Manufacturing, warehouse operations, and construction are among the work settings most impacted by the risk of WMSDs. Workers may be required to stand or sit for extended periods of time, perform repetitious tasks, or lift, push, pull, and handle heavy loads. To address these issues, the workshop will focus on the key components of an ergonomics program and provide working tools and knowledge that can minimize the risk of ergonomic-related injuries in the industrial workplace. Benefits that attendees can derive from the workshop include:

• Learning how to be a resource in the organization for solving industrial ergonomics problems.
• Gaining a working knowledge of the ergonomics problem-solving process.
• Applying ergonomic intervention strategies to common industrial ergonomics problems.
• Understanding the development of WMSDs, and identifying contributing factors in the industrial workplace.
• Prioritizing ergonomic improvements to maximize return on investment (ROI).

The workshop will be held at State Fund’s Inland Empire Policy Services Office, 375 W. Hospitality Lane, in San Bernardino, and the schedule will be as follows:

• October 3 – 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• October 4 – 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

On-site registration begins at 8:30 a.m. on October 3. Continental breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks will be served both days. Free parking is available.

Attendees must be present the first day in order to attend the second day. Seating is limited, and early registration is encouraged online, or by e-mail (neflores@scif.com), phone (call Nora Flores at (909) 384-4969), or fax (Attention: Nora Flores (909) 384-4717).

The San Bernardino Inland Empire workshop is part of a series of educational programs State Fund is holding throughout the state to help employers create safe workplaces. State Fund has the largest safety and health services program among California workers’ compensation insurance carriers.

Additional seminars in this series of educational programs are also available.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Established by the California Legislature in 1914, San Francisco-based State Compensation Insurance Fund is a self-supporting, nonprofit, fairly competitive public enterprise that provides workers’ compensation insurance coverage at cost to California employers.