The value of a virtual ergonomics evaluation

For as long as I have been doing ergonomics evaluations (16 years now), one of the the things that people say they value most is the personal attention that the Ergonomist spends with them at their workstation. 

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If there was a trained and certified Ergonomist in every town across the grand ol' USofA, filling the face-to-face demand would be easy.  But, the last time I checked, professional Ergonomists aren't all that common. 

...Enter the Virtual Ergonomics Evaluation...

Harnessing the power of the internet is a cost effective way to get you what you need, when you need it.

Lower costs - No passed-on travel expenses (time = money). Depending on the travel distance, an in person evaluation can cost 2-5 times more than a virtual evaluation

More availability - Since geography has no bounds on the Ergonomist's work schedule, the customer has more appointment options to choose from, even weekend and evening hours or across different zones  

Environmental wins -  Less traffic, less pollution

For the past decade or so, people have attempted to fill the geographical gaps by providing ergo evaluations via phone and email. Phone calls combined with emails and photographs *can* work, but something is missing with this still-life approach. 

Life (or work in this case) isn't still.  Humans are movers and we tend to 'be on our best behavior' when someone is taking our picture.  Therefore, basing an ergo evaluation off of a still-life photo can miss the mark. 

Ergonomics is much more than just a workstation set up.  It's analyzing movement patterns and habits. You can't see these when you don't see a person actually moving their body. 

At Learn Ergo, our unique method mimics an in-person conversation. Verbal and nonverbal communication is optimized with the added advantage of an extra set of 'eyes' along side you as you work.  Learn more about our virtual appointments. 

Of course, the ability to communicate, collaborate and consult over the internet is not new.  But it sure has become an accepted means of working and living in the past couple of years. 

  • We use FaceTime or Google Hangouts instead of a regular old phone call  
  • We use video chatting apps for medical appointments
  • We use WebEx, Zoom, BlueJeans, Google Hangouts, etc etc etc instead of getting a group of people together for a meeting
  • Students earn university degrees without ever setting foot in a classroom or sharing the same air as their professors
  • Some people do their entire job without ever setting foot in an office building

Virtual evaluations are an effective and reliable way to do business and manage our increasingly full lives. 

All of that said, virtual consultation is not completely taking over the need for live interactions. As we all know, the intricacies, idiosyncrasies and unplanned mishaps of video conferencing are real. 

Let me put it this way: If you are physically located within 30 miles of my office, I would suggest that we meet in person.  Call me old fashioned, but nothing beats real eye contact and the intuitive gains made when physically occupying the same space. 

But if scheduling an in person meeting means you have less choice in appointment times and that I need to charge you for my travel expenses, I would say let's meet online instead!  We wouldn't be the only ones doing it.

 

Melissa Afterman