I am looking for contacts to compare management of task rotation in a manufacturing hall. Our factory employs approx 150 staff performing a range of manual tasks including; assembly, packaging testing etc for a varied range of products. We have always driven ergonomic emprovement to minimise risk but in some tasks we are limited in scope to change the workstation or tasks. We therefore use a "rotation" approach to give people a break from patterns of movement. Where rotation does not suit we allow workers a 3-5 min break and they perform a short excercise routine to allow recovery from movement patterns. Key areas of interest for discussion are:- 1. Record keeping to demonstrate task rotation where risk assessment requires it. 2. Rotation versus excercise breaks...relative benefits ? 3. What evidence would the Hse require ? My goal is to find comparable working environments to share good practices and compare ideas on how best to manage task rotation and avoid repetitive strain or upper limb ill health. Are you willing to compare experiences and ideas on this topic ?

Some good thinking and good practice here. As a safety ergonomist and psychologist (CMIOSH, MIEHF, MSc Ergs, C Psychol), I would raise the very basic and central question whether a lot more progress can be made along the mix of adminisrative and engineering adjustments you outline. From the elementary outlines given, you are designing work by people as if they are simply animals without cognitive or emotional processes. HSE-funded research by Jason Devereux at the Robens Institute has used economic data to indicate how much this a fundamental fallacy, as musculoskeletal problems are closely associated with psychological sources of stress. In practice, based on the very very limited data available, two alternative approaches available to you include: A. educating management about the value of 'pause gymnastik' exercises to control MSDs and training all employees to carry them out at least twice daily B. educating management and operatives to observe simple validated adjustments to task activities that relieve sources of stresses, avoid errors and achieve production targets. The relevant HSE guidance is outlined in HSG 48, as well as in its publication of Jason Devereux's report. Quite a lot of other relevant ergonomic research is too industry-specific to comment on generally.