PSHFES Council Member Sue Stewart, Transit Safety Officer for King County Metro Transit, will give PSHFES members a tour of one or two historically preserved buses from the 1940's and 1950's, contrasted against one of Metro's more recent buses. The ergonomic basis of some of the changes will be discussed. As a special treat, attendees will get a sneak peek at the sleek new Rapid Transit bus!

Space is limited, so don't wait to sign up! To register, go to www.pshfes.onefireplace.com and click on the 'Event Registration' tab on the left menu bar.

There is no charge for this Event; it is a member benefit for PSHFES members. We hope to see you there!

Summer PSHFES Facility Tour

Zoo personnel will take PSHFES members on a “behind the scenes” tour of the animal management jobs at the zoo, from an ergonomic perspective. We will see how the zoo has modified job tasks to make them safer and less stressful on their employees who take care of the animals. There are definitely some interesting challenges in this environment!

The tour is limited to 20 people, on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t wait to sign up!

PSHFES Dinner Meeting - Prevention of slips, trips and falls

Wayne S. Maynard, CSP, CPE, ALCM is Technical Director, Ergonomics and Tribology, Loss Control Advisory Services at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, Hopkinton, MA. Wayne will provide an overview of human factors and causes of slips, trips and falls and a detailed discussion of a managed prevention process including flooring selection, slip resistant footwear, mats, housekeeping, slipperiness assessment and more.

Annual PSHFES business meeting and end of year event - All members are invited to attend this event! We'll have a brief business meeting followed by a time for networking and fun! Appetizers will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there!

PSHFES Dinner Meeting - A presentation on Anthropometry by Rush Green (Boeing) Download a copy of Rush Green's presentation.

Rush Green is a Human Factors Engineer with Boeing's Commercial Airplane Group. His talk will explain what anthropometry is, how the data is collected, and its use in design and analysis. If you've ever wanted to know more about anthropometry from a practical perspective, this is the meeting to attend! There will also be a free prize drawing for one lucky attendee!

PSHFES Dinner Meeting - "The Evolving Global State of Lean - and Related Ergonomic Issues" presentation by Dr. Richard Schonberger (President, Schonberger and Associates)

Richard Schonberger presents hard evidence showing the birthplace of lean -Japan, including Toyota, to have grown fat with average company inventories soaring for 10 to 15 years. Other global regions rank much higher in long-term "leanness," though all have slipped in recent years. Higher ranking industries include electronics and distribution, with chemicals and pharmaceuticals near the bottom. Among the explanations is the fact that lean is applied mostly in operations and presented only as waste reduction. This approach scarcely resonates among high executives, marketers, and the general public. A much better approach is to present lean for what it d oes for your customers, namely reduce response time in all things.

Human factors and ergonomics are affected in two primary ways:

(1) Most companies fail to treat the elements of process improvement - quick setup, safety, handling, ergonomics, etc. - as a single whole, thus slowing and losing potential benefits.

(2) As production migrates to less-developed countries, highly repetitive, boring, bodily taxing production-line jobs are the norm; whereas Western "best-practices" favor small work cells with more work content, frequent job rotation, and physical job variety.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at 10:00 am. (The tour starts at 10:00 am and lasts 60 to 90 minutes.)

Come and see first hand the ergonomic improvements Kenworth has made to their assembly processes and the challenges they still face! Join the tour of the Kenworth truck assembly facility (Renton) on Wednesday, May 7. There is no cost, but you must register no later than Thursday, May 1. (If you wish to become a member in order to join the tour and partake in other PSHFES opportunities, you may do so online at www.pshfes.org/members.htm.)

If you missed the recent panel discussion with the local chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, you have another opportunity to "mingle with the engineers"! Join industrial engineers and ergonomists for an evening of "learning from the pros" about how they manage projects. Come with your questions! Drinks and light refreshments will be provided. There is no cost to attend this event, but RSVP is appreciated.

Want to learn more about industrial ergonomics from professionals in the field? Join industrial engineers and ergonomists for an evening of lively discussion. There will be a five-member panel made up of local industry ergonomists to talk about their work and answer questions from the audience. The event is sponsored by the IIE and PSHFES. Drinks and light refreshments will be provided.

Visitors need safety glasses (they can provide), and closed toed shoes (ANSI approved shoes if you'd like to get closer to the action). Parking is limited, so car-pooling is recommended.