ERGO WORK

COLLABORATORS

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

ERGO WORK is a collaboration of academic and business organisations in 6 countries, to understand the barriers that disabled people face in the EU workplace and to tackle some of these through improved workplace Ergonomics. The project aims to develop Ergonomics training modules that focus on the needs of disabled people in the workplace and enable future ergonomists to design truly inclusive workplaces that meet the needs of employees and employers. The new modules will be piloted with industrial partners and introduced into curriculum teaching in Slovenia and Poland.

IMPACT STATEMENT

Researchers in the Centre for Mobility & Transport, Coventry University carried out a survey across six EU countries to provide a snapshot of attitudes towards the inclusion of disabled people at work and workplace ergonomics.  This indicated that disabled people were less happy in the workplace and unsure of their rights, while employers were similarly unsure of their obligations. Research also focused on how inclusive design could be introduced into Ergonomics training in the target countries of Slovenia and Poland. 

The project’s next steps saw collaboration of the Universities of Siedlce (Poland), Maribor (Slovenia) and Coventry (UK) to develop new Ergonomics curriculum content, focused on inclusive design, and specifically about creating ergonomic workplaces for disabled people.  This content has been piloted in Slovenia and Poland, where the impact of the teaching was tested in hands-on industrial projects with working groups of students, lecturers, company staff and disabled people. The project also produced recommendations for EU system and policy makers to improve workplace inclusion.