Evaluation of in-plant ergonomics training

Abstract

Plant personnel involved in a joint labor-management Ergonomics Pilot Project attended an introductory ergonomics course. The training was developed to provide trainees with the ergonomic knowledge necessary to perform their functions as part of the Ergonomic Pilot Project. A Train-the-Trainer program for Introductory Ergonomics was developed and implemented to provide Pilot Project plants with in-plant Introductory Ergonomics trainers. Trainee course satisfaction, ergonomic knowledge, and performance did not differ significantly for those trained by in-plant trainers compared to those trained by University instructors. This suggests that the Train-the-Trainer approach is a viable way of meeting the increasing demand for ergonomics training in industry.