At the beginning of the new year, the EAWS instructor team of the MTM ASSOCIATION e. V. met at the training site in Zeuthen to discuss the further development of the EAWS training courses (EAWS, EAWS practitioner, EAWS practitioner refresher and EAWS license course). One of the most important topics was the integration of the MTM software TiCon into EAWS training. In the meantime, a first, five-day EAWS course has taken place with eleven participants from five companies.
Safe, accurate use of EAWS comes into focus
EAWS instructor and ergonomics expert Dr. Steffen Rast drew an initial conclusion: “We learned that the use of the TiCon software is a valuable support when it comes to becoming faster, i.e. replacing the time-consuming manual calculations – interpolating, standardizing.” This gives training participants more time to focus on the content aspects of ergonomics assessment and the safe, accurate application of EAWS. To explain the methodical procedure, paper and pencil are still best, said Rast. The combination with TiCon makes it possible to interpret data more quickly, simulate effects of changes, and recalculate or track results by hand, he said. “In this way, participants can also internalize the EAWS framework more quickly,” Rast said.
“Software use in EAWS training is up-to-date”
Udo Baginski, Central Labor and Time Management at Robert Bosch GmbH and member of the MTM examination board, was one of the participants in this first EAWS course in the new format. He described the development from purely analog EAWS analyses to the supporting use of software solutions in training as up-to-date. “If the training also teaches how to use the software in addition to the theory, the participant will be able to plausibly explain and interpret the result of an EAWS analysis.” And only that puts the user in a position to derive and implement the right measures, Baginski said.
Software is used in the company, not paper and pencil
Rast and Baginski agree that integrating TiCon into training is an important step toward better preparing users for the operational application of the EAWS method. After all, ergonomics is predominantly evaluated in companies with the help of software products. “We are primarily picking up those participants here who are already digitally on the move,” said Rast. In particular, this applies to the participants in the EAWS practitioner refresher course, “because they have to be able to do their work with new updates – and in most companies, that doesn’t happen with paper and pencil, but with software,” the ergonomics expert emphasized. The ergonomics assessment with EAWS also works with software solutions other than TiCon – “but they should bear the seal of approval of the MTM ASSOCIATION e. V. regarding a rule-compliant EAWS assessment,” he added. An example can be found here.
For all information on EAWS training, visit training.mtm.org