EUGENE - The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OR-OSHA) will be offering a training session to members of the Eugene-area business community during July at no cost to participants.

The Public Education and Conferences Section of Oregon OSHA will be offering "Ergonomics Awareness" on July 18 from 8:00am to Noon. The workshop will be held at the Eugene Field Office of OR-OSHA, 1140 Willagillespie Road, Suite 42 in Eugene (near Valley River Center and the Delta Highway). OR-OSHA provides workshop materials for participants.

The workshop will be an introduction to ergonomics, the science concerning human performance and safety in relation to their job's equipment, tools and environment. Workshop participants will learn about eight key factors which affect the health of a worker:

Frequency of work-related motion
Duration of the work performed
Force required to perform the task
Posture of the worker
Point of Operation
Mechanical Pressures
Vibration factors of the task
Environment the worker is exposed to

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently identified three worker groups who show a higher-than-average incidence of repetitive motion injuries - truck drivers, nursing aides and laborers. In 2000, almost 26 percent of the 1.7 million Americans injured at work were service sector workers with injuries related to muscle, nerve or tendon damage. Practicing good ergonomics in the workplace can increase work productivity by reducing down-time caused by worker injuries, stress and fatigue.

"The pain and lost-time impacts of injuries due to repetitive motion injuries create two burdens," says Peter De Luca, administrator of Oregon OSHA. "The first direct impact is in medical costs of helping an injured worker get well and absorbing the lost productivity of what that person contributes. The second indirect cost occurs years later when a worker must cope with the pain and treatment of a cumulative stress disorder."

Oregon OSHA offers a variety of conferences, on-site training, educational resources and consultation services to help Oregon employers create safer workplaces and reduce the amount of productivity lost due to injuries which occur at work. Additional information and resources are available on Oregon OSHA's website, www.orosha.org

For more information about these workshops or to register, call the Oregon OSHA Education Section, (503) 947-7443, or toll-free in Oregon, (888) 292-5247 Option 2.