ERGO WORK - Creating the Best Places to Work

Abstract

"Social Cohesion" is one of the seven main objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and including disabled people in the labour market is a key element. There are challenges associated with providing fit for purpose workplaces and job design for full inclusion of people with disabilities. Ergonomics as a discipline has a key role to play. This paper describes the premise behind, and initial research undertaken within the 10 partner, European funded project "ERGO WORK - joining academia and business for new opportunities in creating ERGOnomic WORKplaces". The picture across Europe is variable in terms of workplace inclusion, and in the application of ergonomics and universal design. The project aims to encourage cooperation between universities, businesses and other organizations to improve learning, teaching and knowledge transfer in respect to ergonomic workplace design for disability. In the long term, the impact of the project is intended to be improved equal employment opportunities, enhanced understanding of universal design and principles for providing quality working environments in Europe. This paper describes the project rationale and some preliminary data from a scoping study to understand the provision for disability made in workplaces across Poland, Slovenia and the UK. Future work is outlined.

Keywords: persons with disability (PWD), employment, ergonomics, corporate social responsibility, employees’ needs

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1001236