ErgoTIC

Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common cause of occupational disease, and the economic cost associated to them is high (2% of European GDP). In addition to the economic cost, resulting from medical expenses and sick leaves, musculoskeletal disorders involve high social costs and significant reduction in workers’ quality of life. Therefore, governments and institutions carry out major efforts on reducing its prevalence in two ways: decreasing ergonomic risk factors in workstations and training workers for proper development of tasks. Training of workers is essential: inadequate development of their tasks in a well-designed workstation increases ergonomic risk factors. In recent year, Spanish companies’ investment in training for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders has increased. However, the degree of transfer of the training to the workplace is very low due to significant deficiencies in the approach of the training, which causes low apprehension of contents and low perception of real risk. ergoTIC aims the inclusion of new communication technologies, with high levels of immersion and interaction with the user, in worker training for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. Using these technologies has proven effective in training processes of similar fields. For example, using techniques related to virtual reality increases interest raises the degree of apprehension of the contents and the degree of transfer of the knowledge to the actual activity. In this project, new technologies, immersive techniques and interactivity with workers are introduced in contents’ presentations. The goal is to get knowledge and adequate risk perception by workers through immersion and firsthand experience, and achieve to increase the transfer of the knowledge to real activity in workplaces. Achieve the expected objectives will have high economic and social impact. For example, increasing the transfer rate to work will have a positive effect in reducing musculoskeletal disorders. A 5% reduction of the prevalence of these disorders in the European Union will save 6.4 billion euros annually.