[Tutorial] Accessing the "Employee Portal" in the WorkSafe Software

To access the Employee Portal, you must go to the web address for the specific Organization you are working in and add /concerns to the end, as shown below.

 

Finding the Web Address for Your Organization’s Employee Portal

1. Click on “Organizations” in the top left corner of the software.

 

2. Find the specific organization from the list. Under the Organization name, click on “Edit Setup”.

 

3. The web address for that particular Organization can be found on the bottom of this “Edit” screen. See screenshot below. (Note: Unless a mistake was made on the initial setup, to avoid any future confusion you should not change the web address for your Organization.)

From this point, we will refer to the ending of the web address for the organization as the “Org URL”. In this case, the Org URL for the organization “Main Street Autobody Repair" is “autobody”. See above screenshot.

 

Finding the Correct Department ID for Your Organization’s Supervisor/s

Once at the correct web address, you must now enter the correct credentials. The “Department ID” must be correct in order to gain access to these tools. This information is necessary to send the results to the correct person. (Results are sent only to a user who has been granted access as “Supervisor”. The “Case” that is created from this submission will be assigned to the Supervisor for initial review.)

 

Department ID’s can be found via the following instructions:

1. If you are not already in the Org list, click on “Organizations” in the top left corner of the software.

 

2. Find the specific organization from the list. On the right side, click on “View Members”.

 

3. The “Department ID” is found on the right side. (Please note that there is a colon between the Org URL and the User ID #.)

 

 

SUMMARY:

Given the above example of the Main Street Autobody Repair organization, if an employee went to the URL provided by his/her supervisor and entered “autobody:4” next to Department ID on the Employee Portal page, then the results will be sent to “Debbie Brown” for review.

[Tutorial] People and Permissions within WorkSafe Software

Adding New Members

Click on “Organizations” in the upper left corner of the screen. This brings you to your “Organization Homepage”. 

Navigate to the Organization to which you want to add Members and click on “View Members”. This will bring you to the “People” tab, which lists all the members in this Organization.

Below, you will see the list of people who are members of the Organization “Main St. Auto Body Repair”. At this point, the only member of the Organization is the person who originally purchased the site – a.k.a. the “Site Owner”.

Click on “Add a New Member” in the upper-right corner.

This will open up a form where you will add the new member’s personal data, as well as determine which Role/Permissions you want to give that member. Please see the next section “Roles/Permissions” for more details on roles.

 

Also, at the bottom of this screen, you will have the option to add this new member to any Organization in the system.

• In the example below, you may be adding a member as a Consultant to one of these companies for whom you provide ergonomic services on a recurring basis.

The new member will receive an email with the link to the software, any personal message you chose to add (optional), and a temporary password. Upon sign-in, the member must change the temporary password in the My Profile area.

Roles/Permissions

When adding new members to the site or when editing existing members, you are required to choose a “Role” for that member. A “role” is basically a set of permissions given to a particular member – what they can and cannot do while logged into the software. 

The following are the different Roles in the system and their permissions.

• Note: The Site Owner is the person who purchased the software and has total permission to do anything in the software, including managing profiles and billing information. “Site Owner” privileges cannot be given to any other member. This is why you will not see “Site Owner” as an available option within the “Manage Members” area or the “Roles” dropdown list when creating members.

Organization Admin

Can manage all aspects of the Organizations they are a member of. Additionally, an Organization Admin can also create/manage users in their Organizations. They cannot give the Organization Admin role to others.

Supervisor

Can create cases and use Tools in the Organizations they are a member of. Supervisors can only see and manage Cases which are assigned to them (from the Employee Portal or otherwise).

Site Owner

A permanent member of all Organizations and can do anything in any Organization.

Safety or Consultant

Has access to all Cases in the Organizations they are a member of. Both roles can also create Cases and use Tools within Cases. Use the Safety role for users that could be considered an internal employee. Assign the Consultant role for outside vendors.

Manage Members (Making Bulk Edits or Per Member Edits)

To get to the “Manage Members” area, go into the particular Organization to which you would like to add members. Click on the “People” tab. At the top right, click on the “Manage Members” button.

This page shows you a list of all the members/users within a particular Organization.

Note: Only the Site Owner and Organization Admin roles have access to this page.

• To change the role of a user, find the user’s name and then choose a role from the drop-down list. (Descriptions of Roles are given at the top of the screen.) Note: The Site Owner role cannot be changed or given.
• To add a member from a different organization, scroll to the bottom of the page to see a list of “Non-Members”. (Non-Members in this case are users who do not have privileges to access this particular Organization.)

 

Editing Users (Per Member Edits Only)

The Site Owner or Organizational Admin roles can edit individual users of an organization. This means they can change things like username, password, personal data, add them to other Organizations, or if desired, suspend their access to the software. 

If you want to edit a member within an organization, go to “Organizations” and choose the Organization of which the person is a member. Click on the “People” tab at the top of the screen. This is the list of members within this particular Organization. On the right-hand side of each user is an “Edit User” button.

• Please Note: Only the roles “Site Owner” and “Organization Admin” will see the “Edit User” button next to each member on the People tab. Each member, however, sees the “Edit User” button next to their own name.

 

Editing Member Profile

After you click on “Edit User”, you are brought to the screen below. On this “Edit” tab, you can change personal data, as well as change the username or password. 

At the bottom of this screen, you can edit this user’s Role within a particular Organization. (Users may have different roles within different organizations.)

• Please Note: This is not the area where you edit the user’s access to other Organizations. This must be done within the “Manage Members” area.

Account Suspension

If there is a user that has left the company and should no longer be allowed to access the software, you can suspend the user’s account. This way, all the information that user created or edited will remain with his/her name on it; however access to the information is no longer allowed by that user.

 

Viewing Member Profiles

Other members within this Organization can view their fellow member profiles. The below screen is the only information available to other members, beside the Site Owner and Organization Admin, who can see all the data.

 

Department ID

Each user in the system has a “Department ID”. This consists of combining the web address/URL ending for the Organization (see screenshot below) and a unique number, separated by a colon. Numbers are assigned automatically when new members are created.

• Please Note: This information is used to gain entry into the Employee Portal which is a feature of the PLUS Package only. Please see the tutorial on Accessing the Employee Portal for more information.

 

 

[Tutorial] Ergonomic/Safety "Cases" in the WorkSafe Software

What Is a “Case”?

Cases are WorkSafe’s way of tracking ergonomic or safety events. Within a case you may identify hazards by using one of four tools, and once identified you can work on resolving these hazards with WorkSafe’s hazard solutions tools. The goal is to keep a record of these ergonomic or safety hazards, by logging them as separate, individual investigations with the goal of case resolution. 

You are able to save results from the ergonomic tools within the case, or by scanning in any other paper forms and uploading to the case as a PDF. You can also upload pictures taken during your ergonomic evaluation.

Creating Your First Case

After you create your first Organization, you will see the bottom screen, which gives you the option to process by either getting right to work creating your first ergonomic case or by adding more members to your site.

To create your first case, click orange button that says “Create a Case” – or click on the blue link in the yellow notification bar that says “Creating a Case”.

You will be brought to the “Edit” screen of your first Case. From here, the only required information is the Title. However, you are adding value to the Case by adding additional details such as the Reason for the Case, Background Information, as well as assigning the case to a member, attaching images or other documents, and adding comments to the Workflow log.

• Please Note: The “Status” of a Case defaults to “Open”. However, you may mark it as “High Priority” or you may just want to keep record of the information from a particular ergonomic evaluation that you have already completed, and mark it as “Resolved”.

Below are the individual sections of the “Edit Case” screen to show what type of information you may consider adding.

After hitting the “Save” button in the lower-left, you are presented with your Case. Now you can begin using any of the four tools or adding comments.

If you would like to view the images attached to the Case, click on the image name within the list and it will open in either a new tab or new window of your internet browser.

• Please Note: The images only open in the internet browser. They do not open within the software itself. If for some reason you cannot see your image when you click on the title, please be sure that you do not have pop-ups blocked in your internet browser.

 

Workflow

Use the "Workflow" tab to keep track of changes within the Case. This way, other members of your safety team or people assigned to this Case will have a quick way to see the latest work that has been done. If an ergonomic/safety hazard has either been resolved or you've found new information that increases the importance of resolving the hazard quickly, either select the "Resolved" or "High Priority" status. Make a comment directly in the Workflow area to inform other team members of why this action was taken.

 

Comments

Communicate with other team members assigned to this Case by using the "Comments" section at the bottom of the Case screen.

 

Keeping Track with the Cases Dashboard

All the pertinent people in your organization stay on top of ergonomic issues as they happen by visiting the Cases Dashboard.

Tabs on the Dashboard

The Cases Dashboard defaults to show all open cases – meaning you will not see your “Resolved” (or closed) cases on the “Open Cases” screen. Cases that are marked as “Open” or “High Priority” are considered open cases.

However, there are also areas to see only Cases that have been given the status of “High Priority” (cases marked with orange exclamation point) or all of the cases in your Organization, including ones that have been marked as “Resolved”.

• Please Note: The “Resolved” cases are only listed within the tab called “All Cases” and they are the cases that are marked with a green checkmark.

Cases Legend

There is a Legend on the right-hand side to identify the status of each case.

• Please Note: Only the PLUS Package will show the “Supervisor Review” icon in the legend.

Searching for Cases (Filter Cases)

If you have several pages of Cases in your Organization and you are looking for a particular one, you can enter data in the “Filter Cases” fields to narrow down your search.

[Tutorial] Organizations in WorkSafe Software

What is an Organization?

In the WorkSafe software, we use the word "organization" intentionally. This is because we do not intend to force you into one way of using the software. Our vision is two-fold, really:

• Ergonomic evaluators/consultants using the product as a valuable service to their clients (i.e., businesses)
• Businesses using the product in-house, with the help of their own safety team, human resource department, supervisors, etc.

That being said, we see an "Organization" as either a client company or a department within a business. You use it how you see fit! (More details are below for further explanantion.)

Creating an Organization

When you sign up for WorkSafe, you may decide to create an Organization first. Simply click on "Create Organization" and you will land on the below screen. Below are some examples of how you would create your Organization depending on how you intend to use the software.

• Note: The Organization name is limited to 27 characters
• Note About Web Address: This is the URL address of your organization. It is used within the PLUS Package to access your Employee Portal.

 

Example of an Organization that an ergonomic consultant might add as a service to one of their clients:

Example of an Organization that a business would add if they want to track ergonomic/safety issues within their own company. (“Organizations” would then be department names, etc.)

After your organization is created, you will be presented with the following screen. You will then have the choice to either Create Your First Case or to Add People to Your Organization.

Organization Homepage/Dashboard

You can create any number of Organizations within the software. You can access the list of your organizations by clicking on “Organizations” in the upper-left portion of your software. This will bring you to the Organization Dashboard. (This is also the default homepage for the entire software.)

From here you can either:

• edit an existing Organization
• add a new Organization
• view cases within any Organization (by click one of the following: the Organization name on the left-hand side, the “View Cases” link next to the blue folder, or the “View Organization” button on the right-hand side)
• view members within any Organization

Deleting an Organization

While on the Organization homepage/dashboard, click on “Edit Setup” beneath the Organization that you wish to delete. 

At the bottom, to the right of the “Save” button, click on the “Delete Organization” button.

• PLEASE NOTE: THIS CANNOT BE UNDONE! ALL OF THE CASES, TOOLS, ATTACHED IMAGES, MEMBERS, ETC. THAT ARE PERTINENT TO THIS ORGANIZATION WILL BE PERMANENTLY DELETED. Members that are also members of other organizations will not be affected.
• You will be presented with a “Warning” screen prior to deletion. This gives you the opportunity to back out in case you accidentally hit the Delete button.

 

 

[Tutorial] Logging Into Your WorkSafe Software

First Time Login

After you purchase your WorkSafe software, you are brought back to the Sales Site and provided a link to your site.

• Please Note: This is the only time this will happen. After this, you must enter your unique web address/URL into your internet browser to access your WorkSafe software.

After clicking the link you will be brought to a login screen. You should have received an email with your username, but it would not have contained your password. As mentioned in the “Sign-up Process” tutorial, you should have written both your username and password in a safe place, as we do not keep any record of your password for you!

After successfully logging in, you will be presented with the below screen. You have the option to begin by either creating your first Organization or by using the Tools right away. For more information on these, please visit the “Organizations” and/or “Tools Tab” tutorials.

• Tip: If you do not intend to do any kind of follow-up on this ergonomic/safety event then proceed straight to the Tools area. Otherwise, if your intention is to track and provide additional information, create an Organization so that you can begin creating Cases.

Subsequent Logins

If you created an Organization on your first login, then on subsequent logins you will be directed straight to either the Organization Dashboard or the Cases dashboard of a particular Organization.

However, if you went straight to the Tools on your very first login (and did not create an Organization) then you will be presented again with the opportunity to create an Organization.

Organization Homepage/Dashboard

Cases Dashboard

Forgot Your Username or Password?

If you tried logging into your WorkSafe software and you receive a message stating that the username or password is unrecognized, then you may reset your password by either clicking on “Have you forgotten your password?” or on the “Recover Password” tab.

Enter your username or email address and this will send further instructions to the email address which was used to create the account. The email will provide a one-time login link to redirect you to your user profile where you will be asked to change your username or password.

 

After you hit the Login button below, you must change your password!

 

[Tutorial] Getting Started with WorkSafe: Sign-Up Process

Where do I sign up?

• Matheson WorkSafe is available as a monthly subscription service—no contract required. You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel your plan anytime from within your WorkSafe account.
• From the homepage at www.mathesonworksafe.com, click “Pricing & Free Trial” at the top of the screen.

You can always come back to this page by going to the "Help & FAQ" link on our homepage!

• Choose your plan. Each plan has a free 30 day trial.
• Please Note: Hitting the "Signup" button below will not charge your credit card, even though a credit card is required for your 30 day trial. If you are in any way dissatisfied with your trial, just go ahead and Cancel your account with no obligation!

 

Personal Information

 

Account Setup

• Every Matheson WorkSafe site has its own Site Name and URL (a.k.a., web address, domain name). 
• Keep your web address short and simple; something you can easily remember. This is the link you will use from the point forward to access your software. 
• Please Note: Once the Site Name and URL are chosen they cannot be changed. 
• Please Note: Domain name must be at least 3 characters long. 
• Click the “Create Account” button. You'll be transferred to a second page to enter your payment details.

 

Payment Details

• ATTENTION: DO NOT HIT THE "ENTER" KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD UNLESS YOUR INFORMATION IS COMPLETE AND CORRECT! 
• Only items marked with an asterisk (*) are required
• No spaces or dashes allowed in the Card Number section 
• Choose your Billing Country first (most frequently used countries are listed at the top), then choose your Billing State from the dropdown list.

 

Contact Information

• The “Contact Information” section is for your WorKSafe software only. Meaning, the information listed in this area will be saved and added to your software. 
• It is not how we would contact you for questions regarding payment, etc.  
• Only First Name, Last Name, and Email Address are required.

 

One-Time Site Creation

Please Note: Hitting the "Place My Order" button will not actually charge your credit card. This information is stored in our credit card processing system for billing when your 30-day trial expires.

If you are in any way dissatisfied with your trial, just go ahead and cancel your account before the 30-day period ends… no obligation! Please see “Managing My Account” for details.

When you hit “Place My Order” then your site is beginning to be built. The button will change to say “Processing” and it will redirect you to the below “wait page”:

Do not refresh this page or you may be billed multiple times or interrupt the site creation process.

Please understand that this process may take up to ten minutes, but it is only a one-time occurrence. Thank you for your patience, as there are many details that need to be pulled together to create your WorkSafe software.

Once the site is created, you will be led back to the Sales Site and provided a link to your new software:

 

Email Confirmation

You will also be sent two confirmation emails from Matheson WorkSafe.

The first email will come from admin@mathesonworksafe.com and is confirmation of your Package price. It is sent via our credit card processing system “Chargify”. It also provides you with a link to our Feedback Site for the software.

The second email will come from support@mathesonworksafe.com and it includes your URL/Web Address and Username. We do not send you your password, as we do not have access to that information. Keep this email for your records!

 

You are all set to begin using your software!!

Visit the "Logging Into Your WorkSafe Software" tutorial for questions about logging in for the first time or for questions on resetting your password, etc.

National Trends versus Personal Approach in Ergonomic Programs

We received the following question from one of our students and figured we would share the discussion with you:

Question

I am meeting with our City Human Resource Director on Monday.  I have been researching the web for statistics and information on why they need us for an ergonomics program and post offer program.  What do you suggest I present to them? 

Answer

Actually, my approach is to make it much more personal. Ask some of the following questions:

• What is their experience?

• Do they have lost-time injuries? 

• Do they have employees out on disability who do not seem to be returning to work in a prompt fashion?

Find the point of their pain rather than referring to national trends that they may not feel anything about. It may sound simple, but when you hit on a subject that touches them personally they tend to become more receptive to what you have to say and what you have to offer them to relive them of their pain.

If you want to rehearse, call me.

Roy

Reply From Student

Hmm…this makes sense, I’m so glad I emailed you…you are right having this ongoing support is definitely a Matheson difference! I will start with these questions and then once I have a better idea of their needs, I will contact you, and again, the support is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Free Monthly WorkSafe Webinars in 2011!

Throughout 2011, Louise Lynch and Roy Matheson & Associates, will be presenting a series of WorkSafe webinars intended to give a sneak peek at the online software, while at the same time giving helpful knowledge and resources about ergonomic evaluation and workplace risk factor assessment.

This series will focus on how to use Matheson Resolutions Services new online Ergonomic Software to bring new revenue into your business. Webinars will be held on the third Thursday of every month from 3:30-4:45 p.m. EST (GMT-5).

Coming up, on January 20th, is the inaugural webinar:  

How WorkSafe Solves Ergonomic Issues

This one hour webinar will give an overview of why the software was developed, it's ease of use and most importantly how it will allow you to bring in new business with local employers who have soft tissue injuries in their workplace.  Those who have mobile devices are encouraged to have them available to find out how easy it is to solve ergonomic issues while at the workplace.

Register Now!

Check out the schedule for the rest of 2011 on our website!
(Links to register for future months will be added during the month in which the webinar takes place.)

We hope to see you there!

Matheson

What Kind of Tools Are Used for an Ergonomic Evaluation?

One of the common questions we receive here at Matheson is, "What kind of tools and equipment will I need to do an ergonomic evaluation?"

We ended up creating a list to send to the those inquiring and we want to share it with you here.

So, without further ado, here is a rather comprehensive list of tools and/or equipment that one may use during an ergonomic assessment.

(Please note that not every tool gets used every time; it needs to make sense with the assessment you are performing.)

• Video camera with date and time
       2 blank tapes
       2 charged batteries
       Battery charger
• 35 mm still camera with at least ASA 400 color film
• Tripod for video and still cameras
• Graph paper
• Clipboard
• Calculator
• Tape measure (distances)
• Cloth tape measure (circumferences)
• Straight ruler
• Calipers (diameters)
• Job Evaluation Forms
• Force gauge dynamometer (Jamar)
• Pressure transducers (FSR)
• Weight scale
• Writing devices (pens, pencils, markers)
• Inclinometers (goniometers)
• Light meter
• Push-Pull gauge
• Vibration meter
• Torque wrenches
• Digital camera
• Tape recorder
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) (no jewelry)

If you have any other tools or pieces of equipment that you feel should be added to the list, by all means let us know! 

What tools do you usually use and what types of assessments do you typically perform?? 

* * *

Learn the Benefits of Using Matheson WorkSafe for either your company's Safety Team OR as a service that you can provide as a an Ergonomic Safety consultant.

 

Measuring Ergonomic Risk Factors: Part II of II

In Part I of this series, we discussed the risk factors of Magnitude, Repetition, Duration and Force. In Part II of II, we will be discussing: Posture and Motion, Vibration, Cold Temperatures, Work Organization and Psychosocial & Psychophysical factors.

Posture and Motion

Posture angles are measured in terms of the number of degrees a specific joint deviates from neutral.

Body landmarks for measuring angles are described in the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons' "Joint Motion Methods of Measuring and Recording" (1963).

Angular velocity refers to the speed at which a limb's position relative to the adjacent limb changes about an axis of rotation. Angular acceleration refers to the rate at which velocity (speed) changes about an axis of rotation.

In work situations, posture can be measured in several ways. In many cases, postures can be adequately estimated by direct observation. Observations may be estimated with videotapes, which may be played in slow motion or stopped for better viewing.  Videotapes also can be used for identification of other stresses and to maintain a permanent record of the job for comparison with the job after interventions are implemented.

Manual goniometers can be used for quantitative measurement of static postures.  Electrogoniometer can be calibrated in some cases to track posture for static or dynamic exertions. The accuracy and precision of electrogoniometer must be determined for each application.  Their calibration should be checked each time they are used. When used with a computerized data acquisitions system, these systems can be used to track posture over a period of time.

Electromechanical goniometers, placed over a joint's axes of rotation, can be used to obtain the relative orientation (position) of the respective body segments. An electrogoniometer also can be used in conjunction with videotape to document work activities and corresponding postural angles; however, the accuracy and precision of the goniometer system must be certified. These measurements may be differentiated to obtain the angular velocity, or differentiated again to obtain the angular acceleration.

Videotaping or still photography can be used alone if the camera's line of sight is perpendicular to the planes of the measured body segment. In this case, measurements can be made directly form the videotape image. Postural angles may also be measured from a combination of video and live observations, using one to verify the other. The evaluation of awkward postures ordinarily does not require the fine detail that the foregoing techniques/instruments provide.

Vibration

Measurements of the maximum amount of vibration available to the hand (e.g.,  "hazard level") are performed using the "basicentric" system.  Hand-arm vibration measurements and analyses should be performed according to ANSI S3.34, ACGIH-TLV, and NIOSH 89-106 recommendations.  As far as we are concerned, any and all vibration is hazardous.

Cold

Ambient temperature should be measured by using a thermometer.  A calibrated thermistor or thermocouple can also be used to measure surface temperature readings (e.g., measuring cold exhaust of an air tool venting across the wrist).

Cold temperature magnitude is quantified in degrees Celsius. Exposure pattern is measured as the number of contacts with cold exposure pre minute, and exposure duration is quantified in minutes of exposure.

Work Organization/Psychosocial/Psychophysical

There is a large body of literature on methods of assessing work organizations and organizational stresses. There are several instruments available.