In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an abrupt shift in the nature of work systems across the globe has occurred with a dramatic increase in the number of people who are working remotely from their homes. Work From Home (WFH) is the “new way of working,” in which employees’ homes have become their workplaces. Going forward, as the re-opening of office workplaces is being considered, the planning and design of these alternative and new flexible/hybrid office environments is occurring. Attention to human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) issues from both micro- (individual workers) and macro- (organization and environment) perspectives is essential to support and protect workers, to ensure worker wellbeing and performance, and to achieve the benefits of these new work arrangements.

In this webinar, Dr. Robertson will present a work systems perspective to consider in the creation and design of these new office work styles, such as telework programs and hybrid work arrangements. She will also discuss her telework research and provide valuable key recommendations to consider when managing the safety, wellbeing and performance of workers in these challenging times.

About the presenter

Dr. Michelle Robertson is the Executive Director of the Office Ergonomics Research Committee, a lecturer at Northeastern University and the University of California, Berkeley Center of Occupational and Environmental Health, and a research faculty member at the University of Connecticut, Psychological Sciences. Previously, she was a research scientist in human factors and ergonomics at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, where she conducted field and applied research projects in a variety of industries including financial, telecommunications, aerospace and surface transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare.

Dr. Robertson has dedicated more than 20 years of her career in systematically designing and evaluating organizational and training interventions that include participatory and macroergonomics approaches, work organization factors, training system design, computer work environments, office ergonomics, and designing integrated wellness and ergonomics programs. She was on faculty at the University of Southern California for 12 years, where she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in human factors, training, safety and management. She is a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the International and Ergonomics Association. Currently, Dr. Robertson is working with the Center for Promotion of Health in the New England Workplaces (CPH-NEW) with UMASS Lowell and UCONN developing an organizational readiness survey and supporting outreach activities.

Dr. Robertson is a Board-Certified Professional Ergonomist (CPE) and holds a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology, M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California and a B.A. in Human Factors/Ergonomics from the University of California Santa Barbara.  She has published over 95 articles in human factors/ergonomics and has presented her work nationally and internationally. She has been the recipient of several awards, including the NORA/NIOSH innovative research award for her work on designing a macro-ergonomics training program, the NIOSH/APA Best Intervention Honorable Mention paper for her office ergonomics intervention research, and the HFES Alphonse Chapanis best paper award.

Registration

This is a free webinar, but registration is required to reserve your spot. Please complete the online registration form and you will receive a confirmation email containing the webinar login details.

For assistance, please contact Betina Butler at bbutler@uwaterloo.ca.