directory of registered consultancies 2005 December 2005 – web version 2005 The Ergonomics Society Elms Court telephone +44 (0)1509 234904 Elms Grove fax +44 (0)1509 235666 Loughborough email [email protected] Leicestershire LE11 1RG web site www.ergonomics.org.uk ergonomics society registered consultancies Introduction Consultancies appearing in this Directory are entitled to declare themselves an ‘Ergonomics Society Registered Consultancy’. Applications for Registration are reviewed by the Consultancy Panel of the Society's Professional Affairs Board against the criteria described below. The Ergonomics Society imposes a code of professional conduct for Registered Consultancies. Registration Criteria Organisations and individuals who offer consultancy services in ergonomics are eligible for registration with the Ergonomics Society, provided that they meet the criteria given below. Consultancy service (a) Ergonomics expertise must be available on a consultancy basis to any potential client. (b) Where ergonomics groups exist within larger organisations, they must provide ergonomics consultancy services independent of the parent organization. (c) An individual (i.e. sole trader or freelance) must be available for consultancy at least on a part-time basis. (d) An individual would not normally qualify for registration if fully employed by another organisation. Links with the Ergonomics Society (a) An ergonomics consultancy must have at least one Registered Member of the Ergonomics Society on its permanent staff. (b) A consultancy must nominate a Registered Member on the staff as the main contact, who must assume responsibility for the consultancy’s application for registration. (c) In any consultancy, the ratio of Registered Members to other staff will be reviewed during an application assessment. (d) An individual (i.e. sole trader or freelance) who offers full-time or part-time consultancy services must also be a Registered Member and must also be the main contact. 2 Professional Quality (a) All Registered Members of the Ergonomics Society will have qualifications which have met a suitably appropriate and high standard as laid down by the Society. Further details of membership requirements are available from the Society’s office. (b) The technical quality of an ergonomics consultancy service is therefore assumed to be satisfactory if all the work is performed by a Registered Member of the Society, or the work is supervised and signed off by a Registered Member. (c) Specific evidence of successfully completed ergonomics projects carried out in the three years prior to the application must be provided. Commercial Quality The Ergonomics Society seeks to ensure that Registered Consultancies are of sound and stable commercial standing. It seeks also to ensure that the organization or individual has demonstrated ability to plan and conduct projects within commercial time and budget constraints. Applicants for admission to this Register should note that a newly formed consultancy that has met the requirements for registration outlined above, but has no trading history, may be designated a ‘New Consultancy’ in their entry for the first year of registration. Renewal Each year the Ergonomics Society requires those on the Register to re-affirm their eligibility for registration and to confirm that the details of their entry are wholly accurate and complete. Complaints Procedure Any complaints about any of the Registered Consultancies should, in the first instance, be addressed to the main contact of the consultancy in question. Should it prove impossible to resolve a dispute directly with the Consultancy, the Society Office should be contacted at the address on the cover, where complaints will be forwarded directly for the attention of the Registrar of the Society. 3 Choosing a Consultancy All the consultancies listed in this Register are capable of providing ergonomics expertise to the standard required for Registration. However, they have different project experience and different expertise, so if you have not commissioned an ergonomics consultancy before, the following advice might be of use: 1. Define your key requirements and try to prioritise them. 2. Look through the list of competencies as defined starting on page 5. Try to identify which areas of ergonomics appear to be the most relevant for your particular need. 3. Use the index at the back of this document to identify a shortlist of consultancies who claim primary competence in the relevant areas. (Each consultancy was restricted to select only 10 from the list of 28.) 4. Think about other criteria which are important to you. Perhaps you would prefer a consultancy which is located near to you, or you may prefer a consultancy of a particular size, or may wish to consider how long the consultancy has been in practice. 5. Read through the descriptive text and other details of each of the consultancies you have identified. Reject any which seem inappropriate, but try to retain a shortlist of at least three. 6. Contact the Main Contact at each consultancy on your shortlist, preferably by telephone. Describe your requirement. Listen carefully to their questions, comments and suggestions, and make notes. Request their company literature. 7. Prepare a written brief which defines your requirement as clearly and concisely as possible. However, do not be too specific about particular methodologies or techniques unless you are absolutely sure about them. 8. Invite written proposals against the brief from each consultancy on your shortlist. You can expect the proposals to clearly describe the methodologies to be used and the rationale for them, the costs and timescales, and examples of experience on similar projects. 9. In some cases, it may be helpful for the consultancies to visit you to gain a better understanding of the issues before quoting. 10. Review the competitive proposals and seek clarification if required. If still in doubt, call the Society office for further advice. 4 index by areas of competence Although all the consultancies listed in this register should be able to provide guidance and advice on a wide range of ergonomics issues, there is inevitably some specialisation. Each consultancy has selected up to ten categories which best represents their primary areas of competence and for which they have demonstrated some expertise. 1 Accidents; Health and Safety at Work accidents and safety; accident investigations; accident reconstructions; health and safety; healthcare ergonomics; hazard analysis; health and safety issues; the application of health and safety legislation; industrial work stress; machine guarding; safety culture and safety management; safety culture evaluation and improvement; alarms and warnings technology; probabilistic safety analysis. Atkins Consultants plc IOM Consulting BAE SYSTEMS Consultancy JRP Ergonomics CCD Design and Ergonomics Ltd Kingsley Management Services Ltd Consumer Risk Ltd Link Ergonomics David Hitchcock M W Halliday Associates Ltd Dennis Thompson Matrick Ergonomics Ltd EMS Risk Consulting Ltd Mott MacDonald Ergonomic Systems Ltd Optimal Performance Ltd ESRI QinetiQ Centre for Human Sciences Graham Coleman Associates Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics Greenstreet Berman Ltd Serco Assurance Hu-Tech Associates Ltd Sheila Lee Human Applications Ltd Sun Risk Management Human Engineering Ltd UserData Human Factors and Work Design Vectra Group Ltd Institute for Occupational Ergonomics West Midlands Ergonomic Service 2 Anatomy and Anthropometry in Human Activities anatomy; anthropometry; anthropometry and workplace design; biomechanics; design for the physically disabled; postural and biomechanical loading; slips, trips and falls; back pain; disabled access audits. BAE SYSTEMS Consultancy IOM Consulting Connected Systems Ltd JRP Ergonomics COPE Optimal Performance Ltd Davis Associates Ltd Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics Dennis Thompson SAMMIE CAD Ltd 5 3 Cognitive Ergonomics and Complex Tasks cognitive skills and decision making; forensic human factors; team work and groups; procedure development. AeI Human Systems Consultancy Praxis High Integrity Systems Ltd Air Affairs (UK) Ltd QinetiQ Centre for Human Sciences BAE SYSTEMS Consultancy Quintec Associates Ltd EMS Risk Consulting Ltd Serco Assurance Greenstreet Berman Ltd Synergy Consultants Ltd HFE Solutions Systems Engineering and Assessment Ltd Institute for Occupational Ergonomics Vectra Group Ltd Nickleby HFE Ltd 4 Computer Software Ergonomics software design; software development; software ergonomics; implementation and usability. Human Applications Ltd Nickleby HFE Ltd InterAction of Bath Ltd Quintec Associates Ltd IOM Consulting Synergy Consultants Ltd Live Connections UserData 5 Computer Terminals: Design and Layout design and layout of computer products and peripherals; computer terminal workstations; display screen equipment and regulations; display screen health and safety; DSE and manual handling; compliance surveys; DSE ergonomics assessments; VDUs and offices. Air Affairs (UK) Ltd Link Ergonomics COPE Matrick Ergonomics Ltd David Hitchcock Praxis High Integrity Systems Ltd Ergonomic Systems Ltd System Concepts Ltd Graham Coleman Associates UserData JRP Ergonomics West Midlands Ergonomic Service 6 Design and Layout of Displays and Controls selection and design of controls and information displays. AeI Human Systems Consultancy Live Connections BAE SYSTEMS Consultancy M W Halliday Associates Ltd Davis Associates Ltd Mott MacDonald Ergo Innovation (UK) Ltd Nickleby