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About Barbre Ergonomics
Barbre Ergonomics Consulting and Training
Practical Targeted Approach
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Barbre Ergonomics is led by certified professional ergonomist Bill Barbre, with
36 years of front-line experience in industry and consulting. Bill's expert
assessments and training help you see what he sees -- practical opportunities to
make jobs easier, less costly, safer, smarter, and more comfortable to perform,
often by removing unnecessary steps and effort.
Many of the changes he recommends can be made at low cost or no cost. Bill
shows clients how even small changes can make big differences using the
powerful tools of ergonomics, without relying on generic checklists or rating scales
that don't really predict risk or prevent injury.
Got strain injuries? Call Barbre Ergonomics at 817-454-2242 I can help your
company accomplish your goals, identify what's going on, and find practical
improvements that address it.
I'm Bill Barbre -- based in Fort Worth, Texas USA near DFW International Airport,
and I can efficiently reach even out-of-the-way plant locations across the US and
parts of Canada. Let me bring a fresh set of eyes and ideas for improving
efficiency and safety while reducing costs and making the same work easier to do.
Or email me -- bill@barbre-ergonomics.com
What makes me the smart choice for ergonomic
assessments and training?
Background and real-world experience. Let me make my case for why I'm the best
choice for ergonomic assessments and training programs:
I began training in ergonomics and human factors engineering in 1979 while
studying the control-room causes of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident with
researchers at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico.
I went on to study in graduate school with experts in ergonomics, safety, and
human factors design at Virginia Tech, with a master's degree in industrial
engineering and operations research. I conducted studies on employees using
heavy industrial equipment and working at fast-paced assembly lines. I set a
departmental record for designing the fastest method to assemble a complex part.
For eight years I worked as a human engineering specialist in advanced military
aerospace design on the human factors and ergonomics of emerging jet fighter
cockpits, including aircrew gear, and ground crew maintenance methods. I helped
write industry design standards. Some cockpit systems I helped develop are now
flying on F-22 and F-35 aircraft.
Then I had the honor of becoming the first full-time ergonomist at a Class I
American railroad, with the job of building ergonomics programs and training for
40,000 employees in 28 states and three Canadian provinces. This included
employees from 11 unions working in large maintenance shops, at train yards,
outdoor track repair, on locomotives and trains, climbing towers, operating heavy
equipment, and working in state-of-the-art dispatching centers and offices.
This was a period of great transformation for railroads, with the introduction of
new equipment, tools, and technology that improved employee safety and
ergonomics like never before. This included the development and testing of new
track switches, locomotives, freight cars, ergonomically-advanced tools and
methods, and greatly increased mechanization of physically demanding tasks.
I trained a system-wide network of self-sufficient employee ergonomics teams that
made hundreds of improvements to equipment and methods in shops and yards
all over North America. Over a five-year period, back injuries were reduced by
85%, strain injuries by 80%, and occupational illnesses by 95%.
This background and front-line experience with ergonomics process management
and fielding real-world improvements led me to start Barbre Ergonomics
Consulting and Training in 1996. Since then, I have applied an approach to
conducting assessments and making improvements that is uniquely practical and
effective, because I know what works and what doesn't. It focuses resources on
identification, prioritization, and action toward needed improvements to equipment
and methods.
With my training programs, I pass this capability along to clients so they can
develop the "ergonomics eye." They use this skill to apply ergonomics methods
and "tricks of the trade" to tackle efficiency-robbing fatigue, soreness, wasted
effort, unnecessary steps, reduced safety margins, and injuries involving manual
handling, repetitive forceful motions, and working in weakened, fatiguing, and
uncomfortable postures.
36 years of front-line experience in industry and consulting. Bill's expert
assessments and training help you see what he sees -- practical opportunities to
make jobs easier, less costly, safer, smarter, and more comfortable to perform,
often by removing unnecessary steps and effort.
Many of the changes he recommends can be made at low cost or no cost. Bill
shows clients how even small changes can make big differences using the
powerful tools of ergonomics, without relying on generic checklists or rating scales
that don't really predict risk or prevent injury.
Got strain injuries? Call Barbre Ergonomics at 817-454-2242 I can help your
company accomplish your goals, identify what's going on, and find practical
improvements that address it.
I'm Bill Barbre -- based in Fort Worth, Texas USA near DFW International Airport,
and I can efficiently reach even out-of-the-way plant locations across the US and
parts of Canada. Let me bring a fresh set of eyes and ideas for improving
efficiency and safety while reducing costs and making the same work easier to do.
Or email me -- bill@barbre-ergonomics.com
What makes me the smart choice for ergonomic
assessments and training?
Background and real-world experience. Let me make my case for why I'm the best
choice for ergonomic assessments and training programs:
I began training in ergonomics and human factors engineering in 1979 while
studying the control-room causes of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident with
researchers at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico.
I went on to study in graduate school with experts in ergonomics, safety, and
human factors design at Virginia Tech, with a master's degree in industrial
engineering and operations research. I conducted studies on employees using
heavy industrial equipment and working at fast-paced assembly lines. I set a
departmental record for designing the fastest method to assemble a complex part.
For eight years I worked as a human engineering specialist in advanced military
aerospace design on the human factors and ergonomics of emerging jet fighter
cockpits, including aircrew gear, and ground crew maintenance methods. I helped
write industry design standards. Some cockpit systems I helped develop are now
flying on F-22 and F-35 aircraft.
Then I had the honor of becoming the first full-time ergonomist at a Class I
American railroad, with the job of building ergonomics programs and training for
40,000 employees in 28 states and three Canadian provinces. This included
employees from 11 unions working in large maintenance shops, at train yards,
outdoor track repair, on locomotives and trains, climbing towers, operating heavy
equipment, and working in state-of-the-art dispatching centers and offices.
This was a period of great transformation for railroads, with the introduction of
new equipment, tools, and technology that improved employee safety and
ergonomics like never before. This included the development and testing of new
track switches, locomotives, freight cars, ergonomically-advanced tools and
methods, and greatly increased mechanization of physically demanding tasks.
I trained a system-wide network of self-sufficient employee ergonomics teams that
made hundreds of improvements to equipment and methods in shops and yards
all over North America. Over a five-year period, back injuries were reduced by
85%, strain injuries by 80%, and occupational illnesses by 95%.
This background and front-line experience with ergonomics process management
and fielding real-world improvements led me to start Barbre Ergonomics
Consulting and Training in 1996. Since then, I have applied an approach to
conducting assessments and making improvements that is uniquely practical and
effective, because I know what works and what doesn't. It focuses resources on
identification, prioritization, and action toward needed improvements to equipment
and methods.
With my training programs, I pass this capability along to clients so they can
develop the "ergonomics eye." They use this skill to apply ergonomics methods
and "tricks of the trade" to tackle efficiency-robbing fatigue, soreness, wasted
effort, unnecessary steps, reduced safety margins, and injuries involving manual
handling, repetitive forceful motions, and working in weakened, fatiguing, and
uncomfortable postures.
Bill Barbre, MSIE CPE
