Awareness of work related injuries such as upper limb disorders or low back problems has improved in recent years. Try searching the Web for "RSI" and you will find dozens of articles by clinicians and sufferers alike. In a small number of situations, and for a variety of reasons, the claims and counter-claims about provision of ergonomically sound work features escalate to the level where legal action is started.

From our point of view as professional ergonomists, legal action is a sign of failure. It is more satisfying to work proactively with clients to reduce the risk of injury by making ergonomic improvements to the workplace. Becoming involved as an expert witness in a legal slanging match once matters have got out of hand is a frustratingly reactive use of our skills. Nonetheless, acting as an expert witness is a valuable role - and one which is certain to raise the standard of ergonomics in many types of work.

A day in the life of an ergonomics expert witness typically begins with a large, reinforced envelope hitting the desk:

I act on behalf of .................. and write to inform you that Counsel advises that we commission an ergonomics report. I attach for your attention the following [5 cm of paper!]. Please confirm that you are prepared to accept my instructions.

Assuming there is no conflict of interest, we then:

• Meet the Plaintiff or contact for the defendant (we conduct work for both parties) and collect details about the situation. We need to expand on information provided in witness statements and medical reports and make plans to ...
• Inspect the workplace. Often this will be conducted at the same time as an expert appointed by the other side. Our aim is to collect data that can be compared with established ergonomics guidelines, best practice, Regulations, standards etc.
• Carry out research to see if the situation as described and as inspected is the same as at the time of the alleged incident.
  Having established the facts, we then document them in a technical report which is used by the solicitors and barristers to decide the strength of their case on ergonomics grounds. Getting to this point is likely to require around three to five days of our time; however this is often spread over an elapsed time of several months—even years in some cases!

In a small proportion of cases (less than one in 10) we are asked to give evidence in court. We must explain our views and conclusions and describe why they differ from the other expert's views.

To date we have been involved in cases concerned with a wide range of jobs. Top of the list are keyboard operators (data entry clerks, word processor operators, secretaries—especially, ironically, legal secretaries!). Other jobs cover machine operators (doing highly repetitive, short cycle time jobs), manual workers (whose tasks included digging, delivery work, lifting heavy objects), cashiers and accounts clerks.