Occupational Ergonomics Certificate

Certificate Overview

Obtain the skills and knowledge needed to anticipate, recognize, evaluate, and control ergonomic risk factors in a broad range of workplace settings. Immediately apply the skills learned in this program to improve human-job interface, increase productivity, reduce employee downtime from ergonomic injuries, and improve worker safety while preventing injury.

In this certificate program, you will study and practice the foundational principles of ergonomics, including:

• History of ergonomics
• Human anatomy and physiology
• Injury and disease causation
• Posture and biomechanics
• Work design
• Occupational stress
• Accidents and errors
• Ergonomic evaluation and control techniques

Colorado State University is proud to offer a certificate in the ergonomics field. The certificate program was created by faculty in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Heath Sciences, Occupational Safety and Health Section, Ergonomic Training Program. Students seeking certification in ergonomics will find this course helpful in the foundational areas and suitable for reporting 60 hours toward competencies identified in the Ergonomist Formation Model.

Curriculum

This certificate is earned by satisfactorily completing one course (GSLL 2030), which is organized in three major units and 30 modules with quizzes and exercises within the six-month scheduled period. You may enroll at any time as most students do not require the full six months to complete the work. The course may be completed ahead of the schedule but will not be extended.

Unit 1 – Principles of Ergonomics: covers factors that have been recognized to improve or degrade the human work experience.

Unit 2 – Ergonomics of the Office Environment: covers the modern office environment, using computers safely, and cumulative trauma disorders.

Unit 3 – Ergonomics of Back Injuries: covers lifting safely, back disorders, work evaluation, equipment and design.

No textbooks are required. All materials needed for this course are available online.

Noncredit certificates do not produce academic credit nor appear on a Colorado State University academic transcript.

Instructor

David Gilkey, D.C., Ph.D., is a Certified Professional Ergonomist. He is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Education in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at CSU. David is a skilled health practitioner with both a theoretical and practical knowledge base around workplace ergonomics. His areas of interest are diverse and include environmental and occupational human health, complementary and alternative human health, construction safety and ergonomics, and back pain and musculoskeletal pain syndromes among workers.

(970) 491-7138
david.gilkey@colostate.edu