Disability and work: a possible combination. Methods and experiences in worksites and work-processes design for people with mobility impairment

(text automatically translated from Italian) It is not enough to ensure access to the workplace and adapt spaces and equipment to ensure that the worker with disabilities can exercise its tasks independently, comfortable and productive. It 'also important to ensure that the worker can maintain their ability to work in the long term. Some tasks, in fact, can expose the worker movements and efforts that lead to a gradual worsening of their functional limitations, resulting in worsening of disability both at work and in other activities of daily living. Much can be done to prevent such risks through reasonable accommodation (reasonable accommodation). The concept of adaptation incorporates the issues of overall working environment, individualized redesign of the workplace, the adoption of technical aids useful to facilitate work tasks, the reorganization of processes and workflows and 'possible support for personal assistance. The concept of sustainability evokes the principle of "do not force the employer to disproportionate investment." This report represents the first systematic analysis of the work of matter, and therefore provides information and insights useful in various areas: 1) the operators in the field of disabilities, particularly those engaged in rehabilitation, counseling and technical aids in the insertion working, and 2) to occupational physicians, as sheds new light on the issues of risk analysis and highlights the potential for solutions - today often overlooked - technical adaptation of the work environment, and 3) to employers and their safety technicians, highlighting new aspects of safety in the workplace and new possibilities for solving them.