Piotr Lechowski, senior physical therapist at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center, has been actively involved in ergonomic injury assessment and treatment as well as ergonomic injury recognition and prevention programs at the AOMC since 1995. Mr. Lechowski participated in the design and development of the ergonomics in healthcare modules prepared for this educational website. As part of the educational outreach provided under our OSHA Susan Harwood Training Grant, Mr. Lechowski has trained more than 2750 healthcare workers and healthcare facility managers over the past two years. Mr. Lechowski graduated from the Academy of the Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland in 1992 where he completed his Master's degree in Physical Therapy. In 1994, he re-located to the United States where he received certification from the NYSDOH professional licensing division and joined the professional staff of the Physical Therapy Department at Arnot Ogden Medical Center. As a result of his broad clinical and professional expertise and training, Mr. Lechowski has been providing not only rehabilitation services to workers suffering from many types of musculoskeletal disorders but also ergonomic workplace and work process evaluation and modification in many regional worksites.

Mr. Lechowski's clinical practice is concentrated in the area of the Orthopedic Physical Therapy and he has received specialized training from 16 different seminars and workshops in the past few years. He specializes in evaluation and treatment of various musculoskeletal problems including spine, peripheral joints, gait, and balance disorders. He utilizes a broad spectrum of techniques including many types of rehabilitative and injury prevention exercises; joint, soft tissue, and nervous system mobilizations and modalities; and balance and gait training. He has many years experience in patient and worker education detailing the causes of ergonomic injuries and emphasizing the prevention of future musculoskeletal injury.

Ergonomic injury evaluation and training is Mr. Lechowski's second area of expertise. In 1995, he became certified in performing Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE) developed by Isernhagen Work Systems in order to assist workers and their physicians determine the functional abilities of an injured or disabled worker returning to the workplace. Mr. Lechowski's rehabilitative services have also been used by the NYS Workers Compensation System and NYS insurance companies as well as other state insurance carriers. In 1998, Mr. Lechowski further expanded his knowledge base in the area of ergonomics by attending extensive training provided by the University of Michigan, a national leader in the area of ergonomics and injury prevention. He has also received training in: 1) Occupational ergonomics, work evaluation, and prevention of upper limb and back disorders, 2) Ergonomics job analysis, and 3) Ergonomics and injury management provided by Isernhagen Work Systems nationally recognized for their specialty training in evaluating and preventing work-related injuries. Mr. Lechowski also received additional ergonomics training in the area of Functional Job Analysis and Pre-Work Screening from the Isernhagen Work Systems training program. He became fully certified in the areas of: 1) evaluating jobs for ergonomic risks including prevention protocols, 2) preparing functional job descriptions and, 3) designing pre-work screening evaluations.

Mr. Lechowski is also a very active member of the AOMC Injury Prevention and Safety Team and the Ergonomics Program Committee at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center. He is charged with investigating work-related injuries at the medical center including the nursing home facility and developing remediation and prevention procedures to avert any future work-related ergonomic injury. He provides ergonomic training to management, supervisors, risk managers, occupational safety and health supervisors, and HCWs including nurses, office workers, maintenance, housekeeping, and food and kitchen workers at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center. He performs ergonomic assessments and provides corrective recommendations for the AOMC regarding computer workstations as well as patient handling and material handling processes. Mr. Lechowski has also developed and presented several formal ergonomic in-services on topics such as proper body mechanics and proper posture for healthcare workers over the past 5 years.