Val Woods 
BA, MSc, PhD, MIEHF

Val is an ergonomist with particular experience in the field of office ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders. She worked previously at the Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics at the University of Surrey for 17 years where her roles included: research fellow, lecturer and supervisor on the MSc programme in Health Ergonomics, and consultant/trainer in the implementation of workplace regulations and health and safety policy development.

Her main interests lie in musculoskeletal health, and factors such as social support particularly among low status workers, which was the focus of her PhD thesis. She has undertaken a wide range of investigations at the workplace including stress and ill health among emergency control staff, the design of equipment used by laboratory workers, musculoskeletal problems among cleaners, work organisation and workplace design for older workers, the ergonomics of using the mouse and other non-keyboard input devices, the creation of a tool for assessing risks at the workplace, and the design of police uniforms for equipment carriage.

As well as presenting findings at international scientific conferences, she has been involved in the organisation of a number of meetings to disseminate study results and implications to industry e.g. 'Tackling musculoskeletal disorders among cleaning staff ; improving the situation', held at Health and Safety Executive; 'Assessing musculoskeletal disorders at work: which tools to use when?' held at the University of Surrey.

She has conducted numerous workplace assessments in all types of offices including control rooms, publishing houses, banks, post offices and data processing organisations. Previous clients include: Health and Safety Executive, Royal Mail, Communication Workers Union, Telegraph Group, European Agency for Health and Safety at Work. Val has published many research papers and articles on various aspects of ergonomics.

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