Mark A. Heidebrecht, MSE, ACSM, CEA



BACKGROUND

Mark is Director of New Product Development for Ergo-Online where he is involved in performing ergonomic assessments and the content development of ergonomic educational products including seminars & web based training modules. Mark also serves as Director of Ergonomic and Biomechanical Services for MotionWatch, LLC where he is involved in the development of ergonomic, rehabilitation and biomechanical analysis technology.

He is certified by the Board of Certified Professional Ergonomists as a Certified Ergonomic Associate and holds an additional certification by the American College of Sports Medicine. Mark is currently the National Co-Chair of the Occupational Injury Prevention Rehabilitation Society, a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and was accepted into the American Society of Biomechanics in 1997. Mark graduated from the University of Kansas with a Masters of Education degree in Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology with emphasis in ergonomics, prevention and rehabilitation of work related injuries. He received Honors for his thesis The Kinetic Analysis of Lifting and Lowering Utilizing Chaffin’s Biomechanical Model. Mark has presented nationally at the collegiate and professional level and has acquired over 400 hours of continuing education in the field of occupational health and ergonomics. Mark testified as an expert witness in front of OSHA in July or 2000 regarding the controversial ergonomic standard. In September of 2000 he presented supporting documentation to the National Academy of Sciences regarding the effectiveness of ergonomic interventions and the early identification of musculoskeletal disorders.

UNION EXPERIENCE SUMMARY

Much of the work experience that has been presented has been performed within a wide range companies and trades and therefore many diverse union environments. Services have been performed at companies with the following union and association representation:
  • North American Needletrades Union
  • American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
  • Kansas State Firefighters Association
  • National Postal Mail Handlers Union, Local 297 (NPMHU)
  • American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
  • Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA)
  • Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Engineering Workers (PACE)
  • Utility Workers Union of America, Region IV (UWUA)
  • United Auto Workers (UAW-Ford)
  • International Brotherhood of Teamsters

    The unions that I have had the most direct involvement regarding management, employees and negotiations include the following:
  • North American Needletrads Union - Levi Strauss & Co.
  • American Federation of Government Employees - Internal Revenue Service, IRS.
  • American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – State & Local Governments
  • International Brotherhood of Teamsters – Numerous companies including UPS

    Involvement with other unions listed has been less formal and at the employee or supervisor level. In other situations consultation has also been provided to management regarding union occupational health and ergonomic issues.

    Recently I started a new project involving several postal workers in the Kansas City. The project involves documenting physical demands associated with several postal positions and performing functional capacity evaluations on several postal workers who have sustained injuries. The data will be used to assess return-to-work options. Like other assessments I have performed for the Postal Service, the employees are union members.

    In addition to the practical experience provided above, in graduate school I took a Human Resource Management class that dealt extensively with union legal and management issues. Topics discussed included union history, legislation and union structure, labor relation law, various labor and management relation Acts, union recognition and desertification and collective bargaining and arbitration.









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