The ergonomics process needs to be baked into your organization’s DNA and aligned with strategic initiatives. It needs to be a part of the daily, weekly, monthly and annual rhythms in the way you manage your company.
Is it time for you to get serious about ergonomics?
Perhaps you’ve heard or read case studies about a world class ergonomics program. The facility featured in the case study experienced dramatic results:
- A 78% reduction in worker’s compensation costs
- A 15% increase in productivity
- Quality improvements
- Improved safety culture and employee morale
The other cool thing about the case study was that the safety leader who was featured got to put a nice little feather in their cap. Good press probably didn’t hurt their career, and a safety success story is always a pleasant change of pace from the doom and gloom headlines.
Sounds appealing, right?
Right.
Except it isn’t always as easy as the case study makes it appear to be. The truth is that it’s hard to be world class in ergonomics.
In order for you to get there, you’ll need to sidestep a few landmines that are sure to blow up your ergonomics program. Here is the first landmine that will stop you in your tracks: reactively implementing ergonomics in response to an injury.
Proactive vs. Reactive Ergonomics
Conducting an ergonomic risk assessment in response to an injury isn’t a bad thing to do. In fact, it’s what you should do.
But remember: we’re aiming for a world class ergonomics process. We’re going to the next level.
What does the next level look like?
Above all else, a world class ergonomics program is proactive and viewed as a strategic continuous improvement process that makes a positive impact on the entire business.
In other words, ergonomics shouldn’t be an afterthought. If your ergonomics program is in reactive mode, it will only have a marginal impact on your facility at best.
Here is the difference.
Reactive ergonomics:
- Waits for an injury to occur before being implemented
- Isn’t tied to strategic initiatives and organizational goals
- Gets little to no funding or leadership support
- Gets marginal results
Proactive ergonomics:
- Is implemented before an injury occurs
- Is viewed as a continuous improvement process (not a one-time program or event)
- Is tied to strategic initiatives and organizational goals
- Gets the funding and leadership support it needs to succeed
- Develops talent and trains up a workforce with an above average ergonomics IQ
- Gets transformational results
If your ergonomics program is reactive in nature, you will be doomed to sub-par results. On the flip side, if your ergonomics program is proactive in nature, then you can continuously improve it all the way to world class status.
Remember: ergonomics is a process, not a program. When you get proactive, your ergonomics process will gain value over time and become a key driver for your organization’s success.
A Practical Six-Step Ergonomics Improvement Process
To get started with ergonomics as a continuous improvement process, use this simple six-step process as your roadmap. (For more detail, download our ergonomics improvement process flowchart.)
- Develop prioritized list of jobs for analysis.
This prioritized list should be developed by the ergonomics team based on an initial facility tour, review of MSD history and data collected by employee surveys. - Conduct ergonomic analysis.
This analysis will objectively measure risk for each job in the workplace and help you develop an ergonomic opportunity list. - Develop ergonomic opportunity list.
Developing an ergonomic opportunity list allows you to prioritize company resources in order to effectively and efficiently reduce risk by putting the appropriate controls in place. - Determine best solution with team approach.
A multi-disciplinary team should be involved in determining the best controls for implementation. - Obtain final approval and implement solution.
If the improvement requires a significant capital expenditure, cost-justify the solution to gain approval. - Evaluate ergonomic improvement for effectiveness.
Once improvements are in place, close the loop on the project by evaluating the ergonomic improvement and measuring its effectiveness.
Design With Ergonomics in Mind
The most proactive you can get with ergonomics is during the design phase of new products and work processes. This will also get you the highest return on your ergonomics investment. Build it correctly the first time and save yourself the time, effort, money and other precious resources required to fix a poorly designed workplace.
(For help with this, download our industrial ergonomic design checklist.)
Conclusion
The ergonomics process needs to be baked into your organization’s DNA and aligned with strategic initiatives. It needs to be a part of the daily, weekly, monthly and annual rhythms in the way you manage your company.
The value and ROI of ergonomics is there. It’s been proven time and time again. The opportunity cost of neglecting ergonomics is too great to ignore any longer.
Establish ergonomics as a continuous improvement process to care for your people and grow your business.
It’s time.
