This is an installment of the Workplace Ergonomics 101 series.

Workplace ergonomics and wellness programs have historically operated independently of each other, separated into different departments within the same company.

The workplace ergonomics process is typically managed by the Health & Safety team (who hopefully has a close partnership with Engineering) and workplace wellness programs are typically managed by HR departments.

A recent study by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) suggests what we’ve known for years: The organizational divisions that separate health protection (safety and health / ergonomics) from health promotion (wellness) prevents optimal resource utilization and impedes efforts to maximize the overall health and productivity of the workforce.

The study is titled, “Workplace Health Protection and Promotion: A New Pathway for A Healthier – and Safer – Workforce” and the conclusions drawn by the study are common sense: Health improvements lead to safety improvements. Safety improvements lead to health improvements.

By integrating the currently independent activities of health protection and health promotion, companies can create a safer, healthier and more productive workforce.

The NIOSH definition of Total Worker Health supports these conclusions: “Total Worker Health™ is a strategy integrating occupational safety and health protection with health promotion to prevent worker injury and illness and to advance health and well-being.”

In other words, a safer workforce is a healthier workforce. A healthier workforce is a safer workforce.

Integrating Health Protection & Health Promotion

According to the study, personal health and personal safety are, “inextricably linked to the productivity of the workforce and the health of the nation’s economy.”

Translated, this means that the personal health and personal safety of the employees at your company are linked to the productivity of your company’s workforce and the health of your company’s bottom line.

With this in mind, employers must put more attention and resources towards integration of safety and wellness and commit to a model of overall human performance.

Companies achieve high levels of human performance when workplace efficiency is maximized through ergonomics and the health profile of the worker is built up through wellness.

As an example, the study points out NASA’s adoption of the human performance model and the factors that make it successful (emphasis added):

“The NASA description of its wellness and safety paradigm provides a strong model for integration, calling for an approach that requires a service construct oriented toward human performance … and a measurement system oriented toward health status and outcomes. A systems approach rather than a programs approach better supports this paradigm because systems are constructed of linkages and seek synergy. Systems operations require thinking, work processes, and resource utilization, which emphasize integration, collaboration, and optimizing overall performance rather than stand-alone components or programs.”

These findings verify our own experience that shows a systematic approach to workplace ergonomics and wellness acting in concert with each other produces a higher level of overall human performance for the company.

The Impact of Workplace Ergonomics on Human Performance

Ergonomics is the science of designing work tasks to fit the worker, keeping in mind the capabilities and limitations of the human body. An effective ergonomic improvement process identifies and eliminates any deterrent to maximum work capacity, and limits worker fatigue and discomfort while also improving process efficiency and productivity.

Poor ergonomics increases injury risk. An ergonomically inefficient workplace introduces risk factors that contribute to costly and painful musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

Effective ergonomics decreases injury risk. Implementing ergonomic controls will reduce employee exposure to risk factors such as high task repetition, forceful exertions and repetitive/sustained awkward postures. By limiting MSD risk factors and improving the workstation, workers are safer, healthier and more productive.

Workplace ergonomics protects the health of workers by reducing injury risk and removing inefficiencies.

The Impact of Workplace Wellness on Human Performance

More and more evidence is coming to light on the impact of workplace wellness on human performance and organizational health. Employers are finally beginning to recognize the importance of wellness.

Here is a quote from the ACOEM study:

“The American health care system faces enormous challenges and is on a collision course with several trends that have dire consequences for the nation … Research has shown that common chronic conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, are driving up total health-related costs in the workplace. Other health conditions among workers—ranging from musculoskeletal pain and depression to obesity—are adding to those costs.”

Poor wellness increases injury risk. A poor health profile of a worker is a major contributing risk factor in the development of musculoskeletal injuries and disorders. All other things being equal, why does one worker develop a musculoskeletal disorder when another worker doing the same job under the same conditions doesn’t? Answer: the poor health profile of the worker who developed the MSD.

Effective wellness programs enhance human performance. Wellness programs reduce risk of injury and illness by building up the health profile of workers. Wellness programs that create even marginal reductions in risk factors for chronic health conditions have the potential to be a high-impact, cost-effective answer to the disturbing trends in overall workforce health.

Consider this statement from the ACOEM study:

“Clearly, companies have adopted a “Culture of Safety” and have made vast improvements to the workplace to ensure a safe workforce. Today, if someone experiences a serious job-related injury, the site usually shuts down and a root-cause analysis is completed before the continuation of work. However, if an overweight employee were to have a heart attack on the job, work would continue uninterrupted. That same focus and “Culture of Safety” that companies adopted over the last 40 years in response to workplace injury and illness need to be translated to a “Culture of Wellness,” focusing on the overall health of employees.”

Workplace wellness programs promote the health and overall well-being of employees.

Bringing it all together

Successfully integrating health protection and health promotion will require contributions from multiple departments. There must be a partnership and collaboration between Health & Safety, Human Resources, Engineering and also involve team members on the shop-floor.

Establishing human performance as a core value of your company will ensure all departments and employees understand its importance and engage them in a partnership for injury prevention and enhanced human performance.

By doing so, you can help your company reach its business goals through ergonomics and wellness.

For more ergonomics and wellness articles, sign up for the free MSD Prevention 101 Workshop.