Good Ergonomics is Good Economics

1. Ergonomic Process Implementation: Ensuring Effective Ergonomic Interventions Lessons learnedHal W. Hendrick, Ph.D., CPE

2. Good Ergonomics is Good Economics • Poor Ergonomics • Violates ergonomics technology and/or • Is not cost effective • Good Ergonomics • Appropriately applies sound ergonomics technology and • Is cost effective

3. ERGONOMICS Must Be COST EFFECTIVE • The language of business is money! • Managers have to justify any expenditure in terms of the cost- benefit ratio: How the project will affect the bottom line. • Must express ergonomic project proposals in financial terms.

4. Measuring the Economic Costs and Benefits of Ergonomic Interventions Example: Tree Debrancher Leg Protectors South African Forestry Industry Redesigned Unit: Based on anthropometric study; better materials, better straps and fasteners.

5. Measuring the Economic Costs and Benefits of Ergonomic Interventions Example: Tree Debrancher Leg Protectors Ergonomically Redesigned Results • Before: 10 leg injuries per day among 300 workers in a eucalyptus plantation; average of 5 lost work days per injury! • After: No leg injuries the next year; cost savings of $250,000. Will save $4 million per year for entire South African Forestry industry.

6. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Ergonomics Training is an important Key to a Successful program • Personal Example: Philippine Cottage Industry Factory - I taught one-day ergonomics & safety seminar to the manager and two workers who spoke English. - Then did a hazard analysis of the factory with them and made design improvements. - Manager then taught basic ergonomics safety to other Philippine workers.

7. Ergonomics Training is Important • Personal Example: Ergonomics Training in a Philippine Cottage Industry Factory Results - Minor injuries dropped from an average of one per week to one per month. - Lost time injuries dropped from one every 2 months to none over the next year. - Ergonomics information used by manager to refine design of our rattan furniture products.

8. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases • Real management commitment essential: Deeds, not just words, required. Often reflected in commitment of resources - Hiring professional ergonomics personnel - Providing ergonomics training to all employees - Funding appropriate risk analyses - Funding follow-up actions to correct deficiencies.

9. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases • Real management commitment essential: Deeds, not just words, required. Establishing rapport with key managers and raising their consciousness about full scope of ergonomics often essential to your long term success. This takes time and persistence - from my experience, an average of about two years.

10. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Collaboration invariably works far better than confrontation. Respect the ownership of the design engineer for his/her work; be supportive of him/her and you will gain openness to, and acceptance of, your input. Once you make a recognized and respected improvement to an engineer’s design (i.e., establish your credibility) you will have more work requests than you can handle.

11. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Ergonomists also can be System Integrators On System Development Projects, ergonomists often know more about all of the various system components than any other member of the engineering design team. They thus can act as systems integrators and see possibilities that others miss.

12. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Ergonomists also can be System Integrators Personal Example: Addition of a medical air evacuation configuration to the C141 Aircraft during its development. • I recognized that it could be added for very little additional expenditure. Change proposal to add it was approved. • This configuration saved many lives during the Viet Nam War.

13. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Ergonomists also can be System Integrators Second Example: A colleague working on development of an Air Force bomber recognized that the different hydraulic systems specified for the aircraft used different hydraulic fluids that were not compatible with one another! Had he not caught the error, the results could have been both costly and disastrous.

14. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases • Participatory ergonomics is the proven way to establish an ergonomics safety culture and sustain improvements. • Workers know problems with their jobs best. • They know what ergonomic alternatives will be most satisfying and acceptable to them. • Get employee “buy-in” to changes.

15. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Participatory ergonomics is the proven way to establish an ergonomics safety culture and sustain improvements. Example: Large Petroleum Distribution company. Results* Reductions After 2 years9 Years Motor Vehicle Accidents 51% 63% Industrial Accidents 54% 70% Lost Workdays 94% 97% * Imada (2002)

16. Participatory Ergonomics is Important • Example: Seven Companies Insured by Tokyo Marine One-day seminar on participatory ergonomics methodology and materials given to cross-disciplinary ergonomics teams from 7 companies insured by Tokyo Marine; conducted by Bill Brough of Washington Ergonomics. 6 of the 7 teams used training and materials to implement a participatory ergonomics program in their organizations.

17. Participatory Ergonomics is Important • Example: Ergonomics Team Training Results for the 6 companies that used training Strain injuries dropped from 131 in 6 months prior to implementation to 42 in six month period ending 18 months later for a net savings of $1,348,748. For 7th company, injury rate actually increased!

18. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases True Ergonomics professionals and expertise required for an effective program. - When not used, ergonomics safety programs usually inadequate and excessive injuries often result. - Developing, implementing, and managing a professional ergonomics and safety program requires professional knowledge and expertise.

19. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases True Ergonomics professionals and expertise required. Examples of problem • Warehouse type retail stores: Thousands of falling object injuries to customers each year. • Railroads: A high incidence of back injuries.

20. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases (continued) Human-Centered Design of Products: The sure way to success! • Example: Fork lift truck redesign

21. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Human-Centered Design of Products: The sure way to success! Example: Raymond Fork Lift Trucks • Raymond company market share had gone from 70% to 30% and was rapidly dropping. • Alan Hedge and Cornell University Ergonomics Lab and NY design firm, Pelican Design, jointly developed two new fork lifts for Raymond.

22. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Human-Centered Design of Products: The sure way to success! Example: Fork Lift Truck Redesign

23. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Human-Centered Design of Products: The sure way to success! Example: Fork Lift Truck Redesign • Used “inside-out” human-centered approach: Built truck around operators needs. • Goal: Maximize comfort, minimize accident risks, maximize productivity via shortened task cycle times.

24. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Human-Centered Design of Products: The sure way to success! Example: Fork Lift Truck Redesign Results • Market Share greatly increased. • Stock value went from $6 per share to $30 per share.

25. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases (continued) Pick the “low hanging fruit” first to obtain quick results and gain credibility with management --then expand. • Example: AT&T Global

26. Example: AT&T Global • Round 1: Actions • Extensive worksite analysis to identify ergonomics deficiencies. • Made numerous workstation improvements • Round 1: Results • Workers compensation dropped over 75%, from $400,000 to $94,000.

27. Example: AT&T Global • Round 2: Actions • Moved from assembly line process to one where each worker built entire cabinet (i.e, a macroergonomic change to the work system). • Round 2: Results • Workers compensation dropped to $12,000. • Lost workdays from injury went from 298 to 0 two years later.

28. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases (continued) Improvements to reduce accidents, WMSD’s, etc. usually also improve productivity – sometimes dramatically. • Example: Union Pacific Railroad Palestine, Texas car repair facility.

29. Example: UP Palestine Repair Facility • Had worst back injury rate in UP system • Joint AAR – UP project to reduce back injuries. • Used U of Michigan 2D program to evaluate back compression at all jobs. • Made ergonomic changes to reduce excess lifting and awkward postures. • Example: Storage table for coupler knuckle storage

30. Example: UP Palestine Repair FacilityCoupler Knuckle Storage Table

31. Example: UP Palestine Repair Facility • Results (3 years later) • Injuries went from 33 to 12; back injuries from 13 to 0; lost days from 579 to 0; restricted work days from 190 to 40; absenteeism from4% to 1%. AND • Cars repaired per year went from 1,564 to 2,900!

32. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Simple ergonomic solutions often yield dramatic results. Example: Poultry deboning knife used in poultry packaging plant.

33. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Simple ergonomic solutions often yield dramatic results. Example: Poultry deboning knife, poultry packaging plant. • High incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and tenosynovitis • $100,000 workers compensation costs per year.

34. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Simple ergonomic solutions often yield dramatic results. Example: Poultry deboning knife, poultry packaging plant. Solution: Introduced new, pistol grip knife that was commercially available.

35. Ensuring Effective Ergonomics Simple ergonomic solutions often yield dramatic results. Example: Poultry deboning knife Results - Immediate relief and increased worker satisfaction. - Workers Compensation reduced by $100,000 per year. - Line speeds increased by 2% to 6%. - Greater profits from more efficient deboning.

36. Insuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases OSHA Guidelines* Really Do Work • Are based on extensive research • When OSHA ergonomics program elements not present, ergonomics & safety program invariably not adequate. *See OSHA 3123 Ergonomics Program Management Guidelines for Meatpacking Plants

37. Insuring Effective Ergonomics • Lessons Learned from Actual Cases Macroergonomic interventions can yield dramatic improvements. • Accident rates • Scrap rates • Production quality and/or quantity • Job satisfaction and commitment

38. Macroergonomics Interventions Designing a New University College Transfer of Program from USC to DU Provided unique opportunity to create new College. Built around M.S. Systems Management program taught at 30 study centers throughout the U.S. and in Europe.

39. Macroergonomic Intervention Designing a New University College Macroergonomic Analysis Conducted a systems analysis of structural and process requirements. Extensive staff and faculty participation. Also involved an IBM educational analysis group using “User Systems Analysis” methodology.

40. Macroergonomics Interventions Designing a New University College Developed Streamlined Work System As compared with previous USC work system, new system more congruent with the program’s sociotechnical system characteristics. First determined tasks requiring people – then chose equipment and software (i.e., user-centered design).

41. Macroergonomics Interventions Designing a New University College Results (as compared with old USC work system) • 27% savings in operating expenses • 23% reduction in campus staffing requirements • 20% reduction in study center administrative time • 67% reduction in average processing time for student registrations, grades, etc. from off-campus locations.

42. Ensuring Effective Ergonomic Interventions: Lessons Learned Conclusion Proper application of ergonomics provides real value in terms of safety, health, comfort, and productivity and is highly cost effective. WE must get the message to management!