April 10, 2018
A disheartening reality for many safety and ergonomics professionals is that many of their initiatives ultimately become the victims of their own success. Once they accomplish the organization’s initial objectives, investments in ergonomics and other safety solutions either evaporate or are reallocated elsewhere.
While these outcomes may be frustrating, they often stem from tactical approaches focused on incremental improvements. Indeed, many such initiatives are designed to satisfy federal or state requirements (such as OSHA) or to reduce injuries driving workers’ compensation costs. The problem: Once immediate problems are addressed, the programs aren’t maintained or expanded.
On the other hand, organizations with long-term success in ergonomics view it in terms of a continuous improvement process: risk factors drive the process and a proactive approach to manage risk yields long-term benefits in employee health, safety, enhanced internal and external productivity, and human performance.
Progress can be tracked and quantified using proven manufacturing metrics, such as improved quality (human error reduction), reduced cycle times and overall cost reduction (including labor and employee medical costs).
Here are five keys to make ergonomics initiatives sustainable and critical elements of an organization’s drive for operational excellence.
Even as many organizations embrace operational excellence, lean manufacturing or Six Sigma to drive systematic and continuous improvement across the enterprise, ergonomics isn’t necessarily integrated with these initiatives. Nonetheless, ergonomics can be a difference maker: It eliminates waste and operational variances through effective workstation design; it facilitates measurement through the establishment of leading performance metrics, and it enhances productivity by reducing employee risks of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
The tactical aspects of injury prevention involve identifying risk factors, such as awkward postures, high-force applications and high frequency/exposures, as well as their root causes, and designing and implementing solutions to reduce them.
Read more at EHSToday.com
