Why You Should Care About Ergonomics

Employers commonly focus on the items they need to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies such as OSHA and the EPA. Why should you consider ergonomics, for which there is no OSHA standard (except in California), as part of your hazard prevention and control plan?

Repetitive motion is known for causing injuries whether it is a result of work, activities at home, sports, or hobbies. These injuries can be painful and costly, requiring physical therapy, surgery, extensive downtime, and occupational therapy to re-condition the injured person for work. The amount of damage that a worker’s compensation claim, or claims can do with an ergonomic injury, particularly for a small business, can be significant.

For example, when I was still working as a third-party administrator and employer representative for worker’s compensation claims here in Ohio years ago, I had a client with three shoulder injuries  all within a few months time. All were women, and all required surgery, physical therapy, and temporary total disability payments because shoulders do not heal quickly. The injured associates ranged in age from mid-30’s to early 50’s and were of similar height.

I contacted the client to request permission to send the youngest of the three for an independent medical evaluation. The similarity in injuries suggested that something had changed in the workplace that had caused all this damage. After the examination was complete, the physician called me and suggested that the client needed to have an ergonomic assessment as soon as possible. The injuries were legitimate and would require a long recovery before the employee(s) could reach maximum medical improvement.

The site plated small parts, weighing mere ounces, which were hung on fixtures for the plating process. All three injured associates performed this task. I provided the physician’s feedback to the employer, and they enlisted the services of one of the Ohio BWC’s Division of Safety and Hygiene Ergonomists to evaluate the task. The finding was simple. The company had added an additional section to the fixtures where parts were hung to allow more to be plated at one time. This additional section meant that associates were reaching above shoulder level repeatedly for the entirety of an eight-hour shift. The result was significant injuries to the small muscles of the shoulder, a substantial amount of medical and temporary total disability cost, and a four-year increase in worker’s compensation premium for the employer. The solution: adding a riser with a height of about four inches to bring associates closer to the work. This could have been easily fabricated on site and would have prevented the injuries the three associates experienced.

Little things can add up as evidenced by this example. Changes to production processes, the sudden implementation of a manual assembly station, or requirements for handling and manipulation of small parts can all add up to create ergonomic stress. Ideally, an employer would be able to evaluate all these processes individually and develop strategies for mitigation, but that is not always feasible.

To get an idea of where ergonomic injuries may be occurring in your facility or at your site, review both worker’s compensation claim data and OSHA 300 logs to identify if there are trends that indicate the potential for an ergonomic problem. For repetitive tasks, implement job rotation schedules to allow associates to rest before performing the task again. In SCR’s experience rotation schedules have been anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours performing the same task before rotating to a different task. Duration spent performing the task depends upon the stress placed on the body.

For areas where it is known that there are ergonomic concerns, job rotation can be performed, but engineered solutions should be considered. This may include adjustable height tables and lifting devices most commonly or replacing a manual process with an automated one. 

Employers participating in the State Fund Worker’s Compensation program in Ohio may be eligible for a Safety Intervention Grant which can be used to offset the cost of new equipment. An SCR client has recently participated in this program. While this grant does have a reporting requirement to provide the BWC with a one-year case study on the implementation of the desired intervention, the limited amount of extra effort is certainly worth the funds to defray the cost of new equipment.

Employers who receive their worker’s compensation coverage through the Ohio BWC are encouraged to explore the resources provided in the links below. Self-ensured employers may wish to inquire with their worker’s compensation carriers about any available resources or engage third party ergonomists to provide evaluations of any areas of concern.

Ergonomics consultations | Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (ohio.gov)

Safety Intervention Grant | Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (ohio.gov)

Tags: Ergonomics