Ergonomics focus should be on dollars, not OSHA
Agency recommendations are not unreasonable
Dennis Downing is no fan of government regulation. But the president of Santa Barbara, CA-based Future Industrial Technologies (FIT), says employers who are spending sleepless nights worrying about potential new ergonomics regulations from OSHA should refocus their attention.
"The corporations I’ve spoken to are not mainly motivated by government mandates," notes Downing, whose company has implemented ergonomics programs for such organizations as United Airlines, Chrysler, Xerox, and UPS. "One company executive told me if he got a $7,000-$10,000 fine it wouldn’t mean anything to him."
And that’s an understandable attitude, Downing notes. "The real savings can be found by reducing those musculoskeletal injuries. Ergonomic programming should be profit-based, not mandate-based," he insists.
For every dollar a company spends on direct medical injury costs, it will spend three to four times that amount in indirect costs, Downing notes. "A $40,000 back surgery can really cost a company $100,000-$140,000, when you take into account rehiring, retraining, and loss of production."
With an economy as robust as ours, it is that much tougher to find good people when you lose a valued employee through injury, Downing continues. "If you have a wily veteran, a 20-year firefighter or police officer, and they blow their back out, you can’t get a cadet to come in and do what they were doing. Or, in a small company, if you have an administrative person who’s the backbone of the firm, you just can’t replace that."
Downing’s advice to employers is, don’t focus on OSHA or potential fines. "It’s very myopic to have that point of view," he says. "What you should be looking at are your high workers’ comp costs. If you implement a viable ergonomics program, then it’s a win-win."
Guidelines make sense
Ironically, says Downing, the six basic elements of OSHA’s proposed new ergonomic standards by and large make good sense. He offers the following point-by-point analysis:
• Management leadership and employee participation — Management will have the necessary training to oversee an ergonomics program and encourage employees to report problems. "For any program to succeed, it has to work from the top down; management has to buy in. Here, I agree 100% with OSHA," says Downing. "Management must have an awareness of ergonomic issues and hazards, and put together a team through which management and the workers will jointly to solve the problem."
• Hazard identification and awareness — Employees will be educated about the signs and symptoms associated with cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). Downing’s on board here as well. "They’re saying, now that we’ve put together a team, let’s identify the problems. What is this team going to attack? What are the causes?"
• Job hazard analysis and hazard control — The company will implement feasible controls in jobs where CTDs are identified as a hazard. "This is where you get into putting in administrative controls — how can we go ahead and lessen the cumulative effects of various job tasks on the body by controlling the environment, or by controlling the amount of time one spends doing a particular job," Downing explains.
• Training — Companies will provide ergonomic training to employees and their supervisors. This is critical, says Downing. "From our point of view, we’ve seen many companies put in engineering solutions, like new assembly lines or new office equipment, and then they don’t work. It’s more than just a physical problem. You can give someone a $600 chair, but it’s not an ergonomic chair unless it’s used correctly. You have to teach people how to sit, bend, stand, and lift properly."
• Medical management — Injured employees will be given prompt access to effective medical help. Here’s where Downing and OSHA part company. Naturally, he’s in favor of swift, effective medical help, "But there’s more to it than that," he explains. "The regulations also say a health care provider can come out and do a work site analysis. I disagree with this: Most physicians have very little understanding of what causes injuries. And, this totally bypasses local and state workers’ comp regulations."
• Program evaluation — The ergonomic program will be periodically reviewed to ensure it’s effectiveness. "I agree with any quality control measurement of any company’s operations," says Downing.
Does Downing’s company pursue a similar strategy with its clients? "We get more in-depth in terms of job site hazard analysis; you’ve really got to understand your problems before you can solve them," he notes. "But for the most part, I think OSHA’s done a nice job."
[For more information, contact: Dennis Downing, Future Industrial Technologies, 350 South Hope Ave., Suite A201, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Telephone: (805) 563-2225. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.backsafe.com.]
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