Navistar’s ergonomic program one of the best
GAO praises company’s efforts to reduce injuries
It may be no coincidence that Navistar’s ergonomics program incorporates a union representative as one of its main components and that it has been cited as an example of how effective an ergonomics program can be.
Navistar International Transportation Corporation in Springfield, OH, manufactures heavy- and medium-duty trucks. About 80% of the work force is unionized and under contract with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The UAW bargaining agreement requires each of Navistar’s 10 facilities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico to have an ergonomics program that includes employee involvement, which is part of the reason local union representative Steve Reed was appointed as ergonomics chairman.
Navistar’s work force was considered a particular challenge for an ergonomics program because the Springfield facility’s employees average 50 years old, a result of little turnover in the past years. Originally, the ergonomics program was based on local ergonomics committees composed of line employees who would analyze problem jobs and develop controls. They found, however, that line employees lacked the necessary skills to develop controls, and it was difficult to work on the committees without neglecting the demands of their regular jobs.
As a result, Navistar and UAW collectively decided to restructure the committee membership so that the only required members would be the local union safety representative and management safety representative. That was Reed and ergonomist Alisha Hensley, BSET, CIE.
In some cases, Reed and Hensley have formed special committees to address particularly difficult jobs. For example, the "pin job" is considered the most onerous job in the facility because it requires using extraordinary force while in awkward postures. In this job, the frame of the truck is lowered onto the axle and employees have to manhandle the frame so that it aligns with the axle, while simultaneously hammering in pins that attach the two parts. Previous suggestions for fixing the problem would have required major changes in the production process or the product design, so the company established a new committee that includes line workers most familiar with the job. The committee is investigating new ways to improve the pin job.
Employees can request job analysis
As much as possible, Navistar encourages direct access to ergonomic services. For example, employees can trigger a job analysis simply by submitting a "Request for ergonomic study" form to either the ergonomist or union representative. (For a sample of the form, see p. 30.) The one-page form asks for basic information about the employee involved, the ergonomic concern being reported, and any suggestions the employee might have for alleviating the ergonomic concern. Employees also can informally tell Hensley or Reed about a problem job during their frequent walk-throughs of the facility.
Navistar’s process for analyzing jobs and developing controls was designed to be simple, informal, and not require a lot of paperwork. The company is less likely to analyze a large number of jobs if there is a lot of paperwork to do for each job analyzed, Hensley notes. She and Reed analyze about 250 jobs a year, a number that would not be possible if a great deal of paperwork were involved.
To analyze a job, Reed or Hensley assembles a committee of workers and watches an employee perform the job in question.
"I’m pretty open about inviting anybody who has any input to participate," Reed says. "The people who currently do the job, supervisors, anybody who has performed that job in the past."
Jobs are not videotaped as part of the analysis because that would violate provisions of the UAW collective bargaining agreement. Hensley says Reed’s input in the job analysis can be particularly important because he has years of experience in working with the different departments. In one case, for instance, there was a high rate of back, shoulder, and other problems stemming from an assembly job in which the cab part of a truck is attached to the frame. The job requires the cab to be positioned at a specific angle, so employees were jacking up the cab with a car-type jack numerous times a day. Reed knew that employees on other production lines were using a hydraulic pump to lift the cab, so he suggested the employees in this job try the same thing. Injuries decreased immediately.
Simple changes can make big differences
Hensley and Reed take pride in that most of the ergonomic solutions in their plant are simple and inexpensive, like the addition of the hydraulic pump to lift the cab.
An ongoing improvement is the replacement of the facility’s 30,000 impact wrenches with "nutrunner" guns, which are less powerful but also provide much less vibration. In another example, Hensley and Reed found that workers were exerting a great deal of wrist and arm strength during the installation of truck windshields. Employees were attaching the windshield to the cab of the truck as it moved down the assembly line, reaching as high as 7 feet off the ground while lifting a piece of pre-cut glass into the cab frame.
Rubber insulation already had been placed around the perimeter of the cut out area of the cab, and employees had to exert a great deal of pressure to attach the glass to the rubber insulation. Workers complained of discomfort from the reaching and the force required to keep the glass in place, and several employees were transferred to other jobs. Quality also was affected because the windshields leaked if the employees were unable to install the glass properly.
The solution turned out to be fairly simple. Because the assembly line moved, it was not possible to build a platform for employees to stand on while attaching the windshield. The committee looking at the problem decided to put the rubber insulation on the windshield glass instead of on the cut out area of the cab. They also decided to put an employee inside the cab to help hold the glass while it was being attached to the cab. As a result, the workers can install the windshield without applying so much force, though they still have to reach. Reported injuries decreased as did warranty claims for leaky windshields.
Hensley also spends a lot of time promoting the company’s ergonomic plans through notices in company publications, bulletin board announcements, and contests. One of the most popular contests was one called the "Strong Person Contest." The idea was to identify the jobs in the plant that involved the most heavy lifting, and maybe needed a job analysis, by encouraging workers to brag about how much weight they lifted on a daily basis.
Employees were encouraged to report how much weight they lifted, and those lifting the most would be rewarded with restaurant gift certificates. Though the weight amounts were not scientifically measured, Hensley says they still provided rough estimates of which jobs involved the most heavy lifting. ( For a sample of the contest entry form, see p. 35.)
"We found that some people were lifting thousands of pounds a day, and somebody reported lifting more than four tons a day," she says. "We got some good information out of it, but it was a lot of fun for those people. We have a lot of big men out in the plant, and they got an ego boost out of it."
All of the efforts have paid off well for Navistar plant. The company reduced its costs for workers’ compensation claims associated with musculoskeletal disorders from almost $1.4 million in 1993 to $544,000 in 1996, a decline of more than 60%. During the same period, the average cost for each claim declined almost by half, from $9,500 in 1993 to $4,900 in 1996. The total cost for workers’ compensation claims declined by about 15%.
And from 1993 to 1996, the plant reduced the number of injuries and illnesses for every 100 employees from 20.3 to 14.2.
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