Design of systems for productivity and well being.

Several reasons for the failure of business and government decison-makers to more adequately recognize the benefits of human factors/ergonomics and strongly support and endorse its application are reviewed. In particular, the failure of members of our profession to more consisistently and adequately document and publicize the cost-benefits of their ernonomic applications is noted. To support the notion that good ergonomics is good economics, a variety of actual ergonomic applications, and the documented cost-benefits of each, are described.

The Ergonomics of Economics is the Economics of Ergonomics

Economic assessment of human errors in manufacturing environment

According to the US National Safety Council (NSC), in 2001 there were 1,537,600 injuries and illnesses reported for all work occupations in America. The National Safety Council estimated that these work injuries and related costs totalled more than US$132bn annually, with an average cost of US$85,848 per injury or illness. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, janitors and cleaners have the fifth highest occupational injury and illnesses rate in the US. In 2001, janitors and cleaners reported 52,600 injuries or illnesses, with more than 38,600 of these injuries requiring time away from work. Custodial accidents and illnesses are costing more than US$4.5bn each year. Custodial costs have a dramatic effect on large organisations. Boeing in Seattle, Washington, and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were the focus of a research study conducted by Brigham Young University Facilities Management faculty and students in 2003. A new cleaning approach called OS1 (Operating System One) was developed by ManageMen, a custodial consulting company. Boeing and Sandia implemented the OS1 system over several years. The research compared pre‐OS1 custodial recordable accidents, incidents and lost work days with post‐OS1 implementation accidents, incidents and lost work days. The findings, presented in this paper, show that, with the implementation of OS1, recordable accidents and lost work days were significantly reduced, with some reductions as high as 90 per cent. The study also showed a significant reduction in overall custodial operating costs.

Significantly reducing facility maintenance costs through innovative custodial safety

Until relatively recently, little attention has been paid to the millions of workers who go to work each day and perform the same highly repetitive tasks for years at a time. An assembly line worker may repeat the same task 25,000 times per day [1]. Each exertion requires a specific movement of the upper or lower extremity, usually with the maintenance of a static posture of the trunk, head, and neck. Over time, the amount of physical effort required to accomplish such seemingly mundane tasks is extraordinary. With millions of people at computer keyboards each day, it is not surprising that overuse syndromes or repetitive strain injuries have come into media focus and attention. Repetitive strain injuries are disruptions of muscles, tendons, bone, or nervous system precipitated or exacerbated by repeated forceful exertions, awkward posture sustained for a long time, surface contact stresses, vibration, or cold. Jobs that have multiple risk factors have a greater likelihood of causing or contributing to musculoskeletal disorders depending on the magnitude, duration, and frequency of the exposure to each risk factor [2]. Patients with upper extremity repetitive strain injuries present with pain, usually in the neck, shoulder, arm, or hand; fatigue, either generalized or localized; and weakness, paraesthesias, loss of dexterity, depression, and loss of sleep. Many patients relate this to the duration and intensity of their work. Symptoms may develop over weeks, months, or years, and patients commonly cannot pinpoint a specific time of onset. Symptoms may be poorly localized, nonspecific, and episodic, and the causes may be multifactorial.These patients may initially appear to suffer from simple fatigue. The difference between simple fatigue and repetitive strain is related to the duration and intensity of the symptoms. Fatigue can occur after a work shift and is short lived. With repetitive strain injuries (RSI), recovery between work shifts does not occur, and patients begin their day or week with pain [3]. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has defined several conditions as “work-related musculoskeletal disorders” (WMSDs) caused by workplace stressors [4].These include carpal tunnel syndrome, rotator cuff tendinopathy, de Quervain’s disease, trigger finger, and lateral and medial epicondylitis. The term tendinopathy denotes pain involving tendons or their surrounding structures, which at times can be inflamed, usually caused by repeated or forceful exertion by the affected part. Tendinopathy is usually made worse by performing an activity in an awkward position. These conditions have now been recognized as the leading chronic work-related musculoskeletal disorders, and have served as the basis for the proposed ergonomic standard that will be discussed later. This chapter examines the epidemiology of these problems and the cost to society as a whole. Newer evidence for work relatedness and occupational tendon pathophysiology will be discussed, and we shall also discuss how ergonomics relates to the correction and prevention of these issues, focusing specifically on tendinopathy. There is much controversy about the cost-effectiveness of ergonomic programs. Follow-up evidence for cost effectiveness will be presented.

Tendinopathy in the Workplace

The economics of ergonomics is important from a managerial and technical standpoint. This paper provides an overview of the economics of ergonomics, both from a conceptual standpoint and from a practical standpoint. The economics at the project level as well as economics at the program level are discussed. There are a number of possible techniques to use and the advantages and disadvantages of them are presented. Some techniques work better under some circumstances than under other circumstances. Finally, a short list of ways to control costs within an ergonomics program is provided.

David C. Alexander

Papers

The Economics of Ergonomics