Safety & Health
The Essentials Supporting Business Success

Ergonomics Applied To You

It is well known that both the direct and indirect costs of on-the-job injuries can be staggering. As a business owner, you probably understand the financial rewards of keeping your employees safe in the job.

Ergonomic injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and strained muscles are all included in your workers’ compensation premiums, lost productivity, and increase the risk of having a safety inspector show up at your door unexpectedly. The good news is that ergonomic injuries can easily be prevented if you take just a few common and practical sense steps to educate your employees and make what are often minor adjustments to their working environments.

Why Should You Care?

• Certain ergonomic injuries remain the number one reason for injury-related lost workdays.

• Soft tissue injuries, such as ligament, tendon, muscle, and nerve injuries, account for a significant number of all injuries recorded and increases in workers’ compensation premiums.

• You can improve your productivity by reducing unnecessary or awkward postures and exertions, which reduces the time it takes to complete a given task.

• When a task is matched with the ability of the people that will perform it, they will make fewer errors and produce less waste.

What Can You Do?

• Conduct your own evaluation by looking at your production activities, particularly those tasks involving frequent, constant and/or awkward motions,

• Educate your employees about ergonomic concerns, and

• Take corrective action before employees are injured.

Both you and your employees can benefit from an ergonomically designed workplace, as employees are sure to like the idea of a more comfortable work environment, and you will like the improved productivity it brings.

Learn more about the SGIA Ergonomics Training Program and how it can help you get started with your own company ergonomics program.