It has been several years since we’ve heard much from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) about “ergonomics”—the science of fitting the workplace to the worker. Some employers in the road and bridge construction industry may have issued a sigh of relief, thinking, “We dodged a bullet on that regulation.”
The truth of the matter is, if an employer or agency is still not doing anything to address ergonomic issues on roadway construction sites, they are likely to be struck by the ergonomics bullet anyway.
Whether or not you think OSHA should issue an ergonomic regulation, there should be no question as to the need for implementing an ergonomic program at your company or agency. A good ergonomic program provides many benefits, not the least of which is increased profits.
A recent analysis by a leading U.S. insurer of claims by employers in the roadway construction industry revealed 28% of all injury claims resulted from ergonomic injuries—strains and sprains (primarily to the back, shoulders and wrists). Of course, these injuries cost employers lost work time, replacement worker recruiting and training expenses and higher insurance premiums. These costs are quite well known to most employers. What is less well known are the costs resulting from workplace inefficiency that could be corrected by a good ergonomics program.
They’re getting older
Two independent studies on construction workers—one in Ontario, Canada, and one at the University of Texas—revealed that on average, construction workers only spend about 32-34% of their workday performing fully productive work. Some 26% of their time was spent on ineffective activities, and 20% was spent on manual materials handling. By implementing a program to improve ergonomics, employers have been able to increase direct production rates from 32% of a worker’s day to 52%.
Ergonomic programs not only reduce injuries and insurance claims, they can significantly improve production, thereby improving profit margins. Such gains are particularly important when looking at age demographics for our country. In 1980, about 30% of the working population was age 45-64; by 2000 that percentage rose to nearly 34%. Analysts project by 2020 nearly 37% of the U.S. workforce will be age 45-64; and by 2015, 55 million workers will be age 45 or older.
This age demographic raises concern as this segment of the population is more likely to experience a lost-workday injury, particularly from overexertion resulting in sprains and strains. Nevertheless, in many instances this segment of the workforce is more valuable than younger workers as their experience results in better quality work with fewer defects and less need to rework a project.
With net profits generally in the single digits for many transportation construction projects, savings on labor costs (reduced injury and insurance costs coupled with improved productivity) will have a direct, positive impact on the bottom line.
Good health assurance
There are three areas in the construction industry that most often offer good opportunities for improving worker performance:
- Staging (storing) of materials and equipment;
- Manual materials handling; and
- Work method techniques.
Let’s look at each of these areas briefly and discuss common solutions that improve worker health and productivity.
Staging of materials:
The key to success in this area simply requires a bit of planning—making an effort to place materials in close proximity and at an appropriate height as to where they will be used. A simple, observational analysis of a jobsite will reveal the amount of time and effort that is wasted as workers walk between the locations where materials and tools are stored and where they are using them. By locating tools and materials next to workers and placing them on palates, tables, planks, etc., to reduce the need for bending and turning to retrieve them, an employer can change unproductive retrieval time into productive work time while minimizing the risk of injury.
In addition to storing tools and equipment in convenient areas, it also is important to have equipment readily on hand to move heavy materials. Again, this comes from the planning process. Employers and supervisors should take a few minutes at the beginning of each shift to determine what materials they will need, find a suitable location to conveniently store them, create or locate a table, rack, etc., to place materials at a convenient height for the worker to quickly and easily access them and have equipment on hand, when necessary, to move heavy, awkward or bulky materials.
Manual materials handling:
If a safety officer or supervisor is looking for proof to take to his or her supervisors in support of implementing an ergonomics program, try this exercise: Spend a day recording how long it takes a person to bend over to retrieve tools and materials or to perform a task. Multiply that time period by the number of workers performing the task and the number of times in a day, week, month and year that task is repeated. After one day observing inefficient materials handling procedures, one can easily document the amount of lost unproductive time a worker experiences in manually handling materials.
Next, figure out how or if the work could be performed more ergonomically correct by moving the work to waist height, getting stored materials up from the floor or ground and locating materials to reduce twisting, turning and bending postures. If the work is such that the environment cannot be changed, look for opportunities to change the tools to make the worker more efficient, such as providing shovels with handles, using equipment to move heavy materials and automating or using improved tools for tedious tasks such as tying rebar.
Work method techniques:
Another quick way to improve ergonomics on a road construction site is to evaluate work techniques and look for opportunities to improve them. Techniques can be improved by understanding what postures are most stressful and alternative postures that can be substituted. For example, if a crew is spending a lot of time performing a task by bending at the waist, look for ways to allow them to sit or kneel comfortably, removing stress from the back and arms.
Improved techniques may require purchasing new equipment or retrofitting old equipment with seats, handles, etc., to reduce vibration and noise or to minimize stress on joints and muscles.
Don’t forget your workers:
A great approach to solving ergonomic problems on jobsites is to get the workers involved in identifying opportunities for improvement and solutions. They are the experts on their jobs and have great ideas on ways the work could be improved ergonomically. Setting up a small task force or committee may be very helpful.
A good health plan
The first step for most organizations to implement an aggressive ergonomics program is to quantify the problem. Begin making measurements to set a baseline of where your opportunities for improvement are right now. Establish basic criteria for measuring those improvement opportunities.
Next, share the results of your observations with management and seek authority to implement some of the easier ergonomic interventions. Look for the “low-hanging fruit” where you can show success quickly.
The third step is to implement several changes in work processes and measure those interventions using your established criteria. Compare the improvements against the baseline you established at the beginning. It is a good idea before you make improvements to determine whether the change is really an improvement or may create other problems.
Fourth, quantify the results in terms of efficiency, time and money. Share that information with your company leadership.
Remember, a good ergonomics program is not a one-time procedure, rather a continual process of observation, measurement, intervention, analysis and quantification.
When that program you have initiated demonstrates quantified benefits, both you and your company are now in position to reap the economic benefits a good ergonomic program will certainly provide.
