Resources
5 benefits of improved workplace ergonomics

November 2, 2016

Here are 5  proven benefits of improved workplace ergonomics:

1. Reduced costs. By strategically reducing ergonomic risk factors, such as poor posture and repetition, you can prevent costly musculoskeletal disorders. Muscular stress while lifting or handling objects caused 33 per cent of serious claims in 2013–14, with a the median direct compensation paid for a serious claim being $8900 per claim, this represents an opportunity for significant cost savings. Also, don’t forget that indirect costs can be up to twenty times the direct cost of an injury.

2. Improved productivity. The best ergonomic solutions often improve productivity. By designing a job to allow for good posture, less exertion, fewer movements and better working posture, the workstation becomes more efficient. Free up time for your management and safety professionals, rather than spending your days chasing after the endless stream of paperwork and medical appointments required to effectively help your workers recover from injury, spend that time proactively making a change to improve your processes and workers wellbeing.

3. Improved quality. Poor ergonomics leads to frustrated and fatigued workers that don’t do their best work. When the task is too physically draining on the worker, they may not perform their job as trained.

4. Employee engagement. Employees notice when the company cares for its employees health, safety and wellbeing. If your employees do not experience fatigue and discomfort during their workday, staff retention improves,  absenteeism decreases, morale and employee involvement increases. Take care of your most important assets.

5. Enhanced safety culture. Improving your workplace ergonomics shows your company is committed to safety and health as a core value. The cumulative effect of the previous four benefits of ergonomics is a stronger safety culture for your company. Healthy employees are your most va
luable asset; creating and fostering the safety and health culture at your company will lead to better human performance for your organisation and improved outcomes.

Workplace Ergonomics – Is it worth the cost?

So is improving the workplace ergonomics worth the cost? Yes, absolutely. But don’t take my word for it, have a chat to your insurer, or other businesses in your sector and find out about the true benefits that can be achieved. In business we are all looking for a return on our investment, not only is ergonomics good for your business bottom line, it’s great for your people. As health & safety professionals, we need to be able to demonstrate the value of ergonomics to get buy-in for the process.

Good managers consider the following when making decisions:

• Do my workers report pain and discomfort?
• Is poor ergonomics impacting my business bottom line, both directly and indirectly?
• Will this decrease our costs and insurance premiums?
• Is this the right thing to do?

When considering a workplace ergonomics process, you can answer with an enthusiatic “YES!” to all four of these questions.

Give us your thoughts..

What are some of the benefits of ergonomics you’ve seen at your facility? Do you plan on spending increased time, attention and resources on ergonomics this year? How do you make the case for your ergonomics process?

For more ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorder prevention tools contact us today.