Ergonomics may not be getting the same level of attention it once did, but experts say the injury risks – and costs of not taking proactive measures – have not diminished.
Sizzling hot in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the topic of ergonomics has cooled considerably in the new millennium.
Even carpal tunnel syndrome, which seemed to be epidemic not so very long ago, has fallen from the headlines. The number of reported carpal tunnel injuries that kept people away from work in 2006 totaled 13,010 — a 66 percent decline from the 38,336 reported in 1994, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
“Carpal tunnel syndrome was supposed to be the asbestos of the ‘90s,” Ergonomist Bill Barbre told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “People were hearing that, potentially, just normal computer work was an insidious health hazard.”
So, are ergonomic injuries really going away? Or, if not, why are we hearing so much less about ergonomics (the science of creating jobs and workplaces that diminish the risk to workers who perform them)?
The spotlight started dimming when a proposed federal ergonomics standard was scuttled by President Bush and Congress during his early days in office. But it’s also been influenced by claims that repetitive stress injuries are on the decline.
An article in our twice-monthly sister publication, the OSHA Compliance Advisor, says that some people think that employers have gotten the message about identifying and reducing risk. Others believe that fewer cases are being reported, or that there was a spate of overreporting in the past.
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But experts agree that the risk has not disappeared. BLS data indicate that hundred of thousands of workdays are lost each year as a result of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), which account for about a third of all injuries causing time lost from work.
And employers who mandate stretch breaks, require ergonomics training, and hire ergonomists to come up with less-harmful ways to work say that their efforts are keeping workers from injury and saving their companies millions. (OSHA has estimated that the annual cost savings of preventing just one MSD is about $27,700.)
As for carpal tunnel syndrome, Dr. Edward Craig, a professor at Cornell Medical School, attributes the decline in reported cases to multiple causes.
“For one thing, the lumping of nearly every patient with an achy arm into the carpal tunnel category has diminished, and other trendy, multisyllabic diagnoses such as repetitive stress syndrome (RSS), cumulative trauma disorder (CTD) and musculoskeletal disease (MSD) are filling the gap,” Craig wrote in a commentary for MSNBC.
“Secondly, measures taken in the workplace — job rotation, stretch breaks, and attention to ergonomics have indeed had an effect — even if what had been labeled carpal tunnel was in reality plain old tendonitis, bursitis, spasm, or even muscular lack of conditioning,” Craig said.
Yet, despite general agreement that the threat of occupational MSDs persists, and that there are ergonomic solutions available that can bring about huge savings, many organizations continue to take a reactive, rather than proactive, approach to ergonomics.
Among the reasons, according to AllBusiness.com, are the costs of implementing a companywide ergonomics program or the lack of knowledge on the part of the employer.
Another problem is that, sometimes, when a proactive approach is attempted, well-meaning employers and employees might think that “ergonomically designed” solutions can be one-size-fits-all. But, because every human differs physically, one size is not the answer.
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The challenge, according to AllBusiness.com, is getting people to do individual research about ergonomics before an injury occurs.
The Internet offers basic information on good practices, equipment, and consultants. And some companies have found e-seminars and traditional training sessions to be effective in getting the word out. The effectiveness usually increases when the training covers the individual traits of employees and the employees’ environment.
In tomorrow’s Advisor, we’ll look at even more reasons why your organization should implement an ergonomics policy, as well as at what some of the essential elements of that policy should be.