Standards
Standards allow you to set the stage. They establish clear measura-ble goals and outcomes. Just like Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for your the health of your business, Ergonomic Standards ensure the health of your employees.
Ergonomic KPIs include:
•Reportable Injuries
•Days Away From Work (DAFW)
•Days of Restricted Work
•Days of Transferred Position
Training
Training should start with the job description and should only end when the employee is separated from the company. Standards can't occur in a vacuum. If no one knows they exist, will they ever be implemented?
Ongoing Training should include:
•Management (Support Focused)
•Employees (Expectation Focused)
Reporting
Reporting should be easy. The burden should not be on the report-er but on those involved in investigating the concern. When report-ing falls on deaf ears, it stops happening. In order to combat this, a clearly defined process of reporting must be established and fol-lowed.
The Reporting process should include:
•Filing of a Brief Written Report
•Follow-up Timeline Provided
•Outcome or Plan Delivered On-Time
Identifying
For those trained in Identifying potential issues, being observant become second nature. For those trained in ignoring issues, igno-rance becomes second nature. When you reward or bonus for a lack of injuries, you don't reduce the number of injuries you in-crease the likelihood that injuries will be hidden. This only sets you up for larger more costly injuries and accidents. It can also establish distrust in your employees.
Hazards to be Identified should include:
•Past Hazards
•Current Known Hazards
•Potential Hazards
Key Solutions
Perfect is the enemy of completion. When a hazard is identified, every effort should be made provide potential Solutions. Often times an iterative improvement of the working environment is the only way to get to the optimal working environment. Do not be afraid to include the impacted worker when identifying potential Solutions. If you have already established standards, training and a robust reporting process, encourage honest communication.
Key Solutions should be:
• Effective
• Efficient
• Replicable
Evaluating
If you have put in place each of the five preceding steps when it comes to evaluating the success of your ergonomics program, your KPIs should be telling you exactly what you need to refine. The steps involved in creating a robust ergonomics program are not un-like taking a new product to market. If you have not established standards, trained on the expectations, established robust and sim-ple reporting, you'll have no way of knowing whether your product or ergonomics program is successful.
Evaluating should occur:
•Basic – Annually
•Preferred – Quarterly
•Exceptional – Monthly