Office Ergonomics ROI

6 Essentials for Large Employers

A Better Way to Reduce Workplace Injuries &
Improve Performance

e r g o w e b

Introduction
About Ergoweb
Ergoweb is a full-service ergonomics company providing ergonomics process tools and solutions through evidence-based
consulting, training, software, and specialized equipment supply services.

About the Author

Gene Kay, MS, CEA ErgoAdvocate Developer & Ergoweb partner
In his 25+ year career, Gene has worked in a range of professional capacities including corporate
ergonomics, work physiology, health promotion, and physical rehab. He has held leadership positions
with several organizations including Global Ergonomics Manager at American Express, Rehab Services
Manager for a multi-center Neurology clinic, and serving as the Past-President of the Upper Midwest
Chapter of Human Factors & Ergonomics Society. Gene is a regular speaker on workplace ergonomics
and health and at many regional and national conferences. He is a Certified Ergonomics Associate
through the Board of Certification in Professional Ergonomics, and holds a BS degree in Health & Phys.
Ed, and an MS degree in Exercise Science both from the University of Montana.
Gene lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he is active in the community and with many outdoor
activities including cross-country ski instruction and competition, mountain biking, running,
and canoeing.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 2

Table of Contents
14 | The Cost of Poor Ergonomics
15 | Benefits of Good Ergonomics
19 | Limitations of Traditional Ergonomics Processes
10 | There is a Better Way
11 | Six Components of an Effective Ergonomics Process
19 | ErgoAdvocate

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 3

The Cost of Poor Ergonomics

Repetitive motion injuries, the type of injuries commonly associated with poor ergonomics, are among the top ten
causes of serious workplace injuries.
Poor ergonomics is often revealed or expressed as muscular fatigue, discomfort, decreased productivity, absenteeism,
or injury, and it takes a significant toll on business and workers. Poor ergonomics results in direct costs for medical
expenses and other additional expenses for indirect costs such as lost time, decreased productivity, replacement
workers, etc., all of which add considerable expense.

True cost of just one ergonomics-related injury:

$

Between 60,158 and

$
82,305 per case

The National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc., policy years

2007-2009. See OSHAs $afety Pays Program at
https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/smallbusiness/safetypays/

Non-fatal injuries result in 6 or more days

of lost work, and in total, add up to over

BILLIONS

in direct costs to U.S.

businesses.
2012 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index.

What this means for you and your company:

You can expect 1.6 ergonomic-related injuries for every 100 workers Every Year!
So, If you have 1,000 employees, on average, the total cost of these injuries will range from $962,528 to $1,316,880 each year.
Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 4

Benefits of Good Ergonomics

Injury Results

Work-Related MSDs

61%

Cost per claim

81%

Incidence rate

Workers comp
costs

64%

81%
Pursuing an office ergonomics program is a proven
means of reducing the costs and consequences of
injuries. If you implement a good ergonomics process,
you can expect to see dramatic improvements in your
injury metrics.
Goggins, Richard, Washington State Department of Labor & Industry, Ergonomics
Cost Benefit Analysis, last accessed online at http://pshfes.org/cost-calculator on
December 13, 2013.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 5

Benefits of Good Ergonomics

Human Resource Results
Lost workdays

88%

Turnover

87%
Absenteeism

Restricted days

46%

53%

Reductions in absenteeism and turnover rates alone can

justify investing in ergonomics. Verizon VP of Employee
Health and Productivity, Jack DAngelo once remarked,
Traditional ergonomics measures do NOT keep corporate
executives up at night. But when Verizon achieved up to
a 35% reduction in turnover rates through ergonomics,
saving multi-millions of dollars in just eighteen months,
that, he said, was a language that business understood.
Source: R. Michael, Verizon VP Kicks Off Ergo Conference Presentations,
Ergonomics Today, December 11, 2002, last accessed at http://ergoweb.com/
verizon-vp-kicks-off-ergo-conference-presentations/
Goggins, Richard, Washington State Department of Labor & Industry, Ergonomics
Cost Benefit Analysis, last accessed online at http://pshfes.org/cost-calculator on
December 13, 2013.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 6

Benefits of Good Ergonomics

Performance Results

ROI

78%

Payback period

3 months

Errors

32%

Productivity

17%

A well-executed office ergonomics process delivers

significant benefits that improve both individual and
organization performance.

Goggins, Richard, Washington State Department of Labor & Industry, Ergonomics

Cost Benefit Analysis, last accessed online at http://pshfes.org/cost-calculator on
December 13, 2013.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 7

Benefits of Good Ergonomics

Improve Employee Engagement, Responsibility and Accountability
Good ergonomics also produces less tangible value. An effective ergonomics process improves employee engagement,
responsibility and accountability for their own workstations by deploying tools that encourage self-help and continuous
ergonomics improvement, which is reason enough for companies pursuing wellness, sustainability or world-class
organizational goals.

A Good Ergonomics Process Adds Up:

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 8

Limitations of Traditional Ergonomics Processes

When computers first started appearing on office desks in the early 1980s, an army of ergonomics specialists stepped
forward to address issues on a one-to-one basis. Group training sessions and desk-side meetings were the norm, and
specialists often met individually with each employee to provide ergonomics training, personal assessments and to modify
workstation layout. For todays large and distributed organizations, this approach is no longer effective and has some
serious limitations when trying to reach all of your employees who may need help.
Sending specialists to every desk for individual visits:
Takes Too Much Time - A typical desk-side ergonomics visit requires 30 to 60 minutes plus preparation,
travel, reporting, and time to procure solutions. And, too often the face-to-face time is spent
demonstrating simple workstation adjustments, and requires follow-up visits to ensure compliance.
Causes Ergonomics Staff Burn-Out - Trying to bring personalized face-to-face service to everyone is a
laudable goal. Actually doing so in a large organization with thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of
thousands of employees is impossible. Unfortunately, the people who need ergonomics the most may slip
between the cracks and go unserved while the ergonomics specialists limited time is spent putting out
fires or responding to massive numbers of requests.
Often Results in Forgotten Advice We all know about the learning curve, but there is an equally
steep forgetting curve that begins as soon as the desk-side evaluation is complete. Without detailed and
comprehensive resources to refer back to, much of your advice is forgotten within hours or days. This places
further demands on your time when confusion or refresh visits occur. This can make you always behind
schedule, or on the road. You may end up feeling far less effective and satisfied with your work performance.
Causes Workers to See Ergonomics as Not My Problem - Face-to-face desk-side visits can be very
effective, but they can also leave an undesirable presumption with the employee that ergonomics is not
my problem, its their problem. The approach can erode personal responsibility and accountability, and
can also lead to repeat visits.
Costs Too Much - Time is money, as the saying goes, and so are travel and other desk-side delivery costs.
One-to-one service delivery is hard to scale and poses a large burden in time, money, effort, and emotion.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 9

There is A Better Way

Computing technology and the nature of office work have evolved a great deal since the face-to-face desk-side
ergonomics approach first evolved. A face-to-face delivery model can indeed be effective, but for larger employers,
or those with distributed national or international offices, it is simply cost-prohibitive and less effective due to the
challenges described above.
There is a Better Way:
The Internet and the Web have opened new avenues for you to reach, train and interact with your large or
distributed workforce. Once considered a novelty, these communication platforms have since changed the way
we do business. Web-based training is now the standard for most employers. Effective ergonomics requires more
than just training, and web technologies now offer tried and true interactive and rich media communications and
software technologies that enhance the ongoing learning and problem solving inherent to sustainable ergonomics.
The former Corporate Ergonomist for General Motors, Brian Peacock, who later went on to become a
NASA scientist, proposed a 70-20-10 ergonomics rule-of-thumb, which we have found to be a relatively
accurate guide.
The rule-of-thumb goes like this:
70% of all office ergonomics issues can often be resolved with simple rules and guidelines;
20% of issues may require more detail or some alternative ways of working; and
10% of issues are more involved and need special attention and problem solving from a specialist.
The following 6 steps leverage this rule-of-thumb and create a proven path to office ergonomics success.

The 70-20-10 rule-of-thumb discussed at a professional development conference. Origin of the rule-of-thumb was attributed to Brian Peacock, PhD, CPE.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 10

Ergoweb has identified six key components to an

effective office ergonomics process:
1.

Web-Based
Training

4.

Intelligent Issue Prioritization,

Escalation & Resolution

2.

Web-Based
Assessment

5.

Smart Process
Automation

3.

Continuous Improvement &

Self-Help Functionality

6.

Documentation,
Reporting & Recordkeeping

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 11

1.

Web-Based Training

Keep it short
Keep it simple
Make it engaging
Flexible and scalable content design

Like you, the employees you reach are busy, so dont overload them with facts,
figures and advice at their first interaction. Keep the training high-level, short, sweet
and to the point. Besides, learning theorists and the forgetting curve tell us that
most of our advice will be forgotten within a few hours or days anyway. The rich
media features available on the web keep them engaged, and allow learners
to repeat the training at any time. In this way web-based training is part of a
continuous improvement strategy.

Memory. A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, Hermann Ebbinghaus ISBN-10: 1614271666

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 12

2.

Web-Based Assessment

If you think of an office ergonomics assessment as a one-time event that gets completed

once a specialist goes on-site, a session with a professional ergonomists could be a good

choice. However, if you think of an assessment as one part of an ongoing business

improvement process, youll want to track and monitor trends over time, and a web-based

assessment system is a perfect fit for this purpose.

We suggest an assessment tool that:

Includes an evidence-based risk assessment method.
Includes a generalized discomfort assessment.
Avoids or prohibits collecting sensitive medical or injury-related data.
Is based on a customizable and scalable web platform that allows for easy updates.
Enables self-assessment, buddy-assisted, or expert-assisted assessments.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 13

3.

Self-Help & Continuous Improvement Functionality

Continuous improvement isnt just another corporate buzz-phrase, its a strategy employed by all companies on
a sustainable path. Continuous improvement a process of applying incremental changes should be integrated
into your ergonomics process.

Continuous Improvement at the Employee and Workstation Level:

Starts with web-based training and self-assessment.
Automatically provides quick-fix advice for any issues that are identified during the assessment.
Tracks the employees progress through a personal Ergo Score and history list.
Automatically prompts employees with unresolved issues to return and continue to work on
improvements over time.

Provides a library of self-assist content that is intelligently presented to learners right when they need
them, including How-To advice like:
Adjusting your chair.
Adjusting your computer equipment.
The value of moving and changing positions.

Continuous Improvement At the Program Management Level

Helps you implement a robust, searchable, tracking and reporting system.
Tracks, prioritizes and alerts you to key performance metrics, such as:
Risk ratings.
Discomfort ratings.
Issue resolution progress.
Compliance.

See Step 6 for more program-level continuous improvement ideas

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 14

4.

Intelligent Issue Prioritization, Escalation & Resolution

We recommend a multi-level process for addressing issues and providing assistance:
Level 1: Web-based self-help and continuous improvement by the individual learner
With a good program in place, Level 1 (web-based assistance) should take care of roughly 70%
of all ergonomics issues, at a fraction of the cost of face-to-face training. Since equipment, tasks,
risk factors, and solutions are often similar, web-based programs are perfect for sharing basic
ergonomics guidance.

Level 2: Expert-facilitated remote assistance

With a good process and comprehensive resources in place, Level 2 effectively resolve roughly 20%
of any remaining issues, at a substantially reduced cost when compared to face-to-face consults.
Level 2 assistance can be effectively delivered by a qualified ergonomics specialist by phone, email
and web communications.

Level 3: Face-to-Face desk-side assistance

Even with great web-based tools and self-help processes in place, approximately 10% of the
ergonomics issues will require more complex problem solving. This is where you want to spend
extra time and money to send an expert. These cases have the potential to become expensive if a
claim arises.

Level 4: Case Management

An issue becomes Level 4 only when all else fails. With a good Level 1, 2 and 3 process, case
management situations should become few and far between.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 15

5.

Smart Process Automation

Certain process components can and should be automated for large employers.
Without such automation and rules you may find that you are constantly responding
to routine requests or solving the same problems over and over. Automation of
common tasks saves you time while it provides consistency, avoids errors, and enables
a repeatable standard ergonomics process that can be quickly and easily scaled to
meet demand. For example, we suggest at least the following types of automation:
Rule-based, automated training and assessment deployment (e.g. all new employees,
all high-risk department employees, all home-based workers, all ergo requests etc.)
Automated Level 1 self-help functionality (Let the system make the initial attempts to
help users).
Automated progress, risk and discomfort tracking (Let the system track individual,
group, and company progress for you).
Rule-based, automated issue prioritization and escalation protocols.
Personalized, re-usable communication templates.
Data syncing with other employee Human Resource records.
Management Dashboard that automatically tracks and summarizes key
performance metrics.

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 16

6.

Documentation, Reporting & Recordkeeping

Documentation and Metrics are the foundation of any successful ergonomics program
and any continuous improvement process. If you cant measure it, you cant improve it
is a mantra for todays business world, and if you dont continually improve, you wont
be sustainable is another. Documentation which can seem like drudgery if its not at
least partially automated is very important to any sustainable ergonomics process.
We recommend documenting at least the following metrics:
Date-stamped events and milestones.
Overall participation and program completion.
Individual and group training, evaluation and issues tracking.
Assessment metrics, including measures for risk and discomfort.
Issue resolution tracking.
Case notes, case reports, file attachments.
Process metrics (e.g., injury rates and costs, productivity improvements).

Implementing these 6 process components is a proven way to significantly

reduce program delivery and management costs and increase the reach
and effectiveness of your ergonomics process.
Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 17

Proven Results
Large North American Banking Company
Experienced an 80% reduction in the need for expensive on-site consults
Invested the savings in an expanded preventative program

North American Telecommunications Firm

Reduced service delivery costs by 55%
Increased the reach and number served by 5-fold
Reduced the time for providing advanced services

North American Natural Gas Firm

Increased the reach and number served by 75%
Reduced the number of staff trips by 75%
Achieved highly positive user satisfaction & feedback
e r g o w e b

Office Ergonom
Case Study

ics

Case Study
Chesapeake Energy Drills Down to Provide Ergonomics
Assistance to Employees Across the Country.
Discover how the ErgoAdvocate on-line process management solution helped
Chesapeake Energy and its one ergonomics specialist effectively reach out and
provide advanced ergonomics services to over 12,000 employees across 14 states.

down and
eake Energy drill
Helping Chesap
employees
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provide ergonom
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across the country
ion helped
management solut
on-line process
effectively
The ErgoAdvocate
omics specialist
y and its one ergon
Chesapeake Energ
services to over
ed ergonomics

Download Case Study

Office Ergonomics ROI, 6 Essentials for Large Employers | Ergoweb 18

Office Ergonomics Software

Gain control, extend your reach, make work better.

Features
Born from Ergowebs years of experience managing award-winning
Fortune 1,000 office ergonomics processes.

Easy & Effective

Assessment

Continuous
Improvement Library

Bite-Sized Training Modules

Fit Busy Schedules

Sophisticated Reporting
and Tracking

Resolution Tracking for

Outstanding Issues

Smart Process
Automation

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