The ROI of Ergonomics in Industrial Settings

Strains and sprains are among the most common workplace injuries, and ergonomics training and assessments are the best way to reduce them. However, while the benefits of ergonomics are well established, workplace sprains and strains continue to occur at an alarming rate year after year.

Unfortunately, convincing management to invest in ergonomics solutions to reduce these common injuries can be challenging. This article will help identify key talking points that will help convince management of the importance of ergonomics and why the return is well worth the investment. 

Why reducing injuries makes sense

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration estimates that businesses spend about 170 billion annually on workplace injuries. However, they also say that companies that invest in improving workplace safety and health see returns of up to $6 for every dollar invested and can reduce costs by up to 40%. 

Looking at those numbers, it's clear that investing in workplace safety isn't just a moral and legal obligation; it's also a wise business decision that can save companies a significant amount of money. However, you might be wondering where all that money is coming from. 

Workplace injuries are extremely expensive; here is a list of 7 of the direct and indirect costs associated with workplace injuries: 

1. Medical bills for ambulances, emergency rooms, specialists, and long-term injury care.
2. Insurance deductibles and future increases in insurance costs. Making a claim today often means your insurance costs will go up tomorrow. 
3. Lawsuits often accompany workplace accidents, and things tend to get expensive once lawyers get involved. Even if you are successful, you will still spend time and resources defending your position. 
4. Companies that report serious injuries or more accidents than the industry average are more likely to get the attention of regulatory bodies like OSHA. If an inspector finds a noncompliance issue, it could mean tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
5. Most organizations look at a company's injury rates during the bidding process. If your rate is above the average, this may lose you a lucrative contract with someone with a better safety record.
6. Workplace accidents are disruptive, and managers spend time dealing with all that surrounds workplace accidents instead of achieving other company goals.
7. Injuries also contribute to absenteeism. When workers don’t feel well or have aches and pains, they're more likely to miss work, which can directly impact a company's ability to operate. 

The highest-performing companies in the world are not reactive when it comes to reducing workplace injuries; they're proactive. They're not just dealing with injuries as they occur; they're trying to prevent them from ever happening. Therefore, companies that want to avoid this long list of costs associated with workplace accidents need to take a serious look at how they are currently attempting to prevent sprains and strains.

Ergonomics teaches employees the proper way to lift and move their bodies in the most efficient way possible and eliminate unnecessary strain. Workers that use their bodies more efficiently are more comfortable at work, more productive, and less likely to be injured—a win-win for workers and their companies. 

Traditional workplace ergonomics 

Companies using ergonomics programs to prevent workplace injuries is nothing new. However, traditionally companies teach employees proper body mechanics and then do an instructor-led in-person assessment to ensure they implement what they learn. While this approach is better than nothing, employees often forget what they have learned and revert to poor habits once they're back at work. 

This approach relies heavily on the knowledge and teaching ability of whoever performs the ergonomics assessment. As a result, the level of training and ergonomics assessments that employees receive is inconsistent, which leaves gaps that can result in preventable injuries. 

Also, a significant flaw is that this traditional format does not leverage modern technology and doesn't provide data to back up its injury prevention claims. This flaw makes it difficult for safety professionals to demonstrate to management the risks present within their employees and how those may affect their business and bottom line. 

Thankfully, modern solutions to ergonomics assessments and training have solved many of these traditional pain points and gaps left by conventional ergonomics training. 

Modern workplace ergonomics

Modern ergonomics solutions leverage technology to take ergonomics to the next level. For example, TuMeke's computer vision joint tracking software uses machine learning to create a digital skeleton made of joints and segments and then overlay it on people captured in video. 

As the person moves, each body segment changes color depending on the different levels of injury risk experienced by that body segment during that movement or position. As a result, these models serve as a solid visual aid for safety professionals to show their colleagues and manage the real-world risk associated with the activities performed by their staff. 

Visual evidence is powerful, and now, instead of just talking about all the risks associated with poor body mechanics, safety professionals have hard visual evidence to demonstrate risk to managers. In addition, visuals help enhance worker comprehension of ergonomics concepts meaning they are more likely to apply what they've learned and retain the information for longer, decreasing the likelihood of returning to poor habits and techniques.  

Visuals are important, but that's not where the benefits end. TuMeke's system also automates industry-standard ergonomics assessments, which helps companies quickly quantify risk reduction based on before and after comparisons. 

With modern ergonomics software, companies also have increasing access to data they can analyze for trends and put into reports that further demonstrate the risks confronting their workforce and help safety professionals make a solid case for the value of ergonomics. 

TuMeke can help

Computer vision software like TuMeke helps reduce workplace injuries and helps key stakeholders quickly understand the impact of ergonomics on their business. Investing in ergonomics solutions makes a lot of sense; however, when presenting a new tool to management, they will want to know the upfront cost and the return on investment. 

TuMeke's automated ergonomics assessments identify high-risk jobs and problematic postures and offer suggestions that help workers and their companies to take a proactive, targeted approach toward reducing ergonomics risk. In addition, TuMeke also makes it possible for companies to test the ROI of various solutions and equipment before implementation with their ROI calculator.  

Quantifying the ROI of a new tool is a challenge, and there aren't many resources online that can help, but the TuMeke Ergonomics ROI calculator is helping fill that gap. The calculator was built based on 250 case studies from organizations reporting the outcomes of ergonomics programs and individual solutions. As a result, this tool is ideal for anyone hoping to prove why investing in ergonomics isn't just good for workers but also great for business. 

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