The Costs and Cost Savings of Ergonomics
Ergonomics has often been viewed as only a tiny part of the standard Health & Safety Program rather than as a science that focuses on the long-term effects of work.
As a result, ergonomics has only recently become a growing industry, helping companies improve productivity measures, profit margins, and, most importantly, the lives of their employees.
Studies have demonstrated that effective ergonomic solutions can enhance productivity, reduce absenteeism, eliminate quality issues and rework, and increase general worker engagement.
The Cost of Ignoring Ergonomics
Liberty Mutual’s 2021 Workplace Safety Index revealed that the ten most disabling work-related injuries cost U.S. employers over $1 billion per week. Three of those injuries are linked to manual material handling activities in the manufacturing, wholesaling, transportation, and warehousing industries.
They include:
- Handling objects such as moving heavy items ($13.3 billion per year)
- Poor postures such as reaching or stretching ($4.71 billion per year)
- Repetitive tasks, including hand- and shoulder-intensive work ($1.66 billion per year)
The above numbers are just the direct workplace injury costs from workers’ compensation payments, medical expenses, and legal fees. This does not include indirect costs from retraining new employees, losses in productivity, additional wages from overtime and work stoppage, or administrative time spent to remedy these issues. The indirect costs from a workplace injury can be up to five times higher than the direct costs.
What You Can Save with Ergonomics
While it’s easy to understand that preventing workplace injuries will save your company money, it can be hard to quantify the benefits of ergonomics before putting solutions into place. As companies worldwide have taken strides toward ergonomic innovations, researchers have learned how beneficial these solutions are.
Injury Prevention
A study from the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries compiled 63 ergonomics studies to understand the benefits of ergonomic solutions.
They found that ergonomics helped reduce the number of musculoskeletal disorders by 50%, decrease lost time days by 65%, and reduce claim costs by 44%.
Reducing Absenteeism
Not only has ergonomics been proven to prevent workplace injuries, but it increases the likelihood of employees coming to work.
The cost-savings of reducing turnover and absenteeism rates cannot be underestimated. One study found that ergonomic solutions helped decrease turnover rates by 48% and absenteeism by 58%. Replacing an employee and accruing additional costs from losses in productivity and overtime outweigh the cost of most ergonomic investments.
Improving Productivity
The same study also found that productivity increased and errors decreased when ergonomic solutions were implemented. Companies enjoyed a 67% decrease in scrap and errors while also witnessing a 25% increase in productivity and a 43% decrease in labor costs.
Investing in an Ergonomic Workplace
Researchers continue to show that ergonomic solutions are powerful cost-saving strategies for companies. By investing in ergonomic products, systems, and solutions, companies of all sizes and industries can increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve employee health.
Businesses worldwide require workers to use folding tables for daily tasks. While folding tables are regularly used for their durability and adaptability, folding tables are manufactured to be sat at, not worked behind. These improper ergonomics cause back pain and neck strain which can lead to absenteeism, increased claim costs, and lost time days. Lift Your Table® folding table risers lift the height of folding tables to ergonomic-friendly heights. With Lift Your Table® folding table risers, workers can set their workstations to the proper working height and prevent fatigue, injury, and loss of productivity.
If you want to save your company money by investing in ergonomic solutions, check out our website to learn more about how our folding table risers can help your organization.
With our folding table risers, you can…
