Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as carpal tunnel syndrome and chronic back pain, cost companies a fortune in workers’ compensation costs, lost work days and decreased productivity. But ergonomic improvements that can reduce or eliminate MSDs aren’t cheap. And, despite the growing body of studies demonstrating that MSDs are easier and cheaper to prevent than to treat, there are still some CEOs who believe that investing in ergonomic improvements is a waste of money. How do you overcome this resistance?

Why Companies Don’t Like to Invest in Ergonomics

Senior management may dismiss or underestimate the harmful effects posed by MSDs. Even CEOs and CFOs that have a healthy respect for the financial contributions of a good safety program tend to be more skeptical about ergonomics because:

• They dismiss ergonomics as a New Age fad or as too touchy-feely to be a genuine science;
• MSDs develop gradually and thus aren’t as visible or dramatic as other workplace injuries, such as amputations or broken bones that occur in an instant; and
• Legal regulation of ergonomics is spotty.

This last reason is particularly problematic. OSHA Ergonomics Standard is all but dead in the U.S.—although the election of a Democrat to the White House could bring it back (see the story below). In Canada, only seven jurisdictions—Fed, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Quebec and Saskatchewan—specifically require employers to address MSDs in the workplace.

Of course, even in jurisdictions that don’t have express ergonomics regulations, there is an implied duty to address ergonomics under the “general duty” clauses of the OHS statute—the part of every OHS act that requires employers to take reasonable measures to control known or foreseeable risks. But implied duties are much less compelling than explicit ones.

Conclusion

What’s the best way for a safety coordinator to make the case for ergonomic improvements? One way to answer that question is to look at what has worked for other safety coordinators. Next week, I’ll describe a case study illustrating how OHS professionals at one company teamed up with fellow managers and workers to persuade management to invest $300,000 in ergonomic improvements. I’ll explain how the team pulled it off and how you can use similar techniques to win over your own CEO.

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