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Basics of Ergonomics

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, reports of these injuries have quadrupled in the United States since 1981. Today, an estimated 70% of occupational injuries are due to repetitive motion and stress, costing companies approximately $20 billion a year. These injuries are called Musculoskeletal Disorders, or MSDs.

Ergonomics is the science that seeks to adapt tasks and tools to fit the person. It's a way of looking at the design of tasks, tools, equipment and workplace layouts and the overall organization of work to fit the job to the person, rather than the person to the job.

The Blueprints for Safety®Elements of Ergonomics Program will help you analyze and adapt jobs to make them safer and train employees to understand how to work in ways that protect themselves from injury.

The outcomes of your ergonomics program will be:

• Identification of the potential MSD risk factors in your workplace

• Creation and implementation of work practices to minimize the risks for MSDs

• Well-trained employees who know how to work safely

• Reduced number of MSDs

• Reduced severity of the MSDs that do occur

• Reduced costs of workers' compensation, medical bills and lost workdays

• Increased productivity and quality

• Improved work conditions

By creating a program for ergonomics in the workplace, you can help everyone understand the importance of working in ways that reduce the risks for MSDs, control the costs associated with these injuries and increase everyone's safety.