Ergonomics programs not only protect workers from crippling work—related repetitive strain injuries, but they also improve the bottom line. This is the experience of hundreds of employers, large and small, the finding of independent studies and experts and the conclusion of OSHA's rulemaking process.
Musculoskeletal disorders are a major national problem costing the economy—by conservative estimates—more than $50 billion every year, according to OSHA and confirmed by the recent report by the National Academy of Sciences.(1) Every year employers pay between $15 billion and $18 billion in workers' compensation costs alone.
According to OSHA, its now—defunct ergonomics standard would have cost businesses $4.5 billion annually, but would have generated benefits of more than $9 billion in each of the first 10 years it was in effect by preventing 4.6 million MSDs. Savings from improved productivity were estimated to save another $700 million each year.
Extensive evidence, testimony and experience demonstrates that employer ergonomic programs similar to the now-defunct OSHA standard have been effective in small and large companies from a variety of industries, significantly reducing injuries, reducing costs and increasing productivity. For example:
- 3M reported that following the implementation of an ergonomics program, lost-time injuries from MSDs declined by 58 percent from 1990 to 1996.
- After implementing an ergonomics program in 1992, Xerox saw a 24 percent reduction in the number of MSD cases and a 56 percent reduction in direct costs associated with these injuries. As a result, Xerox's ergonomic injury/illness rate in manufacturing is currently 52 percent lower than OSHA's estimated annual incidence rate for its industry group.
- Sequins International and Bottom's Up, both small garment manufacturers in New York City, significantly reduced injuries, cut workers' compensation costs and increased productivity after implementing ergonomics programs with the UNITE national and local unions.
- The implementation of a comprehensive ergonomics program at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, initiated in 1992, resulted in an 80 percent reduction in MSDs by 1998. The number of surgeries performed on employees also fell, essentially being eliminated.
- Intel Corporation reported a 72 percent reduction in the rate of MSDs from 1994 to 1998 after implementing an ergonomics program with 20,000 days away from work avoided, accounting for more than $10 million in direct and indirect savings.
Business associations, as expected, dispute OSHA's conclusions, estimating that the rule could cost more than $100 billion dollars each year, with little or no benefits. These industry estimates are nothing new. Over the past 30 years, business associations have grossly inflated projected compliance costs and have predicted widespread bankruptcy as a result of almost every standard OSHA has issued proposed.
But a 1995 study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)(2) looked at several OSHA standards that had been in effect for a number of years to determine the accuracy of cost and benefit estimates by OSHA and the regulated industries. The study showed that not only does industry grossly overestimate expected costs, but even OSHA routinely overestimated the costs and underestimated the benefits of standards. OTA found that part of the reason that OSHA overestimates costs is that the agency fails to take into account the fact that American businesses are especially talented at developing new technologies that are much more cost effective and efficient than OSHA had predicted.
But the real bottom line is that without ergonomic protections, workers pay the highest costs. Witness after witness at the OSHA hearings told of how workers were often afraid to file for workers' compensation because they or their co-workers had been fired, disciplined or lost money after reporting MSDs. Even when they were successful in receiving workers' compensation, benefits often took many months or even years to receive. Many never received workers' compensation at all. And workers who eventually receive workers' compensation still suffer significant economic loss as a result of their injuries because of initial waiting periods for which compensation may or may not be paid, inadequate benefits that fail to provide adequate wage replacement, and caps on permanent partial disability benefits. Some workers have successfully been awarded disability payments, but these also fall far short of making up workers' lost wages and future earnings capacity.
The financial burdens created by MSDs result in workers losing their homes and health insurance. Injured workers are often unable to lead a normal life and experience great difficulty performing routine activities such as writing, cleaning, caring for children, bathing and driving a car. The effects of these injuries on injured workers' well-being is also significant. Workers suffering MSDs report high levels of depression, anxiety and stress at home. These are the monetary and non-monetary costs paid by workers when businesses refuse to address ergonomic hazards in their workplaces.
1.Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Workplace: Low Back and Upper Extremities, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, January 2001.
2. Gauging Control Technology and Regulatory Impacts in Occupational Safety and Health: An Appraisal of OSHA's Analytic Approach, Office of Technology Assessment, OTA-ENV-635, September 1995.
