Setting Up An Effective MSD Prevention Program(Final)

Setting up an
Ef fective MSD
Prevention
Program
Presented by:
Nathan Birtch

Session Outcomes

Today’s focus:
 What is an MSD?
 Why a MSD Prevention Program?
 Getting Company Buy-in
 Basics of Ergonomics
 Setting up the Program
 Ensuring Success of Your
Ergonomic Program

Your Partner in Prevention

What is an MSD?
 Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) –
injuries / disorders that affect muscles, tendons,
ligaments, nerves, discs, joints, etc.
 MSDs - linked to ergonomic hazards in the
workplace
 Employers - required to make workers aware of
MSD hazards and take ‘every precaution
reasonable’ to protect workers from developing an
MSD.
 ALL workplaces need to consider MSD
prevention to avoid costly claims


What is Ergonomics?
 Fitting the work and the work
environment to the abilities of the
worker to maximize safety,
productivity and quality.

 Fitting the task to the worker,
NOT fitting the worker to the
task.


What Is Ergonomics?
 Emphasis on reducing
fatigue and stressors in
the work environment

 Generate “tolerable”
work environments and
conditions that don’t
pose known danger to
human health.


What are the goals of a MSD Prevention
Program?

 Reduce or eliminate the human
exposure to risk associated with work.
 Reduce fatigue, strain
 Remove/ reduce exposure to all hazards
 Improve overall efficiency of workstation
 Improve overall efficiency of work
structure


Benefits of a MSD program

 Reduced injuries
 Save money
 Competitive
 Increased productivity
 Increased quality
 Increased morale
 Decreased injuries
 Optimize human capabilities, not maximize


Ergonomical Hierarchy (Kroemer 2001)

 Tolerable- to generate tolerable working
conditions

 Acceptable- to generate acceptable working
conditions in accordance with current
scientific knowledge.

 Optimal- to generate working conditions that
achieve physical, mental, and social well
being.

Getting Company Buy-in
2011

A Business
Case for
Ergonomics
Ergonomic Foundations

The Impact of Industrial Trends

 Corporate Re-structuring
 Increased Technology
 Flexible and Lean Manufacturing
 Aging Workforce
 Increasing Female and Temporary Workers
 Social Responsibility
 Legislation
 MOL – MSD Blitz’s – Occuring NOW!


A Business Case For Ergonomics

 On average, companies pay over
$75,000 to every injured worker
 This amount can reach over
$250,000 if the employee is unable
to return to work
 MSD’s now represent over 50% of
all work-related injuries


MSD’s Costs Ontario Workplaces


The Iceberg Effect
Direct costs
 Wage Replacements
 Treatment
 Evaluations & examinations
 NEL/ FEL awards (if injury occurred prior
to 1997)

Indirect Costs
 Lost Productivity
 Replacement workers / training
 Accident investigation time
 Case management time
 Productivity/ Quality issues

Indirect costs – estimated to be 4 –7
x’s the direct cost


Estimating Injury Costs

Total Cost = Direct Costs + Indirect Costs


Due Diligence – What is Required?

1. Comply with the Occupational Health &
Safety Act
2. Employers must identify all foreseeable
risks
3. Employers must address risks


Ergonomics Culture in Ontario


Benefits To Employer

Benefits To Employee
MSD
Prevention
Benefits

Learning the Basics of
Ergonomics


Ergonomic Risk Factors at Work
Associated with MSD’s
 The Big 3 + 1
 Force
 Awkward Postures
 Repetition
 +1 = Vibration

 Other: contact stress, environmental (noise,
temperature), etc


Force Defined

 Strength or energy exerted or brought to bear
i.e. lift/lower, push/pull, carry, grip
 External Force vs. Internal Force

 Results from external loads

 Requires muscle effort


How Force Shows Up as a Risk Factor

 The weight of an object
 The force required to push/pull, activate, turn,
etc
 Force applied to the human from an external
force (i.e. kickback, etc)


Effect of Gloves on Force (Harkonen, 1993)

120%
100%
100%
81%
80% 74%
Grip Strength

62%
60%

40%

20%

0%
Bare Hands Rubber Cotton Heat Resistant

Tools

 SNOOK (Liberty Mutual Tables)
 Niosh
http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/erg
onomics/niosh/calculating_rwl.html


Awkward Posture

 Extreme postures
 Non-extreme postures causing stress on
tendons or other structures
 Non extreme postures causing reduction in
tissue tolerance
 Static postures
 Non-neutral postures in combination with
other risk factors


Awkward Posture

 Goniometer


Fixed or Static Posture Work

Static Dynamic
 Forces applied for 20  Contract / relax
secs or longer,
continuous forces should  Using many muscles
not exceed 5% of for < 20 seconds
maximum capacity
(Suzanne Rodgers)
 When muscle contracted
fully occludes blood
supply to muscles
contributing to decreased
tissue tolerance


Repetition Defined

 Define Repetition
 Number of times a task is performed in a
given period of time
 Tissue strain is experienced as a result of
cumulative exposure

 Define Repetitiveness
 No universal definition


Repetition

Research has defined repetition as:
 Cycle time less than 30 seconds; where the
cycle time is the time to do one operation or
 Cycle time for a full task (including rest
periods) is the period covered by an employee
returning to the exact same position as that of
the start position
 More than 50% of the time is spent doing the
same fundamental task. (Silverstein et al,
1986)


Vibration Defined

 With increased mechanization comes
increased vibration
 Segmental- vibration of a limb (usually the
arm- holding a power tool)
 Whole body- vibration applied to whole body
(fork lift, etc)


Differentiating Vibration Impact

Whole Body Segmental
 Headaches  Constriction of blood
 Dizziness vessels in the
 Nausea muscles of the hand
 Hand turns pale,
white and/or cold
(“white finger”)
 Pain
 Decreased tactile
sensitivity


Mechanical Stress Defined

• Contact stress - pressure applied to body
(i.e. leaning against a conveyer, etc)

• Mechanical stress - Hitting or Striking
with the body (i.e. using hand to attach
trim to a seat pan)


Environmental Stress Defined
Noise Protective equipment required if
noise level is greater than 90db,
detailed noise mapping required
to determine where protective
equipment is required
Lighting Inadequate lighting, overhead
glare
Temperature Hot/ cold environments and the
physiological response
Air Quality Sick Building Syndrome

Understanding Ergonomic Hazards

 The more hazards present in a task, the
greater potential for injury
 Some hazards will be more significant than
others
 Hazards in combinations are more harmful
 Not all people exposed to hazards will be
effected


Setting Up an Ergonomic Program

6 Follow-up & Evaluation
5 Elimination
4 Prioritization
3 Identification
2 Culture
1 Team


Step 1- Build An Ergonomics Team

 Mixture of management, engineering/
maintenance, and regular workers from
different areas of the facility, and an
ergonomic professional
 Monthly meeting; every other month
 Strong defined roles within the team
 In-depth Ergonomic Training for all members
of the team


Step 2- Build the Ergonomic Culture

 General/ broad ergonomic training for all
employees to increase awareness
 Ergonomic Signage
 Encourage early reporting
 Ergonomic Suggestion box
 Ergonomic Message board/ social networking
(linkedin, facebook, company website)
 Ergonomic Incentives- gift cards, paid day off,
bonus, etc

Step 3 – Develop a Method for
Ergonomic Hazard Identification
 Ergonomic Checklist
 Pain/symptom diagram
 Physical Demands Description
 Injury stats, first aid reports, quality reports,
productivity stats.
 Questionnaires/ Surveys to all employees
 Ergonomic Assessments- Task Analysis


Step 4- Develop a Method for
Ergonomic Prioritization
 Recent injuries, multiple injuries
 Recent / multiple complaints
 Ergonomic Checklist
 Results of surveys, questionnaires
 Productivity / Quality


Step 5 – Develop Hazard Control/
Elimination Options

 Engineering controls- reduce or eliminate the
exposure to the hazard by modifying the work
or workplace
 Administrative controls- reduce exposure to
hazards by development of policies and
procedures, training, work structure (S.O.P.’s)


Step 6- Follow up and Evaluate
Success of Controls
 Worker feedback on changes
 Satisfaction survey
 Observe process
 Productivity / quality reports
 Evaluate practicality, efficiency of controls


Taking Ergonomic
Action

PRODUCTION Ergo Action
DIRECTOR YOU

DATE STEP TAKE
Start Appropria Ongoin
now te to your g
co.


Identify, Prioritize, Decide…

 After team has identified ergonomic
hazards and prioritized jobs:

Decide if:
a) want to provide solutions in house
or
b) call in a professional


In House

 Brainstorming meetings - specific members of
the team responsible for making changes (i.e.
engineering, health and safety, line worker)

Hazard Identification
Hazard Control Select Implement
Controls Impacts Controls Controls


5 Easy Ways to Alleviate Risks In House
Job rotation- proper rotation of jobs helps
1 alleviate the demand on the tissues.

Train employees- proper lifting technique, good
2 posture, etc

Incorporate policies and procedures AND enforce!
3
Incorporate “micro-breaks”
4
Job enlargement- expanding the job to include
5 more tasks, make less repetitive, longer cycle
time.

When to Call In a Professional

 On-site training is needed
 Objectivity is needed
 Complicated situations
 Ergonomic consultation is needed
 Ergonomic assessment is needed


Ensuring Success


The Follow-up Process is the Key to
Ensuring Success
 Evaluate the success of the ergonomic action
taken
 Allow some time to pass and then evaluate:
 Employee satisfaction
 Are the employees following the
recommendations or using the provided
tools/ changes? If not why?
 Ensure no new ergonomic risk factors are
present as result of the action taken


Carefully Consider Changes Made

Do the changes made. . . .
 Speed up or slow down production?
 Make the job easier? Less physically
demanding?
 Work with specific employee anthropometrics


Gather Employee/Supervisor
Feedback
 Do the ergonomic changes made affect
production speed/ quality?
 Do the changes make the job easier or harder?
 Is the job less physically demanding now?
 Are there any new problems or concerns
because of the control?
 Ask ALL workers who do the job/ process, and
surrounding workstations.


Bring All Concerns Back to the
Ergonomics Team

 Discuss and problem solve concerns.
 Re-evaluate implemented controls at the 3-6
month mark.
 Collect production and quality information to
evaluate possible effects the ergonomic
changes have had.


Success is Dependent on Ongoing
Review
 Ongoing review
 Remember - a good balance is necessary
in ergonomics between balancing
production, quality, and minimizing/
eliminating ergonomic risk.


RESULTS MATTER!

 Improves staff morale and includes all in the
process.
 Identifies the challenges and failures of the
program.
 Indicates it is an ongoing process, and that
everyone’s help is needed.
 Informs workers that changes have been made and
that the risk of MSD has been greatly reduced.
 Highlights the team approach and how everyone
came together to accomplish the goal.

Methods for Communicating Results

 Yearly report for all staff - the goals, the
changes that have been made, and the
successes and challenges
 Workplace newsletters, bulletin boards,
emails.
 Communicate to Management team
separately in meeting environment. Well laid
out cost/ savings/ benefit analysis. (injury
stats, etc) Get them to think LONG TERM!!


Reinforce Communication Through
Recognition and Celebration
 Implement some type of recognition process:
 Recognize those individuals who have made
significant contribution (plaque, gift card,
etc)
 Celebrate the success- special luncheon, etc


Summary

You just learned:
 What an MSD is
 Why a MSD Prevention Program is
important
 How to get company buy-in
 The Basics of Ergonomics
 How to set up the program
 How to ensure success of the MSD program


Remember It is a process!

 The Ergonomic Culture has to be built in
before you start gaining traction.
 Communicate results!! You may not actually
get “buy-in” until people see results!
 As best you can, communicate to management
in $$.


 GOOD LUCK on the battlefield!


Setting Up An Effective MSD Prevention Program(Final)

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