In production, “zero defects” is a frequent quality metric, but zero worker injuries, while a stated goal of most manufacturing plants and distribution centers, has not made it to the gold standard. There is no disputing that defective product costs companies millions of dollars in repairs, reshipments, and bad customer relations. Ironically though, cost containment through fewer workers’ compensation claims, litigation, absenteeism, and employer reputation has a more significant impact on the bottom line than all other quality initiatives combined.
ADVERTISEMENT |
All employers will agree in principle that workforce health and safety is paramount and affects quality. Yet the documented physical labor processes in most companies continue to reveal that that repetitive lifting, lowering, and moving injuries cost businesses millions of dollars each year. Automating those tasks significantly reduces the potential for injuries and downtime. No approach has been found for totally eliminating back injuries caused by lifting, though effective safety control programs and ergonomic design of work tasks can be greatly improved.
The National Safety Council documented that a disabling injury occurs every 1.3 seconds in the United States (more than 63,000 every day), and the Social Security Administration predicts that 3 out of 10 workers entering the workforce today will acquire some type of disability before they retire. Preventing these injuries is key to operator health and the health of the company as well. Put bluntly, injuries impact the quality and productivity of the entire manufacturing environment, not just the individual who is harmed. Unfortunately, it is too often ignored among quality professionals and relegated instead to shift managers or overseen by operations managers who are focused on accomplishing on-time, accurate shipping deadlines.
The National Safety Council reports that a single work-related disabling injury costs an employer an average of $48,000. The National Council on Compensation Insurance estimates that medical costs account for nearly 60 percent of the overall costs of a lost-time claim, and the data are getting worse. Ironically, workers worried about keeping their jobs are more likely to file a claim, which may account for some of these increases.
“Workers’ compensation claims can be more costly than vehicle accidents,” according to Aaron Lamb, inventor of Lift’n Buddy. “Across the country, users of standard hand trucks have been slammed by workers’ compensation rates that, in some states, have nearly tripled over the last few years. Companies must do the right thing and reduce injuries and see workers’ compensation rates drop.”
Safety and quality should be synonymous
A decade-long study by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and noted in U.S. Department of Labor, Fact Sheet No. OSHA 89-09, concluded that back injuries are the nation’s number one workplace safety problem and that preventing them is a major workplace safety challenge. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million workers suffer back injuries each year, and account for one of every five workplace injuries or illnesses. Further, one-fourth of all compensation indemnity claims involve back injuries, costing industry billions of dollars on top of the pain and suffering borne by employees.
And yet documented standard operating procedures rarely include mobile lifting devices or hand trucks. Lamb put the issue in perspective. “Avoiding just one work-related injury claim would offset the costs of a fleet of electric hand trucks,” he says. Indeed cost-effective mobile lifting devices, which combine the best of a standard two-wheeler’s durability and functionality with automatic lifting and lowering capabilities, are likely to have the greatest impact on quality, safety, and return on investment.
February 2012 will be the first MODEX conference in Atlanta hosted by the Material Handling Industry of America. While robotics and more technical solutions will be presented at the event, the focus will likely shift in recognition that heavy-duty hand trucks cause more than one-third of all material handling injuries, whether used in deliveries, moving product in a warehouse, or on the manufacturing plant floor.
Quality electric hand trucks must be designed with proper ergonomics and safety in mind for any person and any moving and lifting job. Mobile lifting devices, fabricated of durable, lightweight, extruded aluminum, will help companies avoid the financial exposure of employee injury, litigation, and workers’ compensation claims.
The hand-truck market is estimated at more than $30 billion annually; the cost of back injuries is more than $250 billion annually; these injuries are avoidable and eliminating them should be part of what human resource and quality professionals look at for improving safety, quality, and productivity in 2012.
Comments
Zero Accidents
Mr. Cutler,
Thank you for your interesting article on Safety and Quality. I just would like to make an addition that may provide additional knowledge to the readers of your fine article.
You state that, "In production, “zero defects” is a frequent quality metric, but zero worker injuries, while a stated goal of most manufacturing plants and distribution centers, has not made it to the gold standard.” On this subject Dr W. Edwards Deming stated that, “No system, whatever be the effort put into it, be it manufacturing, maintenance, operation, or service, will be free of accidents.” That was probably the main reason for his rejection of the concept of "zero defects" or "zero accidents."
Regards,
Fernando J. Grijalva
Add new comment