Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/104912
W hen it comes to injuries, manufacturers know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of worker���s compensation claims. Bill Scheidt, health safety and environmental manager at Rockline Industries in Sheboygan, says in 2000 his company had an OSHA recordable incident rate of 16.19 per 100 employees. The rate was about twice that of the industry average at the time. After investigating the cause, the company determined that poor ergonomics was the main culprit. ���We tried instituting some things like job rotation and that type of thing on our own, which took us to a certain point,��� Scheidt says. ���But it still didn���t have the great impact that we were hoping it was going to.��� That���s when the company found Blankenheim Services, one of several New North-area businesses that specialize in making sure workers stay healthy, productive and injury-free by helping people adopt healthy habits as they perform omics of ergonomics tasks in the workplace. Ergonomics ensures work is performed in a way to best minimize injury, therefore improving productivity and long-term cost savings. Blankenheim provided a complete evaluation of Rockline���s work centers and now maintains an onsite clinic with a physical therapist. Since then, the company���s OSHA recordable incident rate has dropped to 0.77 per 100 employees. ���It���s really pretty incredible,��� Scheidt says. Melissa Samuels, an occupational therapist and national sales manager for Blankenheim, says companies call them in when they see an issue unfolding or to avoid issues from happening. ���What generally happens is a client will identify that maybe they have too many injuries occurring in an area, or maybe they have a problematic machine that they know is going to be coming in from a different plant,��� says Samuels. If the company isn���t sure what���s causing a problem, Blankenheim can work around that, too ��� its staff will visit the plant, take a look at how things are done, tour the facility and ask what the company���s needs are. Then they develop a proposal. The fix can be as large as redesigning equipment or assembly lines, but more likely the answers are much simpler than that. The smallest changes in the methods used to complete a job can make a big difference and are sometimes what really count. ���Some companies can���t afford to do these major overhaul fixes, so they are looking more for administrative controls and/or a prioritized solution,��� Samuels says. A company might decide to make some of the easier process changes immediately, then budget and plan for a larger engineering solution down the road, she says. w w w.in s i g h t o n m f g . c o m Sometimes easy fixes help free manufacturers from expensive workers��� comp costs By Nikki Kallio photographs by Shane Van Boxtel/ Image studios January 2013 ��� Insight on Manufacturing |9