5 Most Common Reasons Ergonomics (as well as other) Programs Fail: Part 5
Reason #4: Lack of Ergonomics(Safety) Standards Built into Job Descriptions and/or Performance Reviews at All Levels of the Organization
Have you looked at you job description lately? How about your performance evaluation? What performance expectations or knowledge base is required? Does any of it relate to ergonomics or safety? What about everyone else who works for the same company that you do? Do any of their performance expectations or knowledge include ergonomics or safety?
When it comes to performance standards and reviews I would say that almost all employees, no matter the level or title, have to some type of productivity/job performance criteria on which they are graded. Some of the most common types of performance expectations are related to budget and operations.
A few examples include:
- Meeting, or even better, staying under budget
- Completing tasks within or faster than expected timeframe
- Assembling or producing products within or under expect defect rates
It is common for raises and bonuses to be tied to those and similar performance expectations. It is also common that if employees repeatedly don’t meet those standards that they will be fired. Donald Trump would be more than happy to say “You’re Fired”.
Do you notice anything missing? Performance standards and expectations related to the injury prevention side of ergonomics and safety. If you are a safety professional, does your raise or bonus depend on the injury rate and work-related costs of the company? I would bet that it probably does not. Does the raise and bonus of non-safety supervisors and managers depend on the injury rate and work-related costs of their department? Again, probably not. The question is “Why not?”
On one hand a company may say they promote and expect managers and employees to “work safe” but what do the words really mean when on the other hand the company has a bonus/incentive program tied directly to production. Managers and employees alike may very well push themselves and each other to meet those production quotes at the expense of safety.
Injury prevention, ergonomics and safety programs will never be truly successful until the chasm between productivity and safety is no more. A company, a manager or employees can push the envelope for productivity for only so long before the weakest link in the chain breaks—the human. I’m all for productivity and efficiency performance standards as long as injury prevention and safety performance standards are equally weighed and rewarded. Because in the end, the gains produced in the push for productivity will be pulled down by the loss in worker morale and work-related injury costs. This is a lose-lose situation for the company and the employees.
The one way to know if a company has accepted and engrained ergonomics and injury prevention into their culture is to look at the performance expectations of all of their employees. If your company has injury prevention standards—Congratulations! If not, know you are not alone. However, I challenge you not to assume that changing the culture and working with the C-level and HR folks on this is impossible. It’s not; it just will take time along with a good system design.
Does your company have injury prevention performance expectations a part of the annual employee reviews? If so, please comment and describe. All other comments are most welcome.
Have you had good results with getting your business case approved? Please share your experiences by commenting!