lean

The challenge for balancing productivity and safety exists for all industries but especially in the tree care industry where there are many variables that impact both.  Tree care companies experience costs related to incidences involving damage to their own property and/or that of the client as well as employee injuries.  Often times these incidences are accepted as the normal cost of doing business.  The bills are paid and business continues as usual.  However, these costs have a significant impact on the amount of extra business a company has to bring in in order to cover these costs.  Th

Productivity and efficiency—two buzz words that are talked about and heard continually from large to small businesses.  Why?  The productivity and efficiency of people and operations can make or break a business.  Unfortunately we can’t snap our fingers and make high productivity happen all by itself.  However, significant improvements are common when you apply the right principles, guidelines and tools to your business systems and processes.

This is the final blog in the 4 part series on the 4 M’s to effective ergonomics systems.  The 4^th M stands for Momentum!  Momentum or energy is continually needed to drive the system on a continual basis.  First, momentum is needed in you (me) both inwardly and outwardly.  The keys to inward momentum are:

This is the third part out of four in the article series on the 4 M’s to effective and sustainable ergonomics systems.   The third M stands for Mindset.  According to the Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, mindset means “mental inclination, tendency, or habit”.  Another definition is offered by thefreedictionary.com, “A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations.”  Mindset is the third key principle on which successful ergonomics systems are built.  One must determine whose mindset must be understood. 

This is the second of the 4 part blog series on the 4 M’s to Effective Ergonomics Systems in the Short and Long Term.  The second “M” is Marketing.  By marketing I mean that the ergonomics systems and associated projects should have a brand.  Consider the following:  What company name comes to mind based on the following:  a Swoosh and the tagline “Just Do It”?  Or what company comes to mind if I tell you the logo is a red bullseye?  If you said Nike and Target you’d be correct.  What about the company you work for?  Does it have a brand—a logo and/or tagline?

I was at a business association meeting recently when I sat down at a table with 5 other attendees.

Over the remainder of the year I’m going to blog about some of the lessons I’ve learned through the years through practicing, facilitating and consulting on ergonomics, lean and process improvement.  Today is the first blog in this series on “Lessons Learned”.

“Location, location, location!”  We’ve all heard those words when it comes to real estate.  The same house located on a lake is of more value and therefore worth much more than when it is located on a street in the city.  The same can be said for where the roles and responsibility of an ergonomic program resides.  The value to company can rise and fall depending on the location.  If you read this month’s (December 2011) feature article you probably have a good idea on the best location.  The most common location for ergonomic programs is in EHS or HR.

The second phase of creating a project brand, in our case an injury prevention (IP) project, is planning.  This is the four blog in the series on Branding:  Why All Projects Need One.  In the last blog I discussed the first phase in the brand campaign which was the pitch.  Phase 2 is the PLAN.  This is fairly self-explanatory—the Plan identifies the project goals, activities and steps involved.  It is also defines who is involved from the key stakeholders to those who will have minimal but necessary involvement.  The roles and responsibilities of each person/group involved defined as well a

As a consultant, I find myself asking people their beliefs about ergonomics and find their responses to be quite interesting.  It tells me that most have a very limited view of what ergonomics is and where it belongs within their company.