Strong OSHA Enforcement Results in Successful Ergonomics Programs

In 1988, OSHA cited and fined IBP $3.1 million for exposing workers to repetitive-motion hazards at its Dakota City plant. This enforcement action resulted in a corporate-wide settlement agreement which established a comprehensive ergonomics program at IBP, still in place today. In an industry with the highest rate of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), IBP's ergonomics program has significantly reduced the rate of these painful and, often, life destroying-injuries, as well as cut lost time.

The program involves a joint worker-management ergonomics committee which meets monthly to identify ergonomic problems and come up with solutions. Worker monitors study jobs and gather safety ideas from coworkers, while ergonomic experts and engineers from IBP design ways to put the safety ideas into practice.

Rates of Injuries, Surgeries, and Worker Turnover Have Dramatically Decreased

• Between 1991 and 1992, most ergonomics interventions became active in 1991, the number of diagnosed MSD cases was cut by 50%.

• Surgeries for MSDs fell by 40%.

• Worker turnover rate, which was over 100% for the plant in 1990, was reduced by 63%.

• Worker compensation rates decreased.

• Money spent on ergonomic fixes was recouped.

Over the Last Nine-Year Period IBP Injury Rates Have Continued to Decrease

• Well over 1,000 reported MSD cases in 1991 have fallen to 162 in 2000.

Joint Worker and IBP Management Ergonomics Committee Modifies Jobs and Tools to Fit Workers

• Hundreds of job functions changed to eliminate musculoskeletal stress.

• Hydraulic adjustable stands allow workers to trim beef without having to reach.

• Lowered conveyor belts eliminate workers having to throw meat and bones above their heads.

• Mechanical assists reduce the force required to separate meat from bone.

• Where design changes were not possible, jobs were "crewed up" with more personnel to reduce the amount and pace of work for individual employees.

While Excel had agreed in a union contract in 1989 to put in place an ergonomics program, the company took little action until OSHA issued it a citation in 1996. Since then, the program has taken off, significantly cutting injury, lost time, and worker turnover rates.

Excel's ergonomics program is similar to IBP's with workers acting as ergonomic monitors and serving on a joint worker-management ergonomics committee.

Excel's Ergonomics Program Has Cut the Rates of MSDs and Lost Time

• MSD cases have been reduced from a high of 2,253 in 1990 to 502 in 1998.

• The number of lost day cases dropped from 326 in 1990 and 440 in 1991 to 103 in 1998.

• New box stands with rollers and conveyors to eliminate the stress of pushing meat across a metal table.

• Lower conveyor belts all over the plant.

• A new ergonomically designed kill floor.

• A mechanical assist to remove the paddle bone (shoulder blade) from a slaughtered animal to reduce the stress on workers' shoulders.

• New larger hooks to reduce the reach to get meat from the conveyor.