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Ergonomics at work

Humantech helping Goodyear to reduce injuries in factories

By Jim Mackinnon
Beacon Journal business writer

Published on Monday, Aug 27, 2007

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s top executives were looking for a way to make factories safer and workers more productive.

They weren't satisfied with the records they reviewed, even though the company considered itself an industry leader in safety, said Mike Porter,

Goodyear's director of global health, safety and chemical material management. In addition to serious injuries and lesser cuts and bumps, the data the executives looked over in late 2004 showed factory floor workers with such things as sprains and strains, he said.

''We looked at that and asked, how do we aggressively go after those types of injuries,'' he said. ''And that's how Humantech came on board.''

Humantech Inc., based in Ann Arbor, Mich., specializes in helping companies improve worker ergonomics.

The company has developed what it calls the ''30-inch view'' of business how to improve a worker's immediate area to reduce injuries and improve productivity.

Thirty inches is basically the distance of a typical worker's arm from shoulder to work environment.

''It's right in front of you,'' said Walt Rostykus, the Humantech vice president who is working with Goodyear.

Companies typically take a 30,000-foot view of worker safety, he said, but they really need to look at how employees interface with work to make safety improvements.

Since bringing in Humantech, Goodyear is measurably making its factories safer, Porter said.

While Goodyear did not release specific figures, it said strains and sprains have dropped by 35 percent since 2005. The company first tried Humantech's program in pilot projects at five plants, and there has been a 47 percent reduction in ergonomic injuries, Porter said.

Goodyear had ergonomics programs for years, Porter said, ''but we didn't have a process, a method to not only identify the risk but a process to get those problems attended to and fixed.''

Humantech gave Goodyear a process to identify risk reduction, Porter said. ''It's the ability to identify before somebody is injured what the risk is and then eliminating or fixing the risk or the problem so the person never does experience the injury.''

The process includes a Humantech ''hit list'' of 10 factors to look for, Porter said.

For example, one factor involves whether a worker must raise his or her arm above the shoulders to complete a task. If so, that creates a higher risk of injury.

Some 80 percent of the problems found typically need simple fixes, but the remaining problems can involve changing a manufacturing process and changing machinery, Porter said.

The Akron technical center on Martha Avenue, where Goodyear makes racing and other specialized tires, recently was brought into the Humantech process, Porter said. Newly trained employees subsequently designed a motorized cart that eliminated the need for workers to lift tires weighing between 62 and 80 pounds apiece, Porter said.

Training and educating workers and then implementing the process takes about six weeks, he said.

''We're still rolling it out. And we won't stop until we get to all the facilities,'' he said.

Typically, as many as six Humantech consultants initially visit a facility to meet with plant management and workers to identify processes they need to focus on, Rostykus said. ''The next step is to really engage the associates and make quick improvements.''

They then build on initial successes to address more complicated issues, he said.

''What we are really trying to do is change the workplace,'' Rostykus said. The floor employees are the ones identifying problems and coming up with solutions, he said.

Porter and Rostykus earlier this summer presented a paper at a conference of the American Society of Safety Engineers about their work in Goodyear plants.

Porter said that while he and others feel good about what has been accomplished so far, he's not sure the process will ever truly end.

''We can't take our eye off the ball,'' he said. ''We can't take our eye off the process.''

Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s top executives were looking for a way to make factories safer and workers more productive.

Get the full article here.


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