In 2000, ChevronTexaco undertook action after discovering a 67% increase in repetitive stress injury at office workstations based on information from corporation data analysis concerning the previous 5 year time span. ChevronTexaco has long been recognized as an employee health and safety leader for its strong safety culture and commitment to minimizing workplace injuries.
ChevronTexaco safety teams were given instruction to begin an initiative to drop the RSI rate with a goal of zero in mind. They gathered together key contributors including medical experts, health and safety professionals, IT staff, ergonomic consultants and organization leaders and created a Repetitive Stress Injury Prevention (RSIP) Plan to act as a standard policy. The RSIP plan used an online risk assessment tool to calculate risk levels for each employee (and contractors) using information they were asked to provide about their work habits and environment. Then managers used the data collected to make decisions on how to appropriate their resources to treat each high, medium, and low risk employee respectively.
Results of Chevron Texaco Repetitive Stress Intervention Initiative:
- 22,000 employees were involved
- 44% of participants lowered their risk level
- 49% of those who originally had constant or frequent discomfort now have discomfort
infrequently or never - Average cost/claim for those who participated were at least 40% less than nonparticipants
- In two years, the number of RSI cases have decreased by 71%
In addition, the following employee observations were made:
- Employees who would recommend the initiative to a colleague 94%
- Employees who say they will work more comfortably 92%
At the end of 2003, ChevronTexaco performed an analysis of workers’ compensation trends using data collected from 30% of their workforce. Chevron Texaco’s total workers compensation cost went from $27.7 million to $14.3 million in two years. Results were impressive and informative:
The reduction in Lost Work Days (LWD) decreased 71% from 2000 to 2002. In addition, for those who participated in the RSIP program, the average cost per claim for workers’ compensation was 40% less than employees who didn’t participate in the program. For example in one business unit, the average cost per claim decreased from $83,000 to $36,000; in another the average cost per claim decreased from $41,000 to $13,000.
Source: Doughty, Kelly, and Lopez, Kim. “Ergo ROI: Metrics for Profitability & Productivity.” ErgoSolutions Magazine.
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