Work Environment and the Bottom Line: Survey of Tools Relating Work Environment to Business Results

Abstract

Insufficient knowledge of how the working environment (WE) impacts company performance leads to a poor basis for managerial decision making. The objective of this study was to survey and evaluate available tools relating WE to business results. Nine tools were identified and qualitatively evaluated using 11 criteria. The tools were clustered into three categories, ranging from analysis of WE risks as well as calculation of their economic impact to solely investment analysis. Shortcomings in the tools include insufficient attention to quality and productivity issues and insufficient guidance for users. Although further methodological development is indicated, researchers should also attend to the factors affecting tool uptake and application as well as the potential to integrate such analysis into companies' regular accounting systems. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Integrating ergonomics knowledge into business-driven design projects: The shaping of resource constraints in engineering consultancy

“…According to Tompa et al [35], the lack of economic evaluations of ergonomic initiatives can partly be ascribed to the ergonomists' lacking ability to conduct these evaluations. Recently, more evaluation models have been developed, and several evaluations showing the cost savings of ergonomic initiatives have been published [3,18,35,36,37]. Despite the identified difficulties in expressing the cost benefits of ergonomic services, we support previous publications [10,33], which argue that ergonomists need to be able to enter into dialogue about the cost benefits of ergonomics in order to be able to demonstrate the value of ergonomic services and thus sell ergonomics to main stakeholders.…”

“…An often-discussed challenge among ergonomists is to argue for the cost benefits of ergonomic initiatives [5,8,10,11,12,13,14,15]. These challenges are often linked to the intangible benefits of ergonomics [8,11,16,17] and the hidden nature of the costs of employees' ill health [18]. Studies of the Norwegian offshore industry also reveal that such issues as time, space and costs can constitute constraints for the implementation of ergonomic design criteria in design solutions [19,20].…”

Assessing financial impact of maritime ergonomics on company level: a case study

“…The initial challenge for the researcher of knowing what to ask for and who to ask illustrates the importance of cross-functional interaction between different actors at different levels or departments in an organization. Such cooperation is crucial for gaining the knowledge needed to be able to assess effects of ergonomics on company core values (Rose, Orrenius, and Neumann 2013). As an example of the different actors/roles within an organization, a production manager identifies the need of an ergonomic intervention from both human and system perspective, the HSEQ personnel suggest solutions, the HR department is responsible for the working environment and is the driving force for Assessing financial impact of maritime ergonomics on company level 565 an intervention, while the decisions regarding the investments needed are made at company management level.…”

“…At company level, improved occupational ergonomics have both system effects and human effects (Rose, Orrenius, and Neumann 2013). Generally, a company's financial performance is measured based on specific financial accounting systems that conform to national and international standards.…”

De-Icing of aircraft: Incorporating business risks and occupational health and safety

“…One method proposed for taking this variability into consideration allows identification of critical events that mark the boundary between safety and risk of accident (Luo and Hu [80]). However, this does not address the essential step of identifying the root cause of human error (Rashid and Braithwaite [81]), which in the case of maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations, may occur in design practices, during manufacturing processes, or at later stages due to organizational, individual or workplace conditions (Rashid et al [82]). …”