OSHA chief John Henshaw, a big proponent of proving safety's competitive edge, proudly announced at his ASSE speech last week that Dow Chemical recently successfully addressed ergonomics hazards in the company's design and construction division. The Dow division reached its goal of reducing the reportable injury and illness rate by 90 percent — before the target date of 2005.
Using the Six Sigma process, Dow challenged a team to identify the primary contributing factors to musculoskeletal disorders and reduce those factors by 70 percent. The team followed a four-step process: measure, analyze, improve and control.