Ergonomics: The Overlooked Strategy Driving Safety and Performance

Budget season is here. Across organizations, leadership teams are reviewing spreadsheets, balancing competing priorities and deciding where to allocate resources for the greatest return. Technology upgrades, compliance costs and operational improvements often dominate the discussion. Yet one area quietly influencing productivity, safety and retention everyday struggles for attention and funding: ergonomics. 

The numbers, outcomes and long-term advantages of ergonomic improvements are too strong to ignore. Ergonomics is more than a safety initiative; it is a business strategy that reduces cost, increases worker safety and strengthens organizational resilience. 

The Cost of Overlooking Ergonomics 

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for nearly 34 percent of all workplace injuries requiring days away from work in the United States¹. Each case costs employers between $17,000 and $25,000 in direct expenses, and often two to four times more in indirect costs such as lost productivity, temporary labor and retraining². Across industries, MSDs represent billions in annual losses as well as untold misery for those who physically suffer. 

Despite the data, ergonomic improvements frequently receive limited or no funding when annual budgets are finalized. Ergonomics, which quietly influences productivity and retention, too often gets pushed down the road. The result of this is predictable: preventable injuries, higher costs and lower morale. Ergonomics deserves to stay at the front of the conversation precisely because it addresses multiple business outcomes at once: 

• It improves operational continuity by reducing lost-time incidents.  
• It strengthens retention by improving comfort and morale. 
• It supports resilience by reducing financial and reputational exposure. 

When leaders reframe ergonomics as an operational efficiency and risk-reduction tool, not just a safety initiative, it becomes far easier to justify and sustain. 

The Business Case for Ergonomics 

Ergonomics is not simply about comfort. It is about control over operational risk. When executed well, it directly improves productivity, safety and employee engagement, all of which are growth drivers. According to the American Society of Safety Professionals, every three dollars invested in ergonomics yields an average return of eight dollars, often within the first twelve months³.  

Ergonomics delivers results across work environments: 

• Office and Hybrid: Poor home-office design is a growing liability for organizations. Employees with optimized setups report 30 percent less discomfort and 15 percent higher focus. These ergonomic enhancements also help reduce absenteeism and support engagement⁴. 
• Manufacturing and Warehousing: Ergonomic redesigns can reduce lifting-related injuries by 40 percent and improve efficiency by 20 percent⁵. Conversely, poor ergonomic design can disrupt production and inflate costs. 
• Healthcare: Adjustable tools and patient-handling devices can cut injury rates by as much as 30 percent⁶. However, healthcare-related costs for employers are expected to rise as the workforce ages. By 2030, approximately one in six people worldwide will be over sixty, increasing MSD prevalence and recovery times⁷.   

The evidence is clear: when organizations invest in ergonomics, positive result follows. 

Why Budgeting Now Matters 

The timing of your investment determines the strength of your outcomes. Conducting an ergonomics review early in the year helps ensure resources are allocated before urgent issues consume next year’s attention and dollars.  

Early planning provides several benefits: 

• Assess current program maturity and identify high-risk areas. 
• Set measurable goals aligned with business objectives. 
• Build cross-functional support among operations, HR and finance. 
• Integrate ergonomics into equipment design, procurement and training.

When ergonomics is budgeted consistently, year after year, organizations experience compounding benefits, as represented in the following table⁸.