Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) can yield benefits beyond regulatory compliance for industry.
Historically the benefits have been shown to far outweigh the investment that organisations place in this discipline.
Even with the risk of costly or reputation-damaging incidents, organisations can still find it difficult to weigh up the benefits of human factors integration in their business.
As a result, research as been conducted over the years to show that the benefits of HFE far exceeds the costs and below lists a few, which we hope will help you appreciate how valuable HFE can be to your organisation:
Please note: this is a small sample of the vast amount of research out there. If you have some research that you would like to add to this list, please email admin@hfesnz.org.nz
Offshore industry
Changes in the riser tensioner maintenance replacement requirements cost by approximately $250,000
Miller, G.E. (1999). OTC 10876, Proceedings of 1999 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, Texas, May 3-6, 1999.
Assembly job redesign
10.76% first year ROI & 30.10% subsequent year ROI
Lyon, B.K. (1997, March). Ergonomic benefit/cost analysis: Communicating the value of enhancements. Professional Safety, 33-36.
Workstation redesign
15% increase in productivity
Hendrick, H.W. (2003). Determining the cost-benefits of ergonomics projects and factors that lead to their success. Applied Ergonomics, 34, 419-427.
Robotic case palletizer
17% ROI over a 10 year period
Rodrigues, C.C. (2001, April). Ergonomics to the rescue: A cost-justification case study. Professional Safety, 32-34.
Log truck redesign
$6900 investment & $65,000 return = 1:9.4 first year cost-benefit ratio
Hendrick, H.W. (2008). Applying ergonomics to systems: Some documented “lessons learned.” Applied Ergonomics, 39, 418-426.
Electric utility tool replacement
$300,000 capital investment paid back in 4 months
Seeley, P.A., & Marklin, R.W. (2003). Business case for implementing two ergonomic interventions at an electric power ultility. Applied Ergonomics, 34, 429-439.
Motherboard redesign
$581,495/year factory savings & $142,105/year customer savings
Sen, R.N., & Yeow, R.H.P. (2003). Cost effectiveness of ergonomic redesign of electronic motherboard. Applied Ergonomics, 34, 453-463.
Computer usability
200% – 500% return on a 6% budget investment
Nielsen, J. (1993). Usability Engineering. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.