Company Size and Human Factors and Ergonomics Awareness

The objective of this study was to better understand the knowledge and opinions of managers in the American furniture manufacturing industry regarding Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF/E) and to explore significant relationships between company size and managers' awareness on HF/E. The furniture manufacturing industry has a high occupational injury and illness rate and HF/E awareness is vital to improve worker safety and health. A web-based survey was used to gage managers' awareness of HF/E. Development, pre-test, and review stages followed to design the final survey. Sixty-four managers participated in the survey. This study shows the awareness level of managers depended on company size. Smaller companies were less likely to provide HF/E training programs to both managers and employees, additionally; smaller companies were less likely to have a team or department for HF/E interventions or for establishing HF/E programs in their organizations. The main reason for lower commitment to HF/E in small companies is owners, managers, and employees had a low awareness about the importance of HF/E to improve their occupational injury and illness rates. For example, 75 percent of the managers surveyed rated their HF/E knowledge level as poor, fair, or average. Some of the managers were not aware of available information resources about HF/E. A considerable number of managers believed that HF/E resulted in more regulations to follow and higher cost in training new employees. Without managers' commitment and support, the success of HF/E programs is not likely. In summary, our findings indicate managers in small companies are not well informed of the importance HF/E awareness plays in controlling their injury and illness rates. Therefore, we feel managers of any sized company especially smaller companies should be introduced to available HF/E resources and the benefits of HF/E.