According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011, body motion injuries (also known as MSDs or ergonomic injuries) to the back, shoulders, legs and arms accounted for 29% of all injuries resulting in days away from work. The median number of days away from work for all body motion injuries is eight. However, in service industries - merchandise sales, food preparation/table service, and custodial work - both the incident and lost day rates are significantly higher. These numbers did not change significantly between 2010 and 2011. It's estimated that 130 million people work in the service industry in the U.S. Lost workdays and Worker's Comp claims are only the beginning of the costs associated with these injuries.
Disney has learned that preventing body motion injuries requires a strategic coordinated effort on the part of the people performing the jobs, their leaders and the safety professionals … most especially the people doing the work. In service organizations jobs often involve a wide variety of tasks, materials, equipment and environments. Many of these jobs offer a high degree of work independence and some jobs involve travel and remote work locations. Typically people working in the front line of the service industry are often rewarded for getting tasks done quickly - preparing and serving food, cleaning rooms, and taking sales orders. The expectation of being rushed in the service industry is quite common. In addition to typical service industry jobs, Disney also has a wide variety of "behind the scenes" jobs including laundry facilities, warehousing, manufacturing, construction and other trade-type jobs. This presentation reveals how Walt Disney Parks and Resorts develops and utilizes "agents" in the operations as well as leaders and safety professionals in order to implement a long term, multi-dimensional process designed to reduce soft-tissue body motion injuries. We will discuss case studies in several operations to highlight the process, including Attractions/Operations and Manufacturing.