Many companies embrace their mobile workforce. In fact, some Fortune 500 companies are even converting individual offices into collaborative work spaces, to accommodate employees who may come into an office location only one or two days a week. While this allows companies to better utilize facility space and foster community bonding, it poses bigger challenges for ergonomists, who need to ensure employees have the right workstation setup – whether they’re at home, or in an office workspace, or at a cafe. Clorox, a multi-billion dollar manufacturer of food and chemical products, has established an ergonomics program to support the company’s highly mobile workforce. Find out what the program entails and how the lessons learned at Clorox can apply to your organization.

1. Ergonomic Safety in Highly Mobile Office
Environments at Clorox
Donna Abts, PT, CEES
EH&S, Ergonomics Program Manager and Medical Program Manager
The Clorox Company
NECE Conference
December 4, 2013

2. Agenda
• Clorox’s Story
• Business Case
• Stakeholder Buy-In
• Explore Strategies for Change Management
• Creating Employee Buy In and Program Implementation
• Training
• Track/Measure Injury Incident Rates
• Key Learnings

3. Clorox’s Story For Mobile Work Environment
•
Leverage real estate portfolio
•
Short and long-term growth and change
•
Collaborative setup to drive innovation
•
Create livelier, more inviting and inspiring workplace
•
Attract and retain Knowledge Worker

4. Driving The Collaborative Workplace
Our research shows that two-thirds of employees must now collaborate
more than they did three years ago, and 60% of employees now
coordinate with 10 or more people on a daily basis.

5. Stakeholder Buy-In Is Essential

6. Our Strategies for Change Management
• Discovery and strategy development
• Design, construction and employee engagement
• Relocation
• Adaption

7. Preparation for Change: The Discovery Process
There are three main
elements to the
Discovery Process
•
Asking – electronic surveys and interviews
•
Observing – assessing workplace occupancy, utilization and patterns
•
Engaging – Employee workshops for prioritization, problem solving & solution
building. Leader workshops to generate support for and alignment around key
elements.

8. Our Workplace Survey
Q: Please indicate the amount of time you spend working from
the following locations.
 In your personal workspace
 In the building at a colleague’s personal workspace
 In the building in a conference room or meeting area.
 In the building at other locations such as labs
 Outside your building but not at home
 Home
 Other

9. Observation and Utilization Study
• Individual work spaces utilization
• Meeting room utilization and occupancy
• Other type of workspace utilization
• Patterns and peaks
• Sensor maps

10. Discovery Outcome
Individual workspaces
were used 30% of time
Other spaces
10% of time
Meeting rooms were used 40% of time

11. Discovery and Development
1000
employees
to
2:1
Goal for new mobile workspace
1.5
ergonomists

12. Development Process Outcome
Characteristics
•Neighborhood-focused way of working
•Desk workspaces found in neighborhoods
•Fluid and flexible
•Residential, mobile and remote groups in
different densities of people to seat patterns
Planning Implications
•Steepest workspace adoption/learning curve
•Need neighborhood protocols
•Validate assessment of each group
Worker Profile
•Supports anyone, anywhere, anytime

13. Design Process – Space Planning
Balanced Space
•Individual
•Team
Multipurpose
•Dynamic, variable open/closed
•Enable employees to self select how/where
they work
Fosters Behavior
•Engagement and collaboration
Adaptable
•Maximizes flexibility

14. Development Process
Work From
Home Policy

15. Development Process – Furniture Selection
Selection Process
•Vendor team - designer, sales, and
ergo person
•LEED criteria and to address
ergonomics
•ANSI/HFES 100

16. Construction and Engagement
Neighborhood Setup
Desk Ratios

17. Engagement - The Way We Work
The way we are working now and will be in the future.

18. Mobile Equipment
•
Mobile keyboard that splits and peaks
•
Laptop stand
•
Lap desk
•
Travel mouse
•
Travel power cord
•
Travel laptop lock
•
Backpack or rolling bag

19. Engagement to Safety and Ergonomics
Personal Accountability
Personal Responsibility
• Active Participation
• Monitor your co-workers’ and
your own workplace safety
• Comfort and Ergonomics are
intertwined. If it doesn’t feel right,
it probably isn’t. Make the
adjustment.

20. Employee Guidelines
Campus Norms
•First-come, first-served
•Clean up and allow someone else to use the space if you are away from
the desk more than 2 hours
Neighborhood Norms
•Individual neighborhoods developed community norms

21. Engagement by Training - Summary
Pre-move brown bag group training
•
Individual elbow height
•
Furniture pilot – what works and what doesn’t
•
Lifting and moving
Post-move (in new space)
•
Group training in neighborhoods
•
Individual 1:1 ergonomic

22. Pre-Move Ergonomics Training
Web-Based OES Ergonomic assessment and
training

23. Get Up and Move Frequently
Your best
posture is
your next
posture.

24. Training Tips for Packing and Moving Safely
•
Keep in mind this is a new activity for your body,
proceed with caution.
•
Always use good posture and body mechanics.
•
Load and unload boxes carefully.
•
Use core muscles.
•
Push, don’t pull when using a cart.
•
Don’t lift something that is too heavy. Ask for
help.

25. Moving and Packing – Lifting Zones
40-60 inches
37-48 inches
Ideal
24-36 inches
13-24 inches
0-12 inches
25
Every time you lift:
•Keep your spine neutral
•Bend at your hips and knees
•Use your legs
•Tighten stomach muscles
•Keep item close to your body.

26. Moving Day!!
26

27. Welcome to the New Environment
27

28. Adjustable Work Surfaces
Electric Sit/Stand Work Station
Crank Adjustable Sitting Work Station

29. All About the Elbow - review
When you are working at a mobile
desk:
1.Choose appropriate height desk. It
is all about working at the elbow
height.
2.Adjust the chair. Lumbar, seat
height, seat pan depth, arm rests.
3.Externalize monitor (eye level),
keyboard and mouse (elbow level)

30. Desk Height Details
Desk
• Pick a desk that is height appropriate for you
• High desks range from 29” and above
Height labels are orange
• Medium desks range from 27.5 – 28.5” Height
labels are green
• Low desks range from 26-27.5”
Height labels are blue

31. Clorox’s Ergonomics Tools & Programs
Tools & Resources
• Safe Start – a national behavior-based training program
• myLearning/ClarityNet – an online safety and HR training tool by Coastal
Technologies Corp
• myLearning/OES Office and RSIGuard – web-based injury risk assessment and
reduction software tools by Remedy Interactive, Inc.
• RIVO (safeguard)
• Stay Well – HR driven program
Internal Programs
•
•
•
•
•
•
31
BRAVO – Peer to Peer group
Including Safety in Employee Performance Reviews
Love the Lab
Observations
Risk Predictions
Take 2

32. Wellness Classes
•
Health = Wellness, Healthy Behaviors and More!
•
Equipment and services available at the new Wellness
Center.
•
Fitness center offering Yoga, Aerobics, and Zumba
classes.

33. HIVE café – Healthy Eating
Seating, informal meeting area
Healthy Food Selection

34. Key Learnings

35. Recordable Incident & Lost Time Rates
OSHA Recordable Incident
Rate (RIR):
Calculation that describes the
number of employees per 100
fulltime employees that have
been involved in a recordable
injury or illness
Lost Time Case Rate
(LTC):
Calculates the number of cases
that contains lost work days
=
Number of Recordable
Cases x 200,000 / # of
Employee Hours Worked
=
Number of Incidents with
Lost Time Cases x 200,000 / #
of Employee Hours Worked

36. Global R&D Injury Rates
Injuries per 100 employees for 12-month period
2
Last Recordable Injury: 5/7/13
Last Lost-Time Accident: 5/7/13
1.5
1
0.5
0
FY03
FY04
FY05 FY06
Recordable
36
FY07 FY08
FY09
Clorox World Class
Safety = Actively Caring for People
FY10 FY11
FY12 FY13 FY14- FY14Q1
Q2
Repetive Motion
Lost Time

37. Desk-Related Injuries
Date of Injury
Reason
5/2012
Injury Building B Recordable Neck
10/2012
Injury Building C Recordable Neck
2/2013
First Aid Building A Low Back sitting
5/2013
First Aid Building F Low Back sitting
6/2013
First Aid Building A Low Back sitting
7/2013
Recordable Building B RMI right wrist
We also had 5
neck pain
incidents from
lack of monitor
arms.

38. Move Is Complete But Our Job Is Not Done!
• Everyone needs to be
careful. No one is immune!
• People who have had
issues in the past need to
be particularly diligent.
Who needs to be
particularly
careful?
• Don’t wait!
• If something doesn’t feel
right it probably isn’t.

39. Questions