To make a point the other day, someone asked, "Well, isn't that just common sense?" While others in on that conversation agreed on the look and feel of common sense, it was also apparent that others might not. In fact, our experiences are so diverse that common sense isn't so common after all.

Just take the recently rescinded ergonomics standard. To the people over at OSHA, the standard was just the ticket to reducing ergonomics injuries costing $15 billion a year. To the new Administration, the projected cost of more than $800 per worker to implement the standard far outweighed the potential benefits.

So, where's the common sense on this issue? Somewhere in the middle? Maybe someplace else. It's tough to say, actually.

If you can't easily come at it from that angle, perhaps there is a better approach. And that's exactly what was discussed last month at a meeting of the Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) Council of Material Handling Industry of America. The group is made up of suppliers of equipment from lift tables to intelligent assist devices.

"Don't practice good ergonomics because you're forced to do it, but because it makes good business sense," said Peter Hong of Positech and chairman of EASE (www.mhia.org).

He makes a strong point, actually. Even though there is now no national standard, ergonomics should be on your radar (if not your priority list) when it makes good business sense for your operations. The biggest challenge, however, might be determining when that is.

To help you make that determination, we're running the story "Demystifying ergonomics." It takes a look at a program from Cal/OSHA that identifies warning signs of problems, helps you to develop an ergo eye, and offers proven remedies.

Good business sense is also on the mind of Mike Shamrell over at Revlon's distribution center in Phoenix. While he didn't have ergonomics problems, he did have troubles with damaged pallets that interrupted operation of an automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) system.

Mike explains that slave pallets were too expensive. So he created an on-site program that repairs 63,000 pallets a year for less than $1.50 each. The program even turns a profit. My bet is few can make either claim. By the way, this is also one of those rare times that one of our Editorial Advisory Board members is featured in MMH.

And that brings me to another member of our Editorial Advisory Board, Dr. John S. Usher of the University of Louisville. As a professor at the School of Industrial Engineering, he has just received the 2001 Distinguished Teaching Professor Award for the University. Congratulations, John. That's no small feat.

Only five such awards were made this year to a faculty that serves more than 20,000 students. The award notes that John brings a real-life approach to teaching – yet another case of good business sense but in a different setting. My bet is we'll see some of his students featured in the pages of MMH sometime in the not too distant future.