Ergonomics at work.

Byline: Jim Mackinnon

Aug. 27--Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s top executives were looking for a way to make factories safer and workers more productive.

They weren't satisfied with the records they reviewed, even though the company considered itself an industry leader in safety, said Mike Porter,

Goodyear's director of global health, safety and chemical material management. In addition to serious injuries and lesser cuts and bumps, the data the executives looked over in late 2004 showed factory floor workers with such things as sprains and strains, he said.

"We looked at that and asked, how do we aggressively go after those types of injuries," he said. "And that's how …