Tag: ergonomics

DJ Products Trailer Mover Perfect Solution for RV Industry

The economy is driving people in search of inexpensive travel and vacation options and, in many cases, inexpensive housing. RVs seem to fit the bill. Record-setting attendance at RV shows has led to strong first quarter sales in the recreational vehicle industry. With young adults aged 18 to 34 comprising the fastest growing segment of RV owners, industry watchers expect RV sales to remain strong well into the future. RVs are the perfect vehicle for active folks who appreciate the outdoors and are looking for an easy, eco-friendly way to travel. The ability to take off for a quick weekend or mini-vacation is as appealing to young adults as it is to busy families and retirees.

Increasing RV sales are creating a ready market for DJ Products’ popular TrailerCaddy trailer mover. More RV buyers mean more RVs moving across sales lots and in and out of showrooms. DJ Products’ trailer mover is the perfect solution for manufacturers, dealer lots, trade shows and service centers. Our versatile TrailerCaddy is designed to push and pull trailers that require lifting on one end before maneuvering. DJ Products’ ergonomic design provides powerful pulling strength while protecting workers’ health and insuring their safety. Our ergonomically-designed material handling equipment is built to prevent the physical strain that occurs when workers are forced to muscle around large trailered equipment. Ergonomic design ensures that the equipment, not the worker, takes the strain of moving and maneuvering heavy equipment.

DJ Products’ TrailerCaddy makes easy work of pushing and pulling all kinds of recreational vehicles, including RVs, campers, equipment trailers and boats. Our electric-powered trailer mover is the perfect solution for moving recreational vehicles down an assembly line, around a manufacturing plant, across sales lots and showrooms and into trade show spaces. The compact design of DJ Products’ powered TrailerCaddy allows superior, precise movements, making quick work of maneuvering large recreational vehicles through crowded spaces and into display areas without fear of damaging surrounding vehicles. As RV sales continue to increase, you can expect to see more manufacturers and dealers turning to DJ Products’ handy TrailerCaddies to move recreational vehicles.

DJ Products makes a full line of compact, ergonomically-designed material handling products designed to do the job while protecting the health and safety of workers. Our products are cost effective to purchase and inexpensive to operate and maintain. Most of our customers report recouping their capital investment within the first year of ownership. To find out how DJ Products’ motorized carts, movers and pushers can benefit your business, talk to one of our ergonomic specialists today. 

Driver Demographics Affect Musculoskeletal Injury Risk

EHS Today online, a magazine for environment, health and safety leaders, published an interesting April 24, 2009 article comparing truck driver demographics to risk factors for musculoskeletal injuries. As in any job that requires long hours in a single position, long distance truck drivers are at increased risk for musculoskeletal injury on the job. According to a recent study by Atlas Ergonomics, truck drivers lose more workdays per musculoskeletal injury incident than any other group of workers. Fortunately, risk factors can be predicted and workers protected.

The three-year study of 28,301 commercial truck drivers was conducted from 2005 to 2008. Drivers were primarily engaged in driving and delivering loads with less than 10% of drivers’ activities involving the unloading of freight. A direct relationship was found between injury risk and the physical characteristics of the both the worker and truck cab. The driver population studied was predominately men of slightly taller stature and weight than average.

  • The study found that height caused the greatest discomfort while driving. Taller drivers were forced to contort their bodies to fit into cab spaces, while shorter drivers had to stretch to reach controls.
  • Weight, particularly obesity, significantly increased injury risk factors. Obesity increased driving discomfort to severe levels and, in many cases, resulted in sleep apnea and other sleep disorders that impaired alertness.
  • Driver age was spread across all age groups from young, new drivers to near retirees. Discomfort increased with age and length of service, three to five years of seniority producing greater risk. Injuries to workers 65 and older resulted in longer work absences after injury.
  • While women drivers constituted just 8% of the study group, their smaller stature resulted “in elevated levels of discomfort across all body parts,” according to study results. Muscular strength may also have played a role but was not specifically studied.

While operating material handling equipment is significantly different from long-haul trucking, there are important similarities when workers are forced to maintain steady postures for long periods of time or repeatedly perform the same actions over a shift. The findings of the Atlas Ergonomics study has instructive lessons for material handling equipment purchasers who want to decrease the risk of worker injury in their workplace. We’ll talk about that next time.

Business Survival Strategies that Work

This week we’ve been talking about what it will take to survive in today’s challenging economy. We’ve shared marketing ideas from industry experts and our own playbook that have allowed companies to not only survive past economic downturns but thrive in highly competitive markets. The secret to survival in a bear economy is to develop a corporate attitude that is innovative enough to envision new applications for your products, flexible enough to act quickly when a new opportunity presents itself, and customer-oriented enough to anticipate customer needs and respond quickly to customer requests. Our ability to succeed in these areas has made DJ Products a nationwide leader in the innovative design and manufacture of ergonomic motorized carts and powered cart movers.

Through the example of our own company’s experiences, we’d like to demonstrate how businesses can apply the principles of innovation, flexibility and customer service to survive today and position themselves to thrive tomorrow.

Innovation. Innovators in the material handling field, DJ Products realized the value of ergonomic design before it became a popular cause. We realized that ergonomics was likely to become increasingly important as a worker health and safety issue with the power to drastically reduce health care, insurance, disability and workers’ compensation costs. But beyond that, we saw in ergonomics the potential to improve the speed and efficiency of production across a broad range of business environments.

Flexibility. DJ Products has exhibited the flexibility to imagine and develop new markets for products originally designed primarily for industrial settings. The most compact, light-weight versions of our CartCaddy movers are employed daily in health care and hospitality settings. Their small size and easy maneuverability in tight spaces makes them perfect for crowded hospital corridors and hotel hallways. We’ve found applications for our motorized car/truck pushers in the boating industries and recently designed a specialized version for use by auto racing pit crews.

Customer Service. We’re Old School in our belief that customer service must always be our first priority. We pride ourselves on our ability to customize our products to meet specific customer needs. We’re so convinced you’ll like our products, we offer a free trial program before you buy.

Take a page from the DJ Products’ handbook. Companies that emphasize innovation, flexibility and customer service will survive and can even thrive in these challenging economic times.

Business Survival Requires Effort on Multiple Fronts

Survival is the name of the game these days. Savvy companies large and small are tightening up their production and accounting procedures, taking care of their customers and working to expand their customer and product base. As we’ve discussed this week, some companies are improving their market share through consolidation mergers. Last week we talked about the importance of innovation, flexibility and customer service in surviving in today’s highly competitive market. We’ve also discussed the need to broaden your reach by finding new market opportunities for your products and services. The bottom line is survival in a recessionary economy requires businesses to make a constant effort on multiple fronts. Survival requires continuous effort to maintain current excellence and constant innovation to explore and pursue new opportunities.

Through economic highs and lows DJ Products has maintained its standing as a national leader in the manufacture of ergonomically-designed motorized carts and powered cart movers by blending the old with the new. We have always maintained the highest quality production standards in the manufacture of material handling equipment, but we’ve introduced new, innovation, ergonomic designs to material handling that allow our customers to meet future challenges. Early on, DJ Products identified the growing concern about worker health and safety and the growing expense of ignoring musculoskeletal injuries. We predicted the increasing importance of these issues to employers and their workers as well as government and potential customers and worked to design innovative products that would meet growing demand.

Understanding the value of a satisfied customer, DJ Products has provided superior customer service. But we also understand that customer needs change as business changes. Our material handling products are designed with versatility and flexibility in mind so that they’ll be able to perform multiple functions to keep up with the changing demands of our customers. Lift kits and retrofit kits provide even more innovative flexibility to serve our customer’s needs. DJ Products also has the ability to offer our customers engineer-to-order material handling products to meet their specific needs.

DJ Products has been diligent in finding new uses for our ergonomically-designed material handling equipment. CartCaddies that were originally designed for manufacturing environments are now employed regularly in the healthcare, hospitality and retail industries. Our auto pushers are also being used at truck depots, RV sales lots and boat marinas. Working with our customers, DJ Products is constantly searching for and finding new uses and new markets for our innovative products.

Who Monitors Ergonomic Standards?

With talk that the Obama administration will implement federal ergonomic standards, the question arises: Who monitors ergonomic standards now?

There are a number of governmental and professional groups that write and/or monitor ergonomic standards or guidelines that affect U.S. manufacturers and businesses, most prominently:

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

OSHA. Created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s mission is to provide U.S. workers with a safe working environment. The federal program is administered through the U.S. Department of Labor, but many states also have OSHA programs. OSHA develops specific workplace standards to protect workers’ health and safety and, through a network of inspectors, polices businesses to see that standards are enforced. OSHA also conducts procedural training and education courses.

NIOSH. Part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIOSH was created by the same act as OSHA. NIOSH conducts research and makes recommendations regarding the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.

ANSI. A private non-profit general standards organization, ANSI facilitates the voluntary establishment of U.S. standards in many areas. ANSI does not create standards but serves as a neutral forum for the development of voluntary standards by consensus of industry/business groups. ANSI works to standardize the development, manufacture and supply of U.S. products and services.

ISO. The world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards, ISO is a non-governmental network of 159 countries. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO seeks international consensus on a wide range of product and service issues to facilitate trade.

In the U.S., some states — California and Washington — have their own ergonomics rules. Michigan may join their ranks soon if ongoing efforts to block a new state ergonomics rule fail. Industry trade organization may also champion ergonomic guidelines in their efforts to standardize industry practices.

Presently, ergonomics standards are piecemeal, applying to some industries or occupations but not all. Most often, standards are couched as voluntary guidelines with no penalty for non-compliance. At this time, the U.S. doesn’t have a pervasive, all-encompassing set of ergonomic laws that mandate and describe the use of ergonomics across the breadth of American business, nor is there a universal federal mechanism for requiring companies to implement ergonomic solutions and discipline those who fail to do so. Most U.S. industry watchers predict that this will eventually chance under the Obama administration. 

Practical Benefits of Ergonomics

For American industry and business, the practical benefits of ergonomics are multi-fold. Upgrading your business with ergonomically-designed power mover decreases both the frequency and severity of workplace injuries. This decreases medical costs, disability insurance payments and absenteeism related to injury and recovery time. But there are significant benefits to choosing ergonomic equipment that go beyond the more obvious concerns with your bottom line.

By recognizing the importance of your employees’ health, safety and comfort through the installation of ergonomically-designed equipment, you place an emphasis on the quality of their worklife. The result is an increase in productivity, increase in morale and decrease in absenteeism that will improve both your profitability and ability to compete. Here’s how:

  • A company that shows it values its workers engenders good morale. Where morale is high, absenteeism is low. A satisfied workforce gives a company a significant competitive edge. When a company demonstrates concern for their employees’ well being, employees return the favor.

  • As tough economic conditions force many businesses to downsize and function with smaller staffs, the contribution of each individual worker becomes more valuable. Absenteeism puts an unfair burden on your entire workforce. Ergonomic equipment decreases absenteeism from injury and recovery, increasing productivity.

  • In an 8-hour shift, the average worker spends about 1.5 to 2.5 hours on breaks and non-job activities. Equipment that is frustrating or fatiguing to use results in more frequent breaks. Adaptable, easy-to-operate ergonomic equipment improves comfort and reduces fatigue. This allows workers to comfortably stay on the job longer, decreasing downtime. In a workforce of 100 employees averaging $12 per hour, just 5 more minutes of productive time per worker per day can add up to $50,000 annually (not considering overhead).

By recognizing the importance of ergonomics in the workplace, businesses can build worker morale, leading to an increase in efficiency, productivity and profitability.

Risk Factors Linked to Pulling Tasks

Injuries from pushing and, particularly, pulling tasks cost U.S. businesses tens of billions of dollars each year, yet are largely preventable when ergonomic equipment and ergonomic practices are introduced into the workplace. In our last post, we talked about how these two common work tasks place workers at risk for potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries. Today, we take a closer look at the risk factors associated with pulling heavy carts and equipment.

One-handed pulling tasks. When facing the direction of travel, pulling must be done one-handed, significantly decreasing the operator’s control of the load. The worker must stretch his arm out behind him and twist his body unnaturally to face the direction of travel. This places undue strain on the back, shoulder, arm and wrist muscles, increasing the chance injury.

Changing direction or maneuvering a wheeled cart while pulling it behind you with one hand is not only awkward and difficult, it focuses pressure on wrist, elbow and shoulder joints and on the tender muscles of the lower back, increasing muscle strain to dangerous levels. There is also danger that the operator may lose control of the load, particularly when on inclined grades. If the cart “overruns” the operator, there is risk of additional injury to the operator or others in the cart’s path.

Two-handed pulling tasks. When using two hands to pull a load, the operator must walk backwards, facing away from the direction of travel. Pulling places significant stress on the arm, shoulder and wrist muscles. While using two hands allows the operator to maintain better control over the cart, particularly when maneuvering around turns or in tight spaces, the inability to see the travel path invites disaster.

Facing away from his direction of travel, the operator remains unaware of obstacles in his path. He cannot prepare for dips or rough spots in the travel path that can affect his balance or the balance of the equipment he is pulling. He remains unaware of traffic sharing the same path, inviting collision.

The risk of stumbling and being overrun by the equipment he is pulling is increased when the operator is facing away from his direction of travel. Constantly looking over his shoulder twists the body, increasing strain on lower back, shoulders, arm, wrist and neck muscles and inviting injury.

Preventing injury from pulling tasks. DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed, motorized carts, tugs and movers take the strain out of pulling tasks. Battery operation allows a single worker to move loads without physical effort. Walk-behind design allows a full view of the path ahead, guaranteeing maximum operator control and safety. For more information about our full line of ergonomically-designed carts, tugs, and movers, visit the DJ Products website.

Ignoring Ergonomics Exacts High Financial Toll

In our last post, we noted that Michigan has proposed regulations that would mandate ergonomic training and penalize employers for ignoring repetitive-stress injuries. While cognizant of the health and safety benefits to their workers, employers are understandably concerned about the cost. What they may fail to realize is that the cost of implementing and maintaining an ergonomic program pales in comparison to the exorbitant costs of ignoring ergonomics.

The annual price tag for workplace injury and illness is estimated at $171 billion. Back injuries, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive-stress injuries result in decreased productivity, poor product quality, increased medical costs, higher insurance payments, inflated workers’ compensation costs, low morale and high absenteeism. According to an American Medical Association study, 6,500 people die from workplace injuries each year and non-fatal injuries afflict another 13.2 million. The total cost of workplace injuries is nearly equal to the combined annual profits of America’s 20 largest companies.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Workers’ compensation claims cost U.S. businesses $60 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. More than 25% of those claims are for back injuries from repetitive lifting, pulling, pushing and straining, reports the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Back injuries, which involve lengthy and costly treatment, affect more than 1.75 million workers each year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA estimates that 1 in 5 disabling worker injuries is a back injury. Back injuries alone cost American businesses more than $12 million in lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs each year. The estimated time-lost cost for a single injury is $26,000.

Numerous studies have proved that ergonomically-designed equipment and systems can significantly decrease worker injury. Many manual tasks necessary during the handling of materials require repetitive motions — pushing, pulling, bending, lifting and carrying — that place undue strain on the human body. These actions can result in sprains, strains, back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries.

Installing ergonomically designed pushers, pullers and carts can save thousands of dollars a year in decreased medical, insurance and disability costs resulting from repetitive-stress musculoskeletal injuries. Implementing ergonomic practices in the workplace can improve worker morale considerably while increasing efficiency and productivity significantly. Retraining staff to utilize recognized ergonomic practices generally produces an immediate savings in reduced worker injuries and associated medical costs.

DJ Products specializes in providing affordable ergonomic solutions to material handling applications. Our highly trained staff can assist you in assessing your material handling needs and design ergonomic solutions tailored to the specific needs of your business.  For more information, visit the DJ Products website.

How to Tell If Your Workers Are at Risk

We’ve been talking about the high cost of ignoring ergonomics in the workplace (see our Aug. 29 and Sept. 1 posts). Manual material handling tasks that are performed repeatedly or over long periods of time can lead to physical and mental fatigue and injury. So how do you tell if your workers are at risk from repetitive-stress injuries? The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends looking for the following risk factors:

  • Repeated motions including frequent reaching, lifting or carrying
  • Awkward postures such as bending, twisting or stretching to reach materials
  • Static postures where the same position must be maintained for a long period of time
  • Pressure points including handholds, footholds and any point where workers contact the load to grasp, push, pull or lean against a hard or sharp surface
  • Forceful exertions such as carrying or lifting heavy loads

Over time, repeated exposure to any of these risk factors can cause fatigue, pain and eventual injury, particularly to the back, shoulders, hands and wrists. Muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels can be damaged by repetitive-stress injuries. Continuing to perform the same tasks with such musculoskeletal disorders can cause permanent physical damage.

Reducing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, in your workplace must involve both engineering and administrative improvements.

Engineering improvements. Work spaces and task procedures may need to be reordered, modified or redesigned. Environmental conditions such as heat, cold, noise and lighting which can contribute to worker duress may need to be addressed. Ergonomically designed equipment or tools may need to be purchased. For example, motorized carts can be used to carry loads and even move heavy machinery and equipment without physical strain. Scissors lifts can be used to elevate loads without physical effort. Adjustable cargo beds can be used to position loads at optimal lift heights for manual loading and unloading. Powered equipment can eliminate the push/pull forces that can lead to serious back and shoulder injuries.

Administrative improvements. Workers come in all shapes and sizes. Repetitive-stress injuries often occur when workers are forced to use equipment or perform tasks that are not tailored to their individual physique. They must engage in injury-risking bending, stretching and pushing to do their job. Ergonomics strives to mold the task or equipment to the worker to avoid such overexertion. Administrative initiatives can also reduce worker exposure to risk factors. For example, repetitive-stress injury risk can be reduced by rotating workers through jobs that use different muscle groups, alternating heavy and light tasks, providing task variety, adjusting work schedules and pace, and providing rest breaks.  

For help in finding ergonomic solutions to your material handling needs, visit the DJ Products website.

Michigan Poised to Adopt Ergonomic Standard

A new initiative in Michigan could presage an expected federal push to mandate ergonomic equipment and procedures in business and industry. Last week, Michigan state regulators unanimously voted to advance a proposed state-wide ergonomic standard. Unless blocked by the state legislature, as a similar initiative was in 2006, the new standard could take effect this year.

If implemented, Michigan would follow California, becoming the second state in the U.S. to implement its own ergonomic rules. While the federal government has established ergonomic guidelines for many industries, they are currently voluntary, although that is expected to change. During his campaign, President Obama promised to enact tougher workplace safety standards early in his administration.

With the unanimous support of the state’s General Industry Safety Standards Commission and the Occupational Health Standards Commission, Michigan political analysts believe that, this time around, any efforts to block the proposed state-wide ergonomic standard will fail. Supporters of ergonomic equipment and procedures point to their proven record in reducing preventable injuries that each year cost businesses millions of dollars in medical and insurance costs, worker’s compensation claims, and lost man-hours. According to Michigan’s Worker’s Compensation Bureau, about 40% of worker’s compensation claims paid in 2006 and 2007 were related to preventable ergonomic injuries.

The proven ability of ergonomically-designed material handling equipment to prevent repetitive stress and musculoskeletal injuries and reduce concomitant production and human resources costs is well documented by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Bureau of Worker’s Compensation. While opponents have expressed concern that Michigan’s ergonomic imperative will increase the cost of doing business in a state already struggling to survive economically, statistical and experiential evidence show that return on investment in ergonomic equipment is generally realized in the first year of ownership.

Michigan’s proposed standard would “assess risk factors that may contribute to work-related musculoskeletal disorders and establish a minimal rule for training,” according to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth. The standard will only apply to general industry businesses, not construction. Public hearings must now be held by Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) before the rule can be formally adopted, possibly as early as this summer.