Tag: ergonomics

Body Posture Plays Significant Role in Ergonomic Design

Body posture affects the amount of force that must be exerted to move and maneuver industrial carts and equipment. The human musculoskeletal system functions like a complex system of mechanical levers. Posture determines the positioning of our joints which, in turn, determines the reach of each muscle and the force needed to exercise it. Ergonomic design seeks to produce maximum force from each exertion by optimizing body posture. In creating a more efficient piece of equipment, the goal of ergonomic design is to minimize wear and tear and the threat of injury to the human body.

Optimal body posture generally changes a piece of equipment is moved. The horizontal force necessary to put equipment in motion gives way to a more upright stance as less force is needed to keep it in motion. Handle placement can affect the amount of horizontal push a worker is able to supply. Any angle above or below the horizontal plane will diminish the amount of force a worker can produce. The greater the angle, the less direct force can applied to horizontal movement. Due to variations in worker size, adjustable handles or multiple handholds will allow optimal force production for a greater percentage of your workforce.

Foot positioning can also have a significant impact on the amount of force a worker can produce. The greatest push force is generated when the body is in a lunging posture with feet separated, one foot some distance ahead of the other. Because this position places the rear foot beyond the body’s center of gravity, it unbalances the body, placing workers at increased risk for falls and injury. The risk of serious injury increases if push force must be executed on either an incline or decline.

The use of electronic or motorized carts eliminates the burden of force and the risk of potential injury from your workforce. Equipment rather than the worker’s body provides the push force to necessary initiate and maintain movement. Optimal force can be applied regardless of worker size and strength, maximizing the efficient use of your workforce and optimizing task completion.

Specialized Carts Designed for Hospital Use

Any nurse, therapist, aide or worker will tell you that working in hospitals, nursing homes and similar settings is back-breaking work. Workers are on their feet all day long and constantly on the move. There’s a lot of bending, stretching, reaching, pushing and pulling involved — all activities that can strain and stress muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints and lead to potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries.

Most hospital workers, who typically work 12-hour shifts, will tell you that workloads are already heavy. No one appreciates the extra burden imposed when a fellow worker calls in sick with a strained back. Musculoskeletal injuries aren’t a quick 24-hour fix. They entail days to weeks and sometimes even months of treatment and physical therapy. Returning workers must often be assigned to light duty jobs or face re-injury if they attempt their former activities. The lost man-hours, reassignment and rescheduling needs can create significant problems, both for administrators and fellow workers. The high costs of medical treatment, insurance and workers’ compensation make the elimination of musculoskeletal injury risk a high priority for hospitals, nursing homes and similar facilities.

The heavy pedestrian traffic, narrow corridors and constrained spaces typical of hospital settings present a unique challenge in designing ergonomic equipment to take the physical burden off medical workers. That’s why so many tasks in these settings are still performed manually, despite the risk of injury. To answer the unique needs of hospital settings, DJ Products has created a specially designed line of motorized cart pushers. We have produced a line of small, extremely maneuverable caddies that are designed to carry lighter loads. The quick and easy maneuverability of these carts makes them ideal for use in confined spaces and in areas with high pedestrian traffic.

  • The CartCaddyLite is the smallest, most maneuverable tug available on the market today. This battery-powered electric tug can push or pull up to 1,000 pounds and is versatile enough to handle a variety of cart types, including dollies, hand trucks, laundry carts, hospital carts, maintenance carts and hospital beds. Click here for CartCaddyLite specifications and a video demonstration of this versatile cart puller/pusher.
  • The CartCaddyShorty has enough power to handle carts and equipment that weigh 3,000 to 20,000 pounds. This battery-powered electric tug is a powerful workhorse that can transport heavy equipment, food carts, laundry bins, x-ray machines, respiratory equipment, dialysis equipment, oxygen canisters, wheelchairs, IV poles, even bags of garbage. Click here for CartCaddyShorty specifications.

For more information on these and other DJ Products’ carts, tugs and caddies designed for the hospital industry, visit the DJ Products website.

Failing Auto Industry a Warning to U.S. Manufacturers

The auto industry bailout is in peril and may be beyond saving. The demand by Senate Republicans that the UAW agree to slash auto workers’ salaries to compete with their Japanese counterparts may have put “paid” to the deal approved by the House. If any of the Big Three automakers fail, the fallout is expected to send our already troubled economy plummeting even further downward. The strain on unemployment and social resources, the trickle-down effect on the industry’s supply chain, irreparable erosion of America’s already diminished manufacturing base, a drastic decrease in consumer choices — we’re going to be paying for Detroit’s poor management and poor choices for years to come. There is no silver lining here, but there are important lessons to be learned.

While the issues are complex, experts have boiled the U.S. auto industry’s woes down to four basic problems: failure to embrace the future, lack of flexibility, failure to effectively manage labor, and failure to rein in expenses. These are the basic cornerstones for success in any business.

  • Embrace the future. Globalization of the economy, resource depletion, and the speed at which technology changes will continue to bring vast changes to industry and manufacturing. Companies with the vision to position themselves to meet future needs by taking advantage of these changes will prosper. Those like the U.S. auto industry who don’t will eventually fail.
  • Maintain flexibility. Rapid response will separate the men from the boys. Companies with the mental, financial and physical flexibility to react quickly to changing market needs and strictures will prosper most.
  • Manage labor. U.S. labor costs are the arena in which America is least competitive globally. An inability to manage labor demands is one of the core causes of Detroit’s failure. To remain competitive into the future, American businesses and the workers that depend on them for their livelihood will need to address this issue and both sides may need to moderate their expectations.
  • Rein in expenses. Maintaining tight control over expenses and instituting proactive accounting practices are essential for survival in a poor economy. But maintaining these practices as the economy improves will give you the financial flexibility to reach future goals.

DJ Products ergonomically-designed, powered carts and tugs can position you to meet the future successfully. On Monday, we’ll tell you how.

Human Factors Affect Push-Pull Equipment Design

Humans come in all shapes and sizes. And that’s the challenge in designing safe, effective ergonomic equipment. There is no such thing as “one size fits all” when you’re designing equipment that will be used by a diverse workforce. However, there are a number of specific human factors that affect a person’s ability to execute a pushing or pulling task. Ergonomics strives to incorporate these factors into equipment design to ensure that workers can safely and effectively complete required tasks.

  • Biomechanics use gender, body size (anthropometry), posture and push/pull force to calculate muscle force requirements and bone/joint compression forces. Biomechanics are useful in examining exertion, but generally fail to consider dynamics, repetition and duration of the task.
  • Physiology considers physical work capacity (a measurement of maximum aerobic capacity) and fatigue, particularly in tasks that are repetitive, fast paced or that require forceful exertion. Since each person is unique, his or her physical work capacity will be different. Factors considered include age, fitness, gender and maximum heart rate, as well as the energy demands and duration of the job. Physiology also factors in the necessary dissipation of body heat as affected by clothing, temperature, humidity and air movement. In designing equipment, ergonomic engineers consider the expected user population and generally design for the least physically capable individuals within that population.
  • Psychophysics takes human perception of the task into account. It evaluates the type, frequency, distance and hand height of the task, as well as the type of force required to execute the task. Also considered are the gender and characteristics of the average worker who will perform the task.

By considering these three types of human factors, ergonomic engineers strive to design an electric tug that can be safely and efficiently used by workers.

Ergonomic Design Reduces Equipment Injury Risk

In our last post, we discussed the results of a three-year study of musculoskeletal injury risk factors in the trucking industry. While that study focused on long-haul truckers who are forced to maintain the same postures for hours at a time and the toll such limited activity takes on the body, the study provides an instructive lesson for any business owner who uses material handling equipment to move materials and products in the workplace. Any time workers spend long periods of time performing similar tasks, any time workers repeat the same physical movements during their shift, any time workers must adapt their bodies to “fit” the equipment they operate, any time workers must use their own body muscles to move or maneuver materials, the risk of sustaining damaging musculoskeletal injuries increases significantly. Ergonomics is the solution.

The recent study by Atlas Ergonomics reported in EHS Today online evaluated musculoskeletal injury risk factors for commercial truckers by demographics, height, weight, age and gender. Risk factors significantly increased whenever drivers had to stretch or contort their bodies to reach and operate controls. Injuries also increased with the length of time uncomfortable positions had to be maintained. Atlas found that making ergonomic improvements to truck cab designs, control placement and operator actions, could significantly reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries across all driver populations.

Atlas President James Lansman told EHS Today, “Fortunately, as our historical data and work in transportation have shown, driver risk can be measurably reduced through simple, low-cost adjustments to the cab and the drivers’ routines. The data show that sound ergonomics can have a direct, significant impact on trucking companies’ financial performance — which executives may find particularly encouraging in this difficult economy.”

DJ Products ergonomically-designed material handling equipment provides the same benefits to businesses that utilize material handling equipment to move materials, equipment and products in the workplace. Our motorized carts and battery-powered cart movers are engineered to take the burden off workers’ bodies and allow materials and equipment to be transported and maneuvered without musculoskeletal strain or injury. DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed material handling equipment allows equipment to be adjusted to optimal height for use by workers of any size, age or physical ability, ensuring maximum production during every shift.

Next time: Benefits of ergonomic design

Ergonomics Should Drive Injury-Reduction Plan

Today we continue our September 15 post on developing a proactive plan to reduce costly workplace injuries.

2. Set priorities.

After you have determined activities and areas that carry a high risk of injury, set priorities for initiating improvements. Activities resulting in the most severe and most frequent injuries should receive the highest priority, followed by those garnering the highest incidence of worker complaint. Other factors to be considered include technical and financial resources at your disposal and the difficulty in implementing improvements. Be sure to include worker ideas in your plan. Develop a timeframe for making improvements. Communicate the plan and timeline to managers and workers.

3. Implement improvements

Ergonomics — improving the fit between worker tasks and worker capabilities — should drive implementation of your injury-reduction plan. Manual handling of materials and products should be reduced or eliminated wherever possible. Operations and processes can often be combined or restructured to reduce manual tasks. Task procedures can be modified to reduce the strain of unavoidable manual tasks. Ergonomically-designed equipment can eliminate or dramatically decrease the need for physical effort. Don’t neglect proper training for new equipment, procedures, processes, etc.

4. Follow up.

After implementation of each improvement and after allowing for a reasonable adjustment period, it is important to follow up with an evaluation of effectiveness. Review reports and data for signs that injuries, fatigue, discomfort, complaints and risk factors have been reduced or eliminated. Talk to workers to see whether improvements have been accepted and assimilated, that training has been sufficient, and whether there are new complaints. Look for new problems that may have been resulted from the changes made. Refine your plan and made additional improvements as necessary. 

The technical specialists at DJ Products can assist you in evaluating the ergonomic needs of your business. DJ Products manufactures a wide range of ergonomically designed carts, pushers and tugs designed to eliminate and reduce worker injuries. Contact a DJ Products specialist today to find out how you can use ergonomic equipment to reduce injuries in your workplace.

OSHA Could Stiffen Penalties

OSHA could levy tough consequences on employers who ignore worker safety if Congress passes legislation currently under review. In legislation introduced late last year by Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, employers who disregard hazards that result in worker fatalities could face felony prosecution and stiff prison sentences. The maximum penalties currently levied by OSHA are 6 months in prison for a willful violation resulting in death and/or $70,000 for a willful violation and $7,000 for a serious violation. Hearings about the proposed legislation are being conducted by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The bill is expected to move through Congress this year.

“Employers who ignore their employees’ safety should pay a penalty that will force them to change their negligent ways,” Sen. Kennedy said. A report issued by Kennedy’s staff titled Discounting Death: OSHA’s Failure to Punish Safety Violations that Kill Workers states that a median penalty of $3,675 was assessed for workplace fatalities last year. “Workers’ lives are obviously worth far more than that,” chided the Senator.

Each year 6,500 American workers die from workplace injuries. According to OSHA estimates, forklifts are responsible for 85 fatalities a year, 34,900 serious injuries and 61,800 non-serious injuries. An estimated 11% of all forklifts in operation in the U.S. are involved in an accident each year. Over their useful life, 90% of all forklifts will be a factor in a workplace accident. Over the past 20 years, forklifts have been the major cause of industrial fatalities and accidents in the U.S.

With stricter enforcement on the horizon, it could be prudent to consider replacing the bulk of your forklift fleet with safer, more maneuverable, ergonomic electric carts and motorized cart pushers. Reasonably-priced cart movers come in a variety of sizes designed to perform many of the same tasks done by forklifts but with increased efficiency and superior safety for workers. Power tuggers offer maximum versatility in moving loads of up to 3,0o0 pounds while cart movers can muscle heavy 50,000-pound loads. Don’t place your workers or your business at risk, click here to learn more about ergonomic electric and battery-powered carts and tugs.

Material Handling Industry Moving to Clean, Green Electric Carts

“Cleaner, greener, smarter.” That’s how John Teresko characterized the material handling industry’s shift to electric battery-powered vehicles in a recent online article on Industry Week. “While the continuing transition to electric battery-powered lift trucks may suggest only environmental concern, the trend is really part of a broader search for new levels of performance and productivity,” he said. Over the past decade sales of electric trucks have gradually overtaken and surpassed sales of internal combustion models. The move to electric power is the most significant, most evident trend in the material handling industry.

While Teresko happened to be writing about forklift trucks, the move to clean-energy, electric battery-powered carts and tugs is universal across the landscape of the material handling industry. Fueled by a growing concern for the environment and skyrocketing fossil fuel costs, savvy businessmen have been trading in their gas- and diesel-powered vehicles in favor of cleaner, cheaper-to-operate electric battery-powered equipment. With the capacity to operate a full shift without recharge, electric battery-powered material handling equipment provides significant energy savings without any loss of productivity.

What Teresko didn’t mention is that forward-thinking manufacturers and business owners are moving away from forklifts altogether in favor of cheaper, more versatile, more efficient, safer, ergonomically-designed powered carts and movers. Heralding the next significant shift in the material handling industry, manufacturers are replacing forklifts with highly maneuverable powered movers that allow greater flexibility of use. Their smaller size and ability to maneuver in tight spaces and highly trafficked areas allow motorized carts and powered cart movers to be employed in a wide variety of tasks, increasing the flexibility and versatility of your material handling equipment resources.

Receiving equal consideration is the appallingly high accident/injury rate associated with forklifts. Ergonomically-designed powered carts, tugs and movers have a proven track record of reducing accidents and musculoskeletal injuries. Switching to ergonomically designed electric battery-powered movers results in a significant savings in medical, insurance, disability and workers’ compensation costs and has been proven to reduce absenteeism and lost man-hours. Investment costs are routinely recouped in the first year after purchase. Ergonomically-designed electric battery-powered material handling equipment is the industry’s next most important trend and savvy business owners are getting onboard.

Use Ergonomics to Improve Lifting Safety

Lifting and carrying are the two material handling tasks that result in the greatest number of worker injuries each year. (See our May 14 post on tips for ergonomic carrying.) Applying ergonomics to material handling tasks that involve lifting reduces the need for reaching and bending and the injury-producing stress those actions can place on the back and shoulders. Ergonomics also strives to reduce the amount of effort and force necessary to perform lift tasks.

Calculations of lift force involve both the amount of weight to be lifted and the time period over which the average worker can lift that weight without risk of developing lower back pain. Under ideal conditions, the maximum weight a typical healthy worker can lift with two hands over an 8-hour period is 51 pounds, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). However, a number of variables can significantly reduce the maximum lift weight. 

To decrease the potential risk of injury from lift tasks, both overall work flow and individual work tasks should be evaluated to eliminate unnecessary lifting. Where lifting is necessary, ergonomically designed equipment can be used to facilitate many lift tasks. Workers can also be trained to use ergonomic principles in performing lift tasks to minimize potential injury.

To decrease injuries caused by lifting, follow these suggestions:

  • Use ergonomic electric scissor lift tables and power hoists to lift and lower loads where possible to minimize manual lifting.
  • Minimize the distance materials must be lifted or lowered.
  • Use adjustable powered tugs that allow workers to position lift loads at the appropriate height for maximum lifting power.
  • Tag unstable or heavy loads to alert workers. Promote team lifting of such loads to minimize potential worker injury.
  • Test loads for weight and stability before lifting.
  • Reduce load weights and balance loads to facilitate lifting without injury.
  • Rotate workers between lifting and non-lifting tasks or have workers alternate lifting with non-lifting tasks to avoid over-straining muscles. 
  • Reduce the frequency of lifting and amount of time workers perform lifting tasks.
  • Provide clear access to materials to be lifted to prevent awkward reaching, bending and twisting during lifting.
  • Provide secure grips on materials to be lifted.
  • Provide sufficient foot traction with the floor to increase worker stability during lifting.

Battery Powered Tugger Reduces Injury at Food Processing Plant

At a major food processing plant, workers had to manually push heavy meat carts to maneuver them between processing stations. Concerned about injury risk and worker safety, plant executives turned to DJ Products for ergonomic solutions to their material handling problem. Our experts recommended the CartCaddyShorty battery powered tugger, a motorized cart mover designed to push, pull and maneuver carts that require turning. The battery powered tugger is the most maneuverable tug on the market today with the power to handle most push/pull applications. Most commonly used with carts that have two front swivel casters and two straight casters, the ergonomically-designed CartCaddyShorty attaches to the swivel end of the cart to provide the power necessary for easy pushing, pulling, turning and intricate maneuvering. Heavy carts that usually require two workers to maneuver can be easily managed by a single employee. The battery powered tugger takes the physical burden off your workers, eliminating the exertion and straining that can cause serious and expensive musculoskeletal injuries.Musculoskeletal injuries cost U.S. businesses billions of dollars in medical, insurance, workers’ compensation and lost man-hour costs each year. According to OSHA statistics, back injuries alone cost businesses $12 million in lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs annually. The time-lost cost of a single back injury is estimated at $26,000.Through proactive use of the CartCaddyShorty, this major food processer was able to eliminate potential musculoskeletal injury risk at its facility. They also realized an increase in productivity and improved employee moral after introduction of DJ Products’ battery powered tugger. The CartCaddyShorty has also proved effective in hospital, hospitality and retail applications.Click here to learn more and to watch a video of the CartCaddyShorty in action. The world leader in providing battery powered tuggers and equipment movers to the manufacturing, hospital and retail markets, DJ Products offers a full line of ergonomically designed, powered carts, tugs and movers.