Tag: Material Handling

Ergonomic Design Lowers Risk of Musculoskeletal Injury

Manual material handling (MMH) contributes to more than half a million musculoskeletal injuries a year in the U.S., said a 2007 report published by the California Department of Industrial Relations. A joint study by California OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that “effective ergonomic interventions can lower the physical demands of MMH work tasks, thereby lowering the incidence and severity of the musculoskeletal injuries they cause. Their potential for reducing injury-related costs alone make ergonomic interventions a useful tool for improving a company’s productivity, product quality, and overall business competitiveness.”

Musculoskeletal injuries, primarily strains and sprains to the lower back, shoulders and upper limbs, “can result in protracted pain, disability, medical treatment, and financial stress for those afflicted with them,” warns the report. Such injuries carry a double whammy for employers who “often find themselves paying the bill, either directly or through workers’ compensation insurance, at the same time they must cope with the loss of the full capacity of their workers.”

The report recommends adopting ergonomic solutions that reduce the physical demands of MMH tasks, including:

  • Using simple transport devices like carts to move loads,
  • Eliminating lifting from the floor,
  • Using lift-assist devices like scissors lift tables, and
  • Analyzing and redesigning work stations and workflow.

Next time: The advantages of employing ergonomic solutions in your workplace. 

Get Ergonomic Material Handling Solutions and Retain Older Workers

Some older workers, particularly those who work in jobs that require them to use a certain amount of physical strength, are feeling nervous these days. They worry that if it seems like they cannot handle their work, they may see themselves replaced by younger workers. This fear may cause some older workers to attempt too much in order to prove their value to an organization. They may injure themselves not because they are too old, but because they strain themselves to prove their worth.

Today’s organizations need people of various ages to work together. Older workers have experience and know-how that younger workers do not have; young workers have fresh perspectives that can energize operations. Rather than lose older workers, you can see to it that all of your employees have ergonomic material handling equipment that prevents fatigue, muscle strain, and other injuries. You are probably well aware that it is costly to recruit, hire, and train a slew of new employees, so why not invest in making sure the ones you already have remain on the job?

A DJ Products Power Puller can maneuver in extremely tight spaces and ease the work of transporting hospital carts, laundry carts, maintenance carts and parts carts. These types of carts typically are less than 1500 lbs. and are generally maneuvered manually. Due to the nature of these carts’ uses, some organizations mainly assign elderly employees to maneuver them but our power pullers can also help younger employees as well. If our battery power puller is used, risks of fatigue and injury to valuable workers can be reduced.

Will Cap-and-Trade Spell Disaster for U.S. Manufacturers?

“Clean Energy Act Could Force Nearly 20 Percent of Manufacturers to Close” screamed the breaking news headline in the July 2, 2009 Special Edition of Manufacturing & Technology eJournal. According to the results of an informal reader survey conducted by the magazine, President Obama’s proposed cap-and-trade energy conservation program “could cause energy costs to skyrocket and fuel more unemployment.”

“More than 17 percent of those who answered [the survey] said they would have to shut down their business because there is no way they could handle the kinds of increases being predicted,” the magazine said about reader comments received on environmental strictures proposed by the Waxman-Markey climate change bill recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly 1,000 readers responded to the Manufacturing & Technology survey, indicating the volatility of the cap-and-trade issue. Besides shuttering their businesses, readers warned that meeting currently proposed cap-and-trade requirements would cause them to raise prices by as much as 22%, institute layoffs or move to a 4-day work week. “Only nine percent [of survey respondents] said they would do their best to absorb the energy costs increases without making any changes,” the magazine said.

Many fear that cap-and-trade will have a disastrous effect on U.S. manufacturing. Senators in industrial states hard-hit by the recession like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky are being lobbied to fight the cap-and-trade bill, now under consideration by the U.S. Senate. In an interview with Manufacturing & Technology eJournal, Kentucky’s Republican Senator Jim Bunning criticized the bill, saying, “The legislation is essentially an energy tax hike on small businesses and will raise electricity costs in Kentucky 90% by the year 2035.”

Whatever your personal stance on cap-and-trade, it seems inevitable that growing environmental concerns will spur the eventual passage of this or some similar bill in the not too distant future. Change is ever-present and savvy businessmen will accept and prepare for change. Moving to environmentally-friendly, clean-energy, battery-operated powered carts and movers today will lessen the burden of compliance tomorrow. To find out how DJ Products’ energy-efficient, ergonomically-designed material handling equipment can positively affect your operations, contact a sales engineer today.

Safety Factors Force Decline of Forklift Trucks

“When we think of unsafe operations, a fork lift truck tipping over is about as bad as it gets,” said Fork Lift Truck Association CEO David Ellison. “But it can and does get worse if the operator is not restrained. Indeed it gets a bloody site worse. Many people think this is something that couldn’t happen on their site … but we know it does … and more often than you would think!”

Ellison spoke those grim words in promotion of the European association’s 2008 Safety Conference. In the U.S., OSHA estimates that each year forklifts are responsible for 85 fatalities, 34,900 serious injuries and 61,800 non-serious injuries. Of the 855,900 forklifts in operation in the U.S., the Industrial Truck Association estimates that 11% will be involved in an accident this year. Since the useful life of a lift truck is 8 years, 90% of all forklifts will be involved in an accident during their useful life.

The major causes of forklift fatalities are:

  • 42% tipovers
  • 25% crushed between vehicle and a surface
  • 11% crushed between 2 vehicles
  • 10% struck or run over by a forklift
  • 8% struck by falling material
  • 4% fall from platform on the forks

For the past 20 years, forklifts have been the major cause of industrial deaths and accidents in the U.S. Nearly half of forklift fatalities (42%) occur in manufacturing facilities. Construction settings account for 24% of fatalities, followed by wholesale facilities (12.5%), transportation (11%), retail trade (9%) and mining (1.2%).

The likelihood of serious injury or death has spurred many manufacturers and businesses to limit and often entirely remove forklifts from their facilities. Motorized electric carts and tugs are able to perform most forklift tasks more efficiently, more economically and with much greater safety.

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.

Ergonomic Solutions Can Benefit Your Business

Ergonomic solutions are proven to decrease the incidence and severity of musculoskeletal injuries caused by manual material handling work tasks, reports a 2007 study by Cal-OSHA and NIOSH (see our Aug. 20 post). “Manual handling of containers may expose workers to physical conditions (e.g., force, awkward postures, and repetitive motions) that can lead to injuries, wasted energy, and wasted time,” warns the report. Using ergonomic solutions in the workplace to improve the fit between task demands and worker abilities can significantly benefit your business, the report concludes.

The U.S. Department of Labor defines manual material handling (MMH) as “seizing, holding, grasping, turning, or otherwise working with the hand or hands.” This includes moving individual items or pieces of equipment by manually lifting, lowering, filling, emptying or carrying them. These actions can place extreme stress on workers’ bodies, particularly back, shoulder and arm muscles. (Back injuries are the most commonly reported workplace injury in workers’ compensation claims.)

Ergonomic solutions to material handling seek not only to decrease the physical burden on workers’ bodies, but also to accommodate the wide variety of workers’ abilities and body types. Workers’ abilities will vary with gender, age, strength, stature and a host of other variables. Ergonomic solutions often provide adjustable features to accommodate these differences.

According to the Cal-OSHA/NIOSH report, employing ergonomic equipment and ergonomic task design in your workplace will produce the following benefits:

  • Reduce and prevent injuries;
  • Reduce physical effort by workers by decreasing the forces necessary to perform lifting, handling, pushing and pulling tasks;
  • Reduce risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders;
  • Increase productivity, product and service quality and worker morale;
  • Eliminate production bottlenecks and error rates; and
  • Lower costs by reducing medical, insurance and workers’ compensation claims, lost man-hours, absenteeism and retraining.

Visit the DJ Products website to learn more about ergonomic solutions that will benefit your business.

The High Cost of Back Injuries

Despite safety procedures, workers will still try to lift and carry items that weigh between 40 and 100 pounds without assistance. There’s something in the human psyche that says, “That doesn’t seem so heavy; I can do this myself.” That 60-pound weight range is the source of back injuries that cost U.S. businesses more than $1 billion a year in lost man-hours, medical costs, workers’ compensation and disability payments.

Back strain due to overexertion is one of the greatest causes of employee injury in the American workplace. Only the common cold fells more workers. In fact, 25% of workplace injuries are due to overexertion, according to the National Safety Council. NIOSH estimates that overexertion injuries cost American business 12 million lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs each year. Lower back injuries account for 60% of overexertion injuries. Nearly one-quarter of all workers’ compensation claims are for back injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA estimates that at least one in five disabling work injuries is a back injury.

Ergonomic design has been proven to significantly reduce overexertion and back injuries. By applying ergonomic principles to work station design, equipment and worker movements, back strain can be virtually eliminated. The only wild card is that over-zealous employee anxious to show off his muscles!

Ergonomically designed carts, tugs and lifts take the burden off worker muscles. Lifts can place tasks at the correct height for sorting, picking, packing and storage. Powered carts and tugs can move materials to designated work areas with no to minimal worker effort. DJ Products sells a variety of ergonomically designed carts to fit the needs of business and industry. One of our big bruisers, the heavy-duty CartCaddy HD, is designed to push, pull or maneuver carts or equipment up to 50,000 pounds. The electric lift option and mover arm allow adaptability to any size load or cart. It even allows the cart to pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm for maximum maneuverability.

Visit the DJ Products website for other ergonomic solutions that are designed to improve efficiency and productivity in your plant while decreasing potential worker injury.

MHIA Launches New Overhead Group

With a plethora of fatal crane accidents peppering the news this year, crane and hoist manufacturers are taking some safety cues from their ergonomically-savvy brethren in the material handling industry. Joining with the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) to form the just-launched Overhead Alliance (OA) group, crane, hoist and monorail industry organizations will be promoting alternative methods of lifting and moving materials that reduce accidents, improve workplace health and safety, reduce product damage, improve workflow, lower costs and reduce environmental impact.

Focusing the combined resources of the Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA), Hoist Manufacturers Institute (HMI) and Monorail Manufacturers Association (MMA), OA will give these affiliated trade associations a common voice within the material handling community. Over the next year, OA plans to launch a campaign promoting safer, healthier, greener alternatives to traditional lift trucks for lifting and moving materials, including the use of bridge, gantry and jib cranes and hoists. Not only are lift trucks notorious gas guzzlers, they account for the majority of serious and fatal material handling accidents.

OA will make its national debut at MHIA’s ProMat international exposition in January 2009 where it plans to emphasize the “lean and green” (i.e. ergonomic and energy efficient) benefits of overhead lifting to handle materials. Safe procedures for manual handling and ergonomic lifting that are designed to improve workplace safety and protect workers’ health are also on OA’s promotion agenda.

Material handling equipment that minimizes manual lifting and carrying prevents injuries. The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that back injuries, primarily from improper lifting and carrying of light loads, cost American businesses $10 to $14 billion in workers’ compensation costs and nearly 100 million work days annually.

A world-leader in the production of ergonomic carts for moving and lifting material and equipment, DJ Products manufactures ergonomically-designed, energy-efficient electric and battery-powered cart pullers, pushers and scissors lifts. Already “lean and green,” DJ Products material handling equipment is built to be energy-efficient while maximizing the health and safety of your workers. Visit our website for complete information on DJ Products equipment for manufacturers, warehouses, logistics centers, retailers, hospitals and the hospitality industry.

What It Will Take to Succeed in Business in 2009

A small business owner I admired embodied three qualities that got him through many tough times in the material handling business: innovation, positive thinking and hard work. These same qualities can help us weather the current storm successfully.

Innovation. A great believer in innovation, my friend was the first in his region to buck the industry and offer new electric-powered forklift trucks and hand-operated movers when they first came on the market. Decades ago he foresaw the advantages of cleaner, more efficiently powered material handling equipment. Had he still been in business, he’d have been among the first to embrace safer, ergonomically-designed, even more energy efficient, battery-operated material handling equipment. Embracing new technology as it becomes available positions you to reap the rewards of improved energy efficiency, increased maneuverability, innovative safety features and greater flexibility of use.

Positive thinking. Even during tough times, my friend was a great believer in the power of positive thinking. He ran his business and lived his life in accordance with a quote from Henry Ford that he kept prominently displayed on his desk: “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right.” My friend would have been the first to see the opportunities in a depressed market. Bargains abound for the savvy businessman. This can be a good time to expand your territorial or product base by partnering with or buying out a faltering competitor. Depression of the construction industry has led to aggressive pricing in commercial markets making this a good time to build or expand facilities. This can also be a prime time to upgrade your technology. Many firms are offering unbeatable deals or deferred payments to stimulate business. Plant and business closures are also creating great deals on used equipment.

Hard work. My friend knew that positive thinking alone never accomplished anything. No slouch when it came time to roll up his sleeves and get dirty, another favorite saying was, “God helps those who help themselves.” To survive the current recession, you’re going to have to be innovative, flexible and forward thinking; but you’re also going to have to reign in unnecessary expenses, tighten up financial practices, maximize worker and production efficiency, and work hard to stay ahead of the competition.

Moved Wheeled Equipment Safely with Powered Movers

Have wheels, will travel? This phrase may apply to people with cars but it does not necessarily apply to carts used in industrial and warehouse settings. Sometimes moving even well designed wheeled equipment and machinery is no simple task. This is where a power tugger or cart mover from DJ Products can make a big difference. Our material handling solutions make it possible for one operator to move heavy-duty wheeled equipment with a reduced risk of injury.

With carts that are heavy but don’t seem ridiculously heavy, there is the temptation to go ahead and push or pull it—just get a couple of workers and the job will be done, right? Well, maybe. The job might be done…but your employees may experience damaging muscle strain afterwards.

A DJ Products CartCaddyShorty power tugger is a motorized cart mover manufactured to help transport carts or equipment that require turning and that can typically be pushed or pulled with one or two people. Perhaps if workers pushed or pulled these loads once or twice they’d be okay. But when a few workers repeatedly strain to transport heavy loads at work, this can take its toll on their musculoskeletal system.

Our CartCaddyHD cart mover can be used to maneuver carts or equipment of up to 50,000 pounds forwards or backwards as needed. It has a mover arm that can be used for a variety of carts and equipment so your employees won’t need to spend time trying to fashion different attachments.

Call us at 1-800-686-2651 to talk to a Sales Engineer about these and other material handling solutions for your business.