safety Archives - Page 7 of 8

Ergonomics = Respect for Workers

Companies that value and respect their workers are proactive about ergonomics, said Peter Budnick, PH.D., founder, president and CEO of Core 3, Ergoweb and Ergobuyer, at a recent material handling conference. “A well formulated ergonomics strategy supports and accelerates continuous improvement in any organization, facility or supply chain.”

Integration of ergonomic practices and equipment into manufacturing and business operations improves productivity, waste reduction, quality control and safety. Ergonomics can operationalize a company’s respect for people, said Budnick, who added that many companies misunderstand ergonomics and therefore don’t recognize its value. He considers ergonomics “essential in an effective continuous improvement system” in any business or industry.

Ergonomics takes a human-centered approach to task and tool design. It recognizes differences in the individual characteristics and capabilities of workers and strives to accommodate those variables in the design of equipment and structuring of tasks. The goal of ergonomics is to prevent soft tissue, repetitive motion, repetitive stress and musculoskeletal injuries. Nearly half of all lost work days can be attributed to musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries cost U.S. industry more than $61 billion per year in lost productivity and an additional $20 billion in annual medical and workers compensation benefits.

The value of respecting workers has been proven time and again. Toyota has made it a pillar of its business execution plan. When workers are valued, productivity and quality increase while injuries and negativity decrease. Implementation of an ergonomics program is an important way to show workers that you respect them and value their health and safety. In formulating an ergonomics program, evaluate tasks, equipment and work environment for the following factors:

force applied
awkward or fatiguing postures
repetition or frequency
duration, both of the task and the number of times per day it is performed
vibration
contact pressure
velocity of movement
environmental factors including lighting, temperature, noise, etc.

The goal of ergonomics is to eliminate the discomfort and stress these factors cause workers. On the DJ Products website, we provide a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator that can assist you in evaluating the force needed to move loads in particular workplace environments. Our experienced staff can assist you in designing ergonomic solutions to that will benefit your workers and increase productivity.

Use a Tow Tugger to Transport Carts Safely

DJ Products offers tow tugs like the CartCaddy Shorty that are designed to help workers move heavy carts and equipment efficiently and safely. Our motorized cart movers increase productivity by reducing the number of operators needed to move a heavy cart since tuggers like the CartCaddy Shorty can be operated by one employee.

One employee can move heavy carts and equipment safely with the CartCaddy Shorty because it attaches to the swivel-castered end of a cart and provides the pushing and pulling power necessary for easy turning and intricate maneuvering. It has a variable speed twist grip for forward and reverse directions and can be operated at speeds from from 0 to 3 mph. This means that it can keep up with the operator so he or she will not become frustrated or need to try to yank it or force it to move. Operator frustration such as that can cause problems and our equipment was designed to avoid those kinds of situation.

Another important feature of the CartCaddy Shorty is the safety stop. When the safety stop is activated, the machine stops immediately to prevent any possible injury. We design our equipment to be as safe as possible and to prevent strain, however there are situations that we cannot foresee. This is why an operator has the option of stopping the tugger immediately if necessary.
Sufficient power can also be a safety concern since you do not want to buy equipment that stops working in the middle of the job. The CartCaddyShorty Power Tugger can be operated continuously for 16 hours before you need to recharge it.

Electric Carts Ease Strain of Push-Pull Tasks

Pushing and pulling are the two most required actions in industrial and business settings. Unfortunately, pushing and pulling can place extreme stress on a worker’s body, often resulting in back, groin and other musculoskeletal injuries. Injuries can cost an individual business thousands of dollars each year in medical, insurance, disability and lost man-hour costs. An ergonomically designed electric cart pusher and motorized cart puller eliminates the physical strain of manually pushing and pulling heavy carts and wheeled equipment. An investment in ergonomic equipment is a sound investment in the health and safety of your workforce that can save your business thousands of dollars in unnecessary medical and insurance costs.

In manufacturing and distribution settings, the most common solutions to material handling tasks are:

to place products, parts and equipment on pallets for handling or
to utilize racks, carts and casters to move materials.

Electric carts come in a variety of shapes, sizes and configurations to fit the demands of the task and the capabilities of your workforce. An ergonomically-designed cart mover reduces the amount of force that must be exerted by the operator to maneuver a load. Various cart and wheel configurations are available to meet the needs of any task.

Carts, racks or equipment with casters can be easily turned and maneuvered with a CartCaddy power tug that feature a 5th wheel turning method.
Carts, racks or equipment with 4 swiveling casters require a cart with back end control.
Specialized CartCaddies and an electric tug have been designed to handle carts or equipment that have straight wheels or are on a rail.

Visit the DJ Products website to view our complete line of ergonomic electric carts, trucks and lifts. We offer ergonomic solutions for material handling applications.

Is Absenteeism Hurting Your Bottom Line?

The nation’s 300 largest employers reported in a 2007 survey by research firm CCH Inc. that absenteeism costs their businesses more than a quarter million dollars annually in direct payroll costs. Add in lost revenue from lower productivity and unscheduled absences can have a significant negative impact on a business’ bottom line. In these recessionary times, absenteeism can make already slim profits disappear.

Only a third of all work absences are due to illness, said Susan Frear, director of education for the Dallas office of the Society for Human Resource Management. “The rest of the absences are related to having to be someplace else or they just don’t feel like coming in. So a lot has to do with the culture of the place.”

Changes in management style or corporate procedures can make a significant difference in absenteeism rates. “Take a hard look at the climate,” suggests Barb Ashbaugh, owner of Ashbaugh’s Trade Secret, a performance management company. Authoritarian managers “who make employees feel it’s their way or the highway” cause higher levels of absenteeism, Ashbaugh noted. Companies that count “occurrences” instead of individual days absent encourage employees to sneak in a couple of extra days off, warned Nancy Glube, an Atlanta human resources executive.

Retail giant J.C. Penney Co. is trying a new approach that shows promise for both large and small businesses. With 1,500 workers calling in “sick” and another 1,200 out on disability each day, Penney executives were concerned about the impact of growing absenteeism rates on the company’s profit margin. This fall they began project PowerLine. When an employee is absent for 3 days, the PowerLine team swings into action. They communicate with the employee to determine the nature of the absence and whether the employee qualifies for health insurance, workers’ compensation or short-term disability benefits. The team notifies store and department managers and insurance carriers and sends the employee the appropriate forms to complete. Daily absenteeism rates have dropped dramatically.

What has made the PowerLine program so successful in such a short time is the constant follow-up that continues until the employee returns to work. “I’ve found that when someone goes out on disability, that person undergoes a significant event in their life,” said Penney’s benefit manager Jim Cuva, “and if no one checks on them to see how they’re doing, they could stay out longer than necessary.” The PowerLine program is Penney’s way of “letting them know we care.”

Employees who know they’re valued work harder, are more productive and are absent less frequently. Making the effort to create a positive work environment can positively impact your bottom line. On Monday, we’ll talk about how implementing ergonomic practices in your workplace can improve worker morale, decrease worker injury and boost your bottom line.

Is OSHA Underreporting Injuries?

At a recent Congressional hearing, critics charged that OSHA is underreporting injuries. In questioning the competence of the federal agency designated to protect the health and safety of American workers, critics cited several independent studies, contending that nearly half of all workplace injuries go unreported to OSHA.

Independent studies cited both reviewed the impact of changes to OSHA’s injury-reporting rules and compared injury data reported to OSHA by employers with that reported to state workers’ compensation plans. In one study, a Michigan State University professor of medicine noted that while workplace fatalities have not declined over the years, reported injuries have declined significantly. He found the data suspect. According to the professor, a decline in injuries should have resulted in a similar decline in fatalities.

The significant data discrepancies between OSHA and state worker’s compensation plans were attributed to numerous possible causes, including the underreporting of injuries to employers by immigrant workers concerned about job retention, reclassification of workers by employers into non-reporting job descriptions, managers discouraging injury reporting, and several other causes. Reports came just shy of charging employer fraud, criticizing OSHA for relying solely on employer statistics.

OSHA defended its reporting procedures, pointing out that in addition to employer submitted data, each year its agents conduct 250 record-keeping audits of employers. OSHA said audits indicate that 90% of employer-submitted data on injuries and illness is accurate. Defending OSHA before the House Committee on Education and Labor, OSHA assistant secretary Edwin Foulke, Jr. said, “In Fiscal Year 2008, of the almost 57,000 violations issued so far, 80% have been categorized as serious, willful, repeat or failure-to-abate, the highest percentage ever recorded by the agency. We are also effectively targeting our inspections.” While Foulke noted that violations were found on 78% of the construction worksites inspected this year, he contended that OSHA’s diligence is responsible for the lowest workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities in U.S. history.

Using Ergonomic Equipment to Reduce Injury Rates

In our last post we talked about the challenges of managing a multicultural workforce in material handling, logistics, warehousing, fulfillment and other businesses. OSHA has reported higher than normal injury and on-the-job death rates for foreign-born Hispanic workers who comprise a growing segment of America’s hourly workforce. While language and cultural differences appear to be at the root of the problem, injury and death rates can be cut by using intuitive, ergonomically-designed, powered equipment to meet your material handling needs.

When communication is an issue, equipment that is easy to operate can improve training speed and reduce potential worker operation errors that can lead to injury. When controls are intuitively designed, communication gaps are narrowed further. What might not be grasped or fully remembered in verbal communication can be intuited by gesture or familiarity with similar equipment. This is not to say that a thorough training and safety program is not necessary, only that easy-to-operate equipment shortens the time between initial training and competent operation. Ergonomically-designed equipment is built around the worker, not the task, making it extremely user-friendly and an excellent choice in multicultural work environments.

Ergonomic material handling equipment that is electric or battery powered can further reduce injury and workplace death rates. In material handling situations, most injuries come from pulling, pushing or lifting loads and are the result of over-stretching or over-straining muscles. Powered equipment removes most of the need for heavy physical exertion from pulling, pushing and lifting tasks. By allowing the equipment to do the heavy lifting, so to speak, fewer situations are presented during the workday that might place workers at risk of injury.

To find out more about ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, visit the DJ Products website.

Congress Debates Increasing Fines for Worker Injury, Death

Congress is being urged to increase financial penalties for workplace injuries and deaths, according to congressional testimony reported by McClatchy Newspapers. In last week’s hearing before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, workers’ advocate groups squared off against industry safety experts to debate increasing penalties when employers don’t protect their workers against hazardous conditions.

Workers’ advocates pressured the federal government to drastically increase fines and implement possible criminal prosecution for senior executives when workers are killed or seriously injured on the job. “The thought process has to be, ‘If I keep doing this, and I keep letting this happen. … I could go to jail,'” David Uhlmann of the University of Michigan School of Law and a former U.S. Department of Justice official, told the House Committee.

Speaking for the opposing view, a workplace safety attorney who helps businesses figure out how to respond appropriately to U.S. labor laws, recommended more clearly defined labor safety laws and more stringent enforcement of existing penalties for employers who exhibit a “callous disregard” for workers’ safety. “There needs to be a balance,” Lawrence Halprin, a lawyer with Keller and Heckman, told the House Committee, noting that confusing labor regulations often contribute to the creation of workplace hazards.

Last week’s hearing was one more volley in the Congressional debate that is accompanying preparation of anticipated legislation to overhaul the 39-year-old Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). With the Obama administration’s apparent blessing, House Democrats are preparing to give OSHA a new and sharper set of teeth. New regulations being considered would dramatically increase employers’ penalties, increase business owners’ accountability and protect workers who speak out about workplace violations. OSHA penalties have not been updated since 1990, and financial penalties were never indexed to inflation. Current penalties for the injury or death of a worker often total just a few thousand dollars.

“Penalties must be meaningful,” said Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “They must function to deter violations. They must get people’s attention.”

However, some committee members are concerned that their Congressional peers may be unduly swayed by the many stories of personal tragedy that have peppered the hearings. Rep. Tom Price, a Georgia Republican, noting that workplace fatalities have declined since 1994, said, “Sometimes Congress gets emotional and draws the wrong conclusions and makes the wrong laws.” Time will tell what happens here, but you might want to weigh in with your Congressman and tell him how you feel.

Managing a Multicultural Workforce

America’s workforce is becoming increasingly multicultural. At this year’s MHEDA convention, keynote speaker Steven Little predicted that changing demographics will redefine material handling workers and change the way we do business. As Baby Boomers retire and the U.S. workforce shrinks, industry will need to turn increasingly to foreign and immigrant workers. Within a decade, Little said, Spanish will be the primary language spoken in 20% of U.S. homes. Overcoming the language and cultural barriers presented by a multicultural workforce is expected to present a significant challenge for many industries, including material handling, warehousing and logistics operations.

As they have since the founding of America, immigrants bring with them a wealth of diverse languages, cultural traditions and customs. However, communication, productivity, and worker morale can suffer when differences are not addressed. This problem is already being experienced by businesses in the West and Southwest who employ Hispanic workers. Hispanics are one of the fastest-growing groups in the U.S. workforce. Unusually high injury rates and on-the-job deaths among foreign-born Hispanic workers prompted business owners to ask OSHA for help. In response OSHA is starting to offer classes on the social hierarchy of Latino and Asian cultures, both of which are more highly structured and rigid than American culture.

Accommodating the language, customs and social structure of foreign workers is necessary if immigrant workers are to be effectively integrated into the U.S. workforce. Material handling, logistics and warehousing firms that are proactive in accommodating language and cultural differences into their workplace routine will be able to profit from the increasing diversity of America’s workforce.

Ergonomic Wheel Design Improves Productivity

In our last post we talked about the importance of wheel design in reducing friction. But why is that important? The answer is that any design element that decreases the force that must be exerted by the operator to manipulate a piece of equipment increases efficiency and decreases the risk of potential injury. The result is greater productivity. This is the goal of ergonomic design both in the design of equipment and the environment in which it will be used.

When a wheeled piece of equipment is used, the operator must first overcome inertia and friction. The initial force necessary to start an object in motion is far greater than the sustained force necessary to keep it moving. Once in motion, optimum sustained, or rolling, force is achieved when a steady, constant velocity is achieved. Any need to decrease or increase velocity requires increased force to combat inertia. This is particularly noticeable during turning and maneuvering when significant force must be applied to change direction. Stopping a piece of wheeled equipment requires the same high level of force as starting it. As when accelerating, the operator must overcome high levels of inertia and friction to decelerate.

The four physical elements required to move a piece of wheeled equipment — starting, rolling, turning and stopping — can place tremendous stress on the operator’s musculoskeletal system. If performing these tasks manually, workers frequently overexert and strain muscles while applying the necessary force to start or stop a piece of equipment. Turning and positioning equipment can cause operators to assume asymmetric body postures during exertion which can cause musculoskeletal injury.

Ergonomically designed carts and tugs seek to achieve the optimal wheel size, type, placement and composition to decrease the force an operator must exert to move a piece of equipment.

Pushing vs Pulling Manual Carts

Pushing and pulling are the two most frequent actions workers execute in the course of doing their jobs. So in maneuvering manual carts, which is easier for the worker and creates less risk of injury — pushing or pulling?

Experts say pushing is preferable to pulling for a number of reasons. Research has demonstrated that people are able to exert higher push forces than pull forces. Given that horizontal push force, not the weight of the load or equipment, is the most significant factor in determining the effort required to move a load, that’s a significant consideration in selecting equipment.

Think of what happens to the body when you push something. Your entire body is used to create push force. In pushing an object, your body is more centered which allows you to concentrate force. Limbs are generally held closer to the body, limiting the possibility of extension injuries.

Pulling on the other hand, creates tremendous stress on individual body parts. When you pull an object and you are facing the direction of travel, one arm is stretched behind your body. This places the shoulder and back in awkward postures, increasing the potential for painful injury through overextension or awkward twisting. If you use two hands to pull an object you must have your back to the direction of travel. Walking backwards without a clear view of your path is an invitation to an accident. On an incline momentum can increase unexpectedly and the cart can careen into the worker or “run over” his feet.

There are times when pulling is the only way to maneuver a manual cart into the proper position, but at all other times pulling should be avoided. Pushing is the safer, more ergonomic way to move a manual cart.