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Packaging/Shipping > Ergonomics |
Products vary in weight - up to 100 pounds - and are shipped from the wood shop in a variety of containers.
The shape, weight, and/or material of the package can greatly affect the stress that an employee experiences. Material is usually moved through the shop on pallet jacks.
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Potential Hazard:
- Many boxes are excessively
heavy, weighing as much as 100
pounds. Manually lifting loads in this weight range
places great stress on the employee's muscles. Back
injuries such as muscle strain and disc injury can
occur when repeatedly lifting heavy objects.
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Fig 1 - Heavy boxes stress workers' muscles.
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Possible Solutions:
- Improve access to the heaviest items. Employees should be able to access
these items without bending at the waist, pulling the
elbows away from body while reaching, or twisting.
Redesigning storage racks and transport devices can greatly improve the
employee's ability to maintain neutral postures.
- Provide handhold cutouts or handles on
all heavy products.
- Work with suppliers to ensure that container integrity
will be adequate so boxes, bags, or buckets will not
accidentally break, rip, or pull apart during lifting
operations.
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- Load pallets with the lighter product in the center and
the heavier product on the outer edges to ensure easier access and lifting
of the heavier items.
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Fig 2 - Load heavier packages on outside.
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Potential Hazards:
- Wooden pallets weigh between 40 and 70 pounds and may be lifted several times during a work
shift. This repeated lifting can cause stress to the lower
back.
- Splinters from handling the wood are
also a hazard to the worker.
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Fig 3 - Workers bend to lift pallets several times during a shift. |
Possible Solutions:
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Use
lighter, plastic pallets.
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Plastic pallets easily nest together to
reduce the space of stacking. They also
eliminate splinters and uneven surfaces that
employees may step on when walking over
pallets.
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Provide a pallet dispenser to reduce pallet handling. This device allows
selectors to drive their pallet jack
to the dispenser. An empty pallet is then automatically loaded onto the forks without manual lifting.
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Fig 4 - Plastic pallets weigh 20 to 30 pounds.
Fig 5 - Pallet dispenser reduces handling.
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Potential Hazards:
- Employees repeatedly bend forward at the
waist to place the product on the lowest
level of the pallets.
- The heaviest units are placed on the bottom layer for stability. This work process
requires employees to lift the heaviest loads
using the worst body postures.
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Fig 6 - Bending to reach the product can cause injury.
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Possible Solutions:
- Raise the height
of the bottom level to allow employees to keep the load
close to the body, as shown in the figure to the
right. This will minimize bending of the torso.
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Fig 7 - Use of a forklift raises the height of the load.
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- Provide height-adjustable equipment so loads can be maintained at a height that
minimizes bending at the waist. This pallet jack
raises up to 10 inches, while many others raise 8 inches or less.
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Fig 8 - Pallet jack with higher than normal fork elevation.
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- Stack extra empty pallets on the pallet jack to
elevate the bottom of the load.
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Fig 9 - Stacked pallets elevate the load.
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- Place a palletizer on the forks of the
pallet jack
to keep product at waist height.
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Fig 10 - A palletizer on a pallet jack raises the product.
View Animation
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- Educate employees about the hazards of bending
while moving heavy loads. Ensure the use of proper
lifting techniques.
- When
possible, utilize power equipment rather than
manual labor to reduce ergonomic stresses.
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Back belts:
The effectiveness of back belts in reducing the risk of back
injury among healthy workers remains unproven. If workers
falsely believe they are protected when wearing
belts, they may attempt to lift more than they
would without a belt. This poses a risk of injury to the
worker (See
Back
Belts:
Do They Prevent Injury? (DHHS) (NIOSH) Publication
No. 94-127). |
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Potential Hazards:
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Over long periods of time the solid rubber wheels of pallet
jacks and forklifts can
develop flat spots resulting in unstable loads and
poor handling. Employees can experience stress to the
hands and arms from difficulty in steering and
stopping.
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Worn floors create ruts and bumps.
Possible Solutions:
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Provide periodic maintenance of
pallet jacks and
fork lifts so
they can operate with the minimum amount of hand,
arm, and finger force.
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Provide training to selectors so they recognize the
early signs of mechanical breakdown. This will allow
them to report problems or difficulties with the
machine before the problems lead to injury.
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Keep floors well maintained, with no ruts or
bumps,
to reduce the force needed when using
manual material-handling equipment and whole body
vibration/shock from driven equipment.
For more information, refer to the following:
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Home | Rough Mill | Production | Assembly
Finishing/Chemicals | Packaging/Shipping | Additional References | User Guide |
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