{"id":3163,"date":"2020-10-29T12:16:01","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T17:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?p=3163"},"modified":"2020-12-22T12:18:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T18:18:50","slug":"innovative-ergonomics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/29\/innovative-ergonomics\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovative Ergonomics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"303\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ergonomics_400p.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ergonomics_400p.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ergonomics_400p-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>BY KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having an ergonomically designed warehouse and training workers how to safely perform physical tasks can improve their wellbeing and productivity\u2014as well as potentially minimize workers\u2019 compensation costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Indeed, about a third to as much as half of all workers\u2019 comp claims are associated with manual material handling tasks, according to CNA Insurance Co. Moreover, manual material handling is the largest single cause of lost workday injuries. One out of every four work-related injuries happen because someone lifted, carried, pushed or pulled something the wrong way, or lifted beyond his or her capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith respect to the cause of lost time injuries in the industrial workplace, nothing comes close,\u201d said Jim Galante, director of business development for MHI member Southworth Products Corp. and chair of the EASE Council, an MHI Industry Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWorkers\u2019 compensation claims are escalating, causing companies\u2019 insurance premiums to rise and remain elevated for three to five years, even if they have no additional claims during this time,\u201d Galante said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Claims costs are being exacerbated by the fact that the industrial worker has aged, he said, citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 25 years ago, 27 was the average age of a warehouse worker, but today the average age is 48, and this trend will continue for at least 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs workers age, their strength and agility decrease, as does their ability to do physical work,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are less flexible and they fatigue more quickly, often resulting in more injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another issue exacerbating workers\u2019 comp claims costs is obesity. A Duke University Medical Center analysis found that obese workers filed twice the number of workers\u2019 comp claims, had seven times higher medical costs from those claims and lost 13 times more days of work from work injury or work illness than did non-obese workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cObese people typically don\u2019t have the muscle mass, agility or aerobic capacity needed for many manual material handling tasks,\u201d Galante said. \u201cEngineering interventions make a huge difference by positioning the work to the advantage of the worker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Devices that reduce bending, reaching and carrying material not only substantially reduce the possibility of injury, they will also increase efficiency and productivity, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, positioners hold pallet loads to a proper height\u2014the ergonomic \u201cmagic window\u201d of 30 inches to 40 inches from the floor. Positioners that rotate pallets bring loads close to workers; reducing their walking is key to increasing efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another example of an engineering intervention is high hinge tilters, which enable workers to gain access to products at the bottom of containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPicking thousands of small parts are made easy by using tilters\u2014the high hinge causes the container to elevate as it tilts,\u201d Galante said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amy Blueter, vice president of operations at MHI member Kinetic Technologies LLC and the EASE Council vice chair, said that more manufacturers are now leveraging exoskeletons, wearables and automation, which reduces the need for workers to reach overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe use of exoskeletons is growing primarily among big manufacturing companies, but we\u2019re starting to see this gain more steam widespread,\u201d Blueter said. \u201cMoreover, there\u2019s an increase in the use of robotics and automated guided vehicles, which helps to decrease manual tasks and associated injuries and workers\u2019 comp claims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Members of the EASE Council are helping companies reduce workers\u2019 comp claims by minimizing the stress of bad ergonomics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0420_volume_8__issue_4\/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1633322&amp;app=false#articleId1633322\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT Having an ergonomically designed warehouse and training workers how to safely perform physical tasks can improve their wellbeing and productivity\u2014as well as potentially minimize workers\u2019 compensation costs. Indeed, about a third to as much as half of all workers\u2019 comp claims are associated with manual material handling tasks, according to CNA Insurance &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":3164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10,17,12],"tags":[230,911,1831,1832,1829,1833,1830,831,912,231,442,1902,1670],"class_list":["post-3163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-industry-trends","category-safety","category-human-resources","tag-aaron-conway","tag-amy-blueter","tag-backsafe-injury-prevention-program","tag-cna-insurance","tag-dennis-downing","tag-duke-university-medical-center","tag-future-industrial-technologies","tag-jim-galante","tag-kinetic-technologies","tag-mezzanine-safeti-gates","tag-mhi-solutions","tag-mhi-solutions-magazine","tag-southworth-products"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Innovative Ergonomics - MHI Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/29\/innovative-ergonomics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Innovative Ergonomics - MHI Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BY KATIE KUEHNER-HEBERT Having an ergonomically designed warehouse and training workers how to safely perform physical tasks can improve their wellbeing and productivity\u2014as well as potentially minimize workers\u2019 compensation costs. 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