Tag: ergonomics

Power Tuggers Can Prevent Injury and Increase Productivity

If your employees need to transport heavy items over short distances, your workplace could definitely benefit from using industrial tuggers.

According to Safetycommunity.com:

“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.”

The experts at DJ Products recommended the CartCaddyShorty power tugger, a motorized cart mover designed to push, pull and maneuver carts that require turning.

Safetycommunity.com highlighted the importance of finding ergonomic solutions when workers need to transport goods. An employer may think that obtaining a regular cart with wheels will solve the issue, but if that cart has not been specifically designed to help a worker maneuver without twisting the body in harmful ways, this could cause even more problems.

In addition to meat, these tuggers can carry a variety of items such as a bin full of washers, a flat bed of steel or a cart full of cookie dough.

The CartCaddy Shorty was engineered so that an employee carrying a heavy load would be able to move, turn, and maneuver it in tight spaces, such as those in a meat processing plant. Not only does this help prevent injuries, it also helps to ensure that the food being processed gets transported between stations without having a cart tip over. This tugger is the smallest, most maneuverable tug available on the market, and still has plenty of power to handle most push or pull applications.

A tugger can also increase overall productivity. A single employee can now negotiate heavy carts, which may have previously required multiple operators to maneuver. As a result, the operators eliminated from these tasks are available to take on other responsibilities.

 

 

Ford Using ‘Avatar’ Technology to Improve Auto Ergonomics

Ford is using Hollywood’s latest special effects gimmick to help design its cars and make them more ergonomic and driver friendly. You may have heard of motion-capture technology where a person’s body is hooked up to a slew of sensors that record individual muscle movements. It’s the revolutionary technology behind Hollywood director James Cameron’s sleek blue beings in the holiday movie hit Avatar. Ford Motor Co. has started using the same motion-capture technology to tweak the ergonomic design of its cars.

Since the early 1900s time-motion studies of ergonomics pioneers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth to movie-maker Cameron’s impressive high-tech sensors, industrial designers have been studying how workers move their bodies to accomplish different work tasks in an effort to create more efficient designs. Greater productivity may have been the early goal, but concern for worker health and safety has become an equally motivating challenge, one that gave birth to the field of ergonomics.

“Just like in the movies, we hook people up with sensors to understand exactly how they move when they are interacting with their vehicles,” Gary Strumolo, Ford manager of research and engineering, told Motor Trend magazine in a recent online article (click here to read the Motor Trend article and see pictures of the process). “Once we have all that motion captured, we create virtual humans that we can use to run thousands of tests that help us understand how people of all sizes and shapes interact with all kinds of vehicle designs. It’s an incredibly efficient way of engineering tomorrow’s vehicles.”

We may not have lithe blue aliens darting around our manufacturing plant, but DJ Products has long been a leader in the design and manufacture of ergonomic material handling carts and tugs. Long before James Cameron and Ford started sticking wired sensor pads on test subjects, DJ Products was investigating and studying how the body moved and applying it to material handling design. Nice to see the rest of the world starting to catch up!

Get Things Moving with DJ Products’ Vehicle and Heavy Equipment Pushers

DJ Products makes ergonomic equipment to help transport a variety of heavy loads—even if that load is something that is also used in transport.
If your cart, car, or piece of equipment has all straight wheels or is on a rail, then the there are ergonomic products that can help solve material handling applications where no turning is required, or an operator will turn the wheels while a CarCaddy pushes from behind, as in the case of pushing a bus down an assembly line.

Car and Vehicle Pusher: While our car pushers have industrial applications, they can also be used to move a stalled vehicle. The front push pad of the vehicle pusher can help preserve the paint and the look of stalled vehicle.

Trailer Mover, Puller or Pusher: Our powered trailer movers are not as bulky as traditional puller products. They can push or pull RVs, campers, boats or equipment trailers. This is a perfect solution when a trailer is being moved down an assembly line, in a show room or at a trade show.

Paper Roll Pusher, Spool Pusher: This can help you move large rolls of paper, fabric or rubber. It is designed to move heavy objects that roll.

Equipment Pusher, Equipment Puller: These can eliminate the stress and strain associated with moving heavy equipment. One of our cart movers can push or pull cars up to 50,000 lbs., while a powered trailer dolly can lift tongue up to 15,000 lbs.

You can take the time to find a specific electric cart pusher on our website, or call our Sales Engineers for a recommendation on your proper solution.

Hospitals: Help Your Staff Treat Summer Injuries

Summertime and the livin’ is easy…people like to spend time outside, getting into summer sports and being more active. We all hope for the best but we know that an increase in activity increases the chances of injury. For this reason, hospitals need to stay on alert and be ready for patients who arrive and need help after a baseball game, water skiing, a race, or an impromptu tumble down a hill.

During the summer, you need all of your staff ready to work and assist. You will want your employees ready to work and not injured themselves from attempting to hurry while transporting supplies needed for patients that arrive with injuries. DJ Products makes powered carts including a Powered Dirty Linen Cart, Powered Housekeeping Cart and a Motorized Clean Linen Wire Cart that can keep work moving efficiently and allow employees to navigate tight corners safely.

Our products can also reduce the chance that your employees will experience muscle strain or musculoskeletal injuries as they push or pull carts with heavy loads through hospital corridors. All of our products are battery powered “walk-behind units” that allow for better operator control than traditional wheeled carts. Because of this operating flexibility, our electric cart movers can be used in more applications than standard material handling equipment.

Check out our products online and if you have questions, you can call our Sales Engineers at 800-686-2651 and ask for a recommendation on your proper solution. One of our Sales Engineers will be more than happy to explore custom applications where our base products match primary criteria.

Making the Responsibility Revolution Work for You

Hand in hand with the “go green” movement, the “responsibility revolution” is changing the way Americans shop. Everyone from the companies that supply your parts and materials to the end product consumer is watching how corporations use resources and interact — with the local community and the world at large. Ethical consumerism is on the rise and savvy business owners are paying attention.

An outgrowth of our raised consciousness about the interrelationship of environmental systems, people are paying more attention to how companies are interacting socially with their environment. It’s not enough these days to decrease your carbon footprint and lower your energy consumption, people expect a certain level of social responsibility from the companies they buy from and invest in. The marketplace is replete with examples of companies that have suffered for their lack of social consciousness. Nike attacked for unfair overseas labor practices. Wal-Mart boycotted for unfair labor practices at home. Rabid consumer groups have been quick to call attention to practices they find unethical, tarnishing corporate reputations, forcing management changes and even putting companies out of business.

Smart corporations are working to demonstrate to consumers that they care about the planet and the people they share it with. Implementing a strong ergonomic program and switching to ergonomic equipment that protects the health and safety of your workers is one immediate step companies can take to show their concern for others. Many Americans are looking for improvement and changes in their own back yards. Using local suppliers, contracting with local transport firms, supporting local events and charities, improving the lives of the people you hire — both on the job and off — these actions speak louder than words. They show people that you are a responsible corporate partner in their community and an asset in their daily lives.

Ergonomics Addresses Small & Large Features of Material Equipment Use

Some people think all material handling equipment is the same. They may notice that handles, controls, wheels, beds, connectors and other features differ from model to model but they don’t realize that even small differences in design can have a huge impact on how hard or easy a piece of material handling equipment is to use and whether it is likely to injure operators or minimize the risk of injury. Those small differences can add up to huge financial savings when material handling equipment is ergonomically designed to maximize ease of use and minimize risk of injury.

Workplace injuries cost U.S. businesses more than $60 billion annually and affect more than 1.75 million workers each year. A single back injury, which account for 50% of worker’s compensation claims, can cost a business $26,000 in time-lost costs. Utilizing ergonomically-designed material handling equipment to take the strain off workers’ backs during pushing, pulling and lifting activities can result in immediate savings.

When material handling equipment is ergonomically designed, every aspect of the piece of equipment and how it will be used is taken into consideration. Because workers come in all shapes and sizes, ergonomic engineers must consider a wide range of factors in designing equipment so that it can be comfortably used by a varied workforce. As you might expect, ergonomics addresses major design features such as the height of load beds, cart depths, angle of access, force requirements and other macro-design elements.

However, small, repetitive actions like twisting a handle often tax muscles and result in repetitive motion musculoskeletal injuries. Ergonomic engineers strive to address every element of equipment design from the width and angle of hand grips to the placement and shape of control buttons to the size and type of wheel. For more information on ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, visit the DJ Products website.

Avoid Strain and Lost Productivity with Ergonomic Material Handling Equipment

On the topic of musculoskeletal disorders, the Centers for Disease Control says, “…employers 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.”

While some injuries are beyond your control, there is plenty that employers can do to prevent muscle strain that results from attempting to transport heavy loads. DJ Products make Ergonomic Material Handling Equipment, including motorized carts, equipment pushers, trailer movers and shopping cart retrievers. You don’t have to deal with the loss in productivity that can occur when employees are injured.

You also don’t have to go through the experience of leaning too heavily on healthy employees because of employee injury. Planning ahead and looking for material handling solutions in advance can save you from lost revenue and morale.

We make battery powered “walk-behind” units that allow workers better control, even in tight, difficult spaces. This operating flexibility means that our electric cart movers can be used in more applications that standard material handling equipment.

Not only do our material handling solutions help you prevent injury, they are also versatile, which can save you money in other ways. DJ Products carts and tugs can eliminate the use of a more costly and cumbersome piece of equipment designed for a different material-handling task.

As the CDC notes: “…very often productivity gets an additional and solid shot in the arm when managers and workers take a fresh look at how best to use energy, equipment, and exertion to get the job done in the most efficient, effective, and effortless way possible.”

Time to Review Your Corporate Ergonomic Plan

October is National Ergonomics Month and a good time to review your company’s ergonomic plan and assess new ergonomic needs. Ergonomics protects the health and safety of your workers, increases worker productivity and dramatically reduces on-the-job injuries and their associated costs. Ergonomically designed equipment and procedures seek to minimize muscle-straining manual pushing, pulling, reaching and stretching activities. Ergonomic equipment is proven to reduce potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries. Implementation of an ergonomic program and use of ergonomic equipment is also proven to reduce absenteeism, lost man-hours, direct medical costs and disability claims.

A long-time national leader in the innovative design and manufacture of ergonomically-designed material handling equipment, DJ Products can offers expert assistance in meeting your company’s ergonomic needs. To aid you in developing an ergonomic program, we provide a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator on our website. Use it to calculate the amount of force necessary to move typical loads in your work environment. Our expert ergonomic sales engineers can suggest ergonomic solutions to your material handling problems.

Want to learn more about the benefits of implementing an ergonomic program in your workplace? This year’s National Ergonomics Conference and Exposition will be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas November 17-20. Focusing on the importance of ergonomics during economic recovery, ErgoExpo will sponsor educational programs on managing ergonomic programs to maximize return on investment, accommodating the aging workforce, and using ergonomics to increase safety in the workplace. A free webinar from 2-3 p.m. (Eastern) will be offered on Wednesday, October 7, to explain and highlight educational programs to be offered at the expo. Webinar participants will receive a special discount for ErgoExpo. For more information on the conference and to sign up for the webinar, visit the ErgoExpo website.

Cart Pushers Get the Job Done With Space Constraints

Some jobs require plenty of travel in tight spaces with material – like collecting laundry and linens in small hotels and motels and food distribution/collection in rehabilitation and medical centers.  Moving down narrow hallways and corridors while these carts are empty is a reasonably easy task for one individual – but, take that light and easy to move cart and load it up with dozens of full food trays or a few hundred pounds of soiled linens and suddenly this job becomes a much more difficult task to handle.Due to space and budget constraints, these duties are performed manually by a single employee in many of these environments and with each extra food tray or bed sheet that gets piled in the carts, this job becomes more difficult and more dangerous for that employee to handle.  Most motorized cart pushers and pullers are too large and bulky to maneuver these tight corridors, but the Cart CaddyLite cart pusher from DJ Products can handle the biggest jobs in the smallest spaces because its unique design lets a single user move it freely in even the tightest of quarters.The Cart CaddyLite cart pusher can either push or pull loads of up to one thousand pounds that would normally require manual movement – this reduces the stress and strain on employees and greatly reduces the potential instances of workplace injury.These jobs are also customarily performed at whatever speed the employees are capable of performing them, and usually when the cart is fuller and heavier the pace slows.  The Cart CaddyLite cart pusher allows any employee to operate quickly and efficiently through the entirety of these tasks, because the material will move as easily when the cart is full as it did when it was empty.  The Cart CaddyLite from DJ Products gives users the safety, power and convenience of a large powered cart in a smaller and more versatile package.

Hospital and Nursing Home Workers Have High Rates of Work-Related Injuries

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has initiated a new program to help people who work as nurses and at residential care facilities. Last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nurses and residential care workers had “one of the highest rates of lost workdays due to injuries and illnesses of all major American industries.” So while people in these industries are caring for others, they are not always taking care of themselves.

According to OSHA, “Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants had the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders of all occupations in 2010.” OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities was created to help change that. After all, it is difficult to be a caretaker when you are injured. And the high proportion of people in this field who get injured means that their colleagues who aren’t injured have to pick up the slack. This can lower the morale and physical fitness of non-injured employees and increase the chances that they too will get injured.

While some of the illness among those who work in the nursing and caretaking professions can be linked to exposure to hazardous materials and disease, “The data further indicate that an overwhelming proportion of the injuries within this sector were attributed to overexertion as well as to slips, trips and falls.”

Employers can invest in powered movers such as the motorized hospital cart mover from DJ Products to help lessen the risk of employee injury. Motorized carts like these help employees move linen and other goods throughout the hospital and DJ Products offers motorized cart pullers and motorized cart pushers, depending on your need.