Tag: Material Handling

Obama Administration Proposes New Ergonomic Reporting Rules

For the last year, the economy, health care reform and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have occupied President Obama, forcing his campaign promise to improve workplace safety onto the back burner. With those issues under better control, the Obama administration appears to be ramping up to tackle workplace safety. Repetitive-stress musculoskeletal injuries harm 460,000 workers and cost U.S. businesses $9.1 billion in health care costs each year. As the first step toward developing regulations to reduce the risk and incidence of musculoskeletal injuries, the Obama administration this week proposed that U.S. companies be required to keep more extensive records of ergonomic-related injuries. Most analysts assume this to be the administration’s first volley in the battle to reinstate workplace injury regulations similar to those implemented by President Clinton but quickly nullified by President Bush in 2001.

The new proposal doesn’t attempt to reinstate the Clinton regulations at this time, but it does put the issue back on the negotiating table and is expected to quickly revive the ergonomics debate in Washington. Earning immediate support from the AFL-CIO which has been lobbying for a return of ergonomic requirements since Obama’s campaign days, the newly proposed reporting requirement is subject to public comment before it takes effect. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is expected to provide stiff opposition. The country’s largest business lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber fought vigorously against the Clinton era ergonomic regulations arguing that implementation would cost American employers more than $4.2 billion per year.

Frankly, we think opposition to ergonomics is shortsighted. Change is inexorable. The upshot of the health care reform debate is that American medicine must move from the current acute care model to increased preventative care to reign in soaring medical costs and effectively care for America’s aging population. New emphases in health care will increase demand for ergonomic equipment and processes that prevent disabling musculoskeletal injuries. Those who embrace the future early, stand to gain the most.

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.

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.

How Ergonomics Is Shaping Our World

Ergonomics gets a lot of buzz in the press when people talk about computer workstations or keyboard design, but few realize how pervasive the science of ergonomics has become in making our daily lives more functional and more comfortable. From the lowly office chair to high tech electronics, ergonomics has become a critical element in product and systems design.

In conjunction with a new exhibit on ergonomics at London’s Design Museum, BBC News Magazine recently took a look at how ergonomic products impact everyday life and highlighted five ways ergonomics is shaping the world we live in.

At the controls. Controls on automobiles, trucks, material handling equipment, machinery and anything that involves a human operator must be designed to be used by people of all shapes and sizes. Steering and brake controls must be equally useable by 6 ft. 7 in. Kobe Bryants and 4 ft. 9 in. Mary Lou Rettons. Multi-adjustable car seats that move back and forth, up and down and even slant forward and backward are just one example of how ergonomic design impacts our daily lives.

Life or death. The 1979 core meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania highlighted the extreme danger posed when complex systems intersect human error. Ergonomic redesign of the complex control panels that contributed to the accident created safer nuclear facilities.

Eye candy. With its emphasis on utility, people don’t associate ergonomics with beauty; but the sleek good looks of Apple’s iPod, iPhone and other electronics products owe their beauty to good ergonomic design.

Wrap rage. Poorly designed packaging is the bane of everyday existence. Consumers are injured everyday trying to remove impenetrable wrappings. Ergonomics has sent clamshell plastics packing in favor of cardboard CD wraps and added screw caps to milk cartons.

At work.  From chairs, keyboards and computer mice to material handling equipment that moves supplies, equipment, trash and more, ergonomics has profoundly impacted the workplace.

Star Trek’s Vision of Material Handling Flawed

The legendary television show Star Trek and the franchise’s many spin-offs brought the future to the present. Many of those futuristic gizmos sparked the imaginations of young inventors resulting in tools, electronics and appliances that are commonplace today. So I was surprised to see what looked suspiciously like an ordinary forklift truck creeping along the space dock floor in the newest Star Trek movie. Of course, the good news is that the material handling industry appears to be alive and well in the 24th century. However, with their staggering accident and injury rate, you’d think that engineers of the future would have come up with a more efficient, more cost-effective, more ergonomic tool for moving material and equipment from place to place than antiquated forklifts.

This is one place where the generally forward-thinking minds who envision the Trek universe got it wrong. Even in our century, forklift trucks are already on their slow way out. Spurred by safety issues and high operating and maintenance costs, a growing number of savvy business and industry leaders are choosing to replace their forklifts with safe, fuel-efficient, ergonomically-designed, motorized material handling carts and movers. A few centuries from now, I can envision sleekly-designed material handling movers gliding silently on cushions of air above the floor surface, either completely automated or guided by shiny robots; but primitive forklifts? Surely the material handling industry will have progressed beyond that old dinosaur by then!

Companies that have replaced their forklift trucks with ergonomically-designed motorized carts are already realizing decreased accident/injury rates and enjoying the accompanying significant savings in medical, insurance, worker’s compensation and disability costs. Every year forklift accidents are responsible for 100 worker deaths — 25% from overturns — and more than 20,000 injuries. Ergonomically-designed CartCaddies promote operator control and safety with their walk-behind design, strategically placed ergonomic controls, and easy maneuverability.

And when it comes to maintenance costs, sure to be a factor when you’re building mega-trillion dollar starships, battery-operated CartCaddies win over forklifts hands down. The average annual battery/maintenance cost of operating an ergonomic electric CartCaddy is around $300 per year. Compare that to forklifts where operating and maintenance costs comprise 80% of the total cost of ownership over the life of a unit. Annual forklift fuel costs alone can run from $15,000 for gas and diesel units to $3,000 to $8,000 for electric and battery-operated units.

If you want to experience the future of material handling today, contact a DJ Products ergonomic sales engineer and ask about our full line of CartCaddy products.

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.

Business Survival Requires Effort on Multiple Fronts

Survival is the name of the game these days. Savvy companies large and small are tightening up their production and accounting procedures, taking care of their customers and working to expand their customer and product base. As we’ve discussed this week, some companies are improving their market share through consolidation mergers. Last week we talked about the importance of innovation, flexibility and customer service in surviving in today’s highly competitive market. We’ve also discussed the need to broaden your reach by finding new market opportunities for your products and services. The bottom line is survival in a recessionary economy requires businesses to make a constant effort on multiple fronts. Survival requires continuous effort to maintain current excellence and constant innovation to explore and pursue new opportunities.

Through economic highs and lows DJ Products has maintained its standing as a national leader in the manufacture of ergonomically-designed motorized carts and powered cart movers by blending the old with the new. We have always maintained the highest quality production standards in the manufacture of material handling equipment, but we’ve introduced new, innovation, ergonomic designs to material handling that allow our customers to meet future challenges. Early on, DJ Products identified the growing concern about worker health and safety and the growing expense of ignoring musculoskeletal injuries. We predicted the increasing importance of these issues to employers and their workers as well as government and potential customers and worked to design innovative products that would meet growing demand.

Understanding the value of a satisfied customer, DJ Products has provided superior customer service. But we also understand that customer needs change as business changes. Our material handling products are designed with versatility and flexibility in mind so that they’ll be able to perform multiple functions to keep up with the changing demands of our customers. Lift kits and retrofit kits provide even more innovative flexibility to serve our customer’s needs. DJ Products also has the ability to offer our customers engineer-to-order material handling products to meet their specific needs.

DJ Products has been diligent in finding new uses for our ergonomically-designed material handling equipment. CartCaddies that were originally designed for manufacturing environments are now employed regularly in the healthcare, hospitality and retail industries. Our auto pushers are also being used at truck depots, RV sales lots and boat marinas. Working with our customers, DJ Products is constantly searching for and finding new uses and new markets for our innovative products.

Bailout Finally Reaches Small Businesses

Despite the fact that America’s small businesses have created nearly 70% of the new jobs in the past decade, small businesses have been largely ignored in Washington’s bailout frenzy — until now. Finally, small businesses are about to get a much-needed shot in the arm. As part of the federal government’s plan to jump-start the economy, President Obama recently announced plans to give lenders $15 billion to free up resources for small business loans through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, popularly referred to as the Recovery Act. The plan would also cut loan fees and increase the share of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans guaranteed by the federal government.

While the media spotlight has been focused on the rescue of big financial and automotive corporations, small businesses have been struggling to weather the same difficult storm. Decreases in consumer spending and the general unavailability of credit have hurt small business owners in material handling, manufacturing and nearly every sector of the economy. With the banks keeping a tight grip on money to shore up their own bottom lines, credit-worthy small businesses have been denied the loan money they need to survive, much less thrive.

By funneling federal dollars into banks that lend to small businesses the Obama administration hopes to increase their financial stability and encourage these banks to start lending again. New loans could not only help small businesses better meet current obligations but also allow them to take advantage of merger or expansion opportunities that present themselves.  Small businesses are defined by the feds as businesses with fewer than 500 employees. By working through existing financial channels, economic experts say new loan money will be able to reach small businesses faster.

“American small businesses are one of the strongest engines for economic prosperity in the world, and we can’t let this crisis continue to undermine their growth and potential, said acting SBA director Darryl Hairston in a statement released to the media and widely reported.

The Recovery Act will temporarily rescind the SBA loan origination fee which can be as great as 3.75% of the loan. It will also increase the federal guarantee from 85% to 90% of the loan amount. For complete information on the Recovery Act and its impact on small businesses, visit the SBA website.

Who Monitors Ergonomic Standards?

With talk that the Obama administration will implement federal ergonomic standards, the question arises: Who monitors ergonomic standards now?

There are a number of governmental and professional groups that write and/or monitor ergonomic standards or guidelines that affect U.S. manufacturers and businesses, most prominently:

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

OSHA. Created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s mission is to provide U.S. workers with a safe working environment. The federal program is administered through the U.S. Department of Labor, but many states also have OSHA programs. OSHA develops specific workplace standards to protect workers’ health and safety and, through a network of inspectors, polices businesses to see that standards are enforced. OSHA also conducts procedural training and education courses.

NIOSH. Part of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, NIOSH was created by the same act as OSHA. NIOSH conducts research and makes recommendations regarding the prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.

ANSI. A private non-profit general standards organization, ANSI facilitates the voluntary establishment of U.S. standards in many areas. ANSI does not create standards but serves as a neutral forum for the development of voluntary standards by consensus of industry/business groups. ANSI works to standardize the development, manufacture and supply of U.S. products and services.

ISO. The world’s largest developer and publisher of international standards, ISO is a non-governmental network of 159 countries. Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ISO seeks international consensus on a wide range of product and service issues to facilitate trade.

In the U.S., some states — California and Washington — have their own ergonomics rules. Michigan may join their ranks soon if ongoing efforts to block a new state ergonomics rule fail. Industry trade organization may also champion ergonomic guidelines in their efforts to standardize industry practices.

Presently, ergonomics standards are piecemeal, applying to some industries or occupations but not all. Most often, standards are couched as voluntary guidelines with no penalty for non-compliance. At this time, the U.S. doesn’t have a pervasive, all-encompassing set of ergonomic laws that mandate and describe the use of ergonomics across the breadth of American business, nor is there a universal federal mechanism for requiring companies to implement ergonomic solutions and discipline those who fail to do so. Most U.S. industry watchers predict that this will eventually chance under the Obama administration. 

Versatile Trailer Mover Useful for Boats, RVs

Spring is officially here. It’s not the daffodils poking through the ground that tipped me off; it was the parade of boats and RVs on the highway this weekend that clued me in. When people put their boats in the water and fire up their RVs, you know that spring is in the air. The folks in Chicago and Detroit may still have to shovel a few inches of snow this month, but most of the country (Nebraska excluded) is starting to enjoy warmer days, and thoughts are turning to summer pleasures.

Developed to facilitate the easy movement of trailers around manufacturing plants and storage facilities, DJ Products’ versatile TrailerCaddy trailer mover has been appropriated by the boating and RV industries. Ergonomically designed to prevent the muscle strain associated with moving large trailers and trailered equipment, DJ Products’ TrailerCaddy makes it possible to move heavy, unwieldy boats and RVs at plants, in showrooms and on sales lots with ease. Our ergonomic trailer pusher protects the health and safety of your workers, putting the strain on the equipment, not on workers’ muscles and backs.

The compact design of DJ Products’ TrailerCaddy allows workers to effortlessly and safely maneuver boats and RVs while maintaining complete control over the vehicle, whether moving a RV across a crowded sales lot or positioning a boat in a tight showroom space surrounded by other expensive vehicles. Because our battery-operated TrailerCaddies are more efficient and less bulky than traditional electric trailer pulling equipment, they cost less to use, have lower maintenance costs, require less storage space, and result in fewer accidents.

Capable of moving trailers, RVs and boats up to weighing up to 20,000 pounds, DJ Products’ trailer mover is powered by three deep-cycle batteries for long run times, extended use between charging, and quiet operation. An electric braking system holds trailers safely on inclines, preventing potential accidents from run away trailers. Operated from the handlebar, the ergonomically-designed, variable-speed, high-tech speed controller allows smooth acceleration and de-acceleration from 0 to 3 mph both forwards and backwards. A safety stop switch conveniently mounted on the handle bar ensures immediate, safe stopping power. Non-marking tires protect showroom floors. Click here to see a film of DJ Products’ TrailerCaddy in action.