Tag: Material Handling

Practical Benefits of Ergonomics

For American industry and business, the practical benefits of ergonomics are multi-fold. Upgrading your business with ergonomically-designed power mover decreases both the frequency and severity of workplace injuries. This decreases medical costs, disability insurance payments and absenteeism related to injury and recovery time. But there are significant benefits to choosing ergonomic equipment that go beyond the more obvious concerns with your bottom line.

By recognizing the importance of your employees’ health, safety and comfort through the installation of ergonomically-designed equipment, you place an emphasis on the quality of their worklife. The result is an increase in productivity, increase in morale and decrease in absenteeism that will improve both your profitability and ability to compete. Here’s how:

  • A company that shows it values its workers engenders good morale. Where morale is high, absenteeism is low. A satisfied workforce gives a company a significant competitive edge. When a company demonstrates concern for their employees’ well being, employees return the favor.

  • As tough economic conditions force many businesses to downsize and function with smaller staffs, the contribution of each individual worker becomes more valuable. Absenteeism puts an unfair burden on your entire workforce. Ergonomic equipment decreases absenteeism from injury and recovery, increasing productivity.

  • In an 8-hour shift, the average worker spends about 1.5 to 2.5 hours on breaks and non-job activities. Equipment that is frustrating or fatiguing to use results in more frequent breaks. Adaptable, easy-to-operate ergonomic equipment improves comfort and reduces fatigue. This allows workers to comfortably stay on the job longer, decreasing downtime. In a workforce of 100 employees averaging $12 per hour, just 5 more minutes of productive time per worker per day can add up to $50,000 annually (not considering overhead).

By recognizing the importance of ergonomics in the workplace, businesses can build worker morale, leading to an increase in efficiency, productivity and profitability.

Applying Six Sigma to Ergonomics Drives Production Gains

Businesses that practice Six Sigma recognize the roll ergonomics can play in creating and sustaining productivity gains. Adoption of a comprehensive ergonomics program that combines implementation of ergonomic practices with use of ergonomically-designed equipment can lead to significant production gains, both immediate and sustainable in the long term. This is in addition to the obvious benefits ergonomics offers in improved workplace safety and reduced injury levels and their attendant costs.

In our last post, we began discussing how Six Sigma’s disciplined, process-oriented, five-step approach to problem solving can be applied to development of a comprehensive ergonomics program. We covered defining problem areas and goals, measuring existing stressors, and analyzing collected data to identify root problems and potential risks. Today, we continue our discussion of Six Sigma’s five-step process and its application to creation of a comprehensive ergonomics program.

Improve. Develop solutions to address the identified root causes of production area problems, set performance standards, and define responsibilities of both workers and managers. Remember to talk to the workers who actually perform the tasks and use the equipment. They can provide valuable input and often offer useful, practical solutions to production problems. Implement your improvement action plan, including necessary staff and management training.

Control. To ensure that productivity gains are sustained over the long term and that they continue to improve, it is important to monitor the established ergonomics program to ensure that performance standards and personnel responsibilities are being maintained. Measurement data should be regularly collected and analyzed to ensure that productivity improvement goals are sustained.

Too often ergonomics programs fail because they are not fully supported by top level management. Particularly now, when manufacturers and other businesses, beset by myriad economic concerns, are forced to run lean, many have shunted plans to implement an ergonomics program to the future. There is general lack of understanding of the significant productivity gains that accrue with implementation of an ergonomics program. By increasing productivity, ergonomic processes and ergonomically-designed equipment can improve your bottom line noticeably. And that is in addition to the proven savings realized from the immediate decrease in workplace injuries and accompanying decrease in medical, insurance, workers’ compensation and lost man-hour costs when ergonomics are employed. Making a comprehensive ergonomics program part of your company’s Six Sigma strategy guarantees it the credibility and top level management support necessary for success and sustainability.  

For information on ergonomic equipment designed to solve your material handling problems, contact the ergonomic engineers at DJ Products.

Motorized Dump Hopper Solves Waste Hauling Problems

Need a smart, safe, easy way to haul trash, waste and debris around your facility? DJ Products’ motorized dump hopper is the perfect solution. This heavy-duty, battery-powered tilt truck is designed to haul 2,000 pounds of trash or debris. Eliminating the manual pushing and pulling of heavy trash carts that can cause debilitating and costly musculoskeletal injuries in your work force, DJ Products’ motorized dump hopper is ergonomically designed to allow a single operator to effortlessly transport and relocate trash and waste materials. Easily operated via a conveniently-placed, ergonomically-designed twist handle grip, this battery-powered tilt truck does all the work, taking the load off your workers and preventing the risk of musculoskeletal injury.

Popular with a diverse group of our customers, DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed powered dump hopper is being used to haul heavy trash and debris in factories, schools, distribution facilities, convention centers, hospitals and warehouses effectively and efficiently. Even filled with heavy trash, our dump hopper is designed for safe and easy turning and maneuvering in tight and narrow spaces by workers of any size or physical ability. Ergonomic design insures that the cart, not your workers, carries the burden, removing risk of injury to sensitive arm, shoulder, back, and leg muscles.

When material handling equipment forces a worker to contort his body to push, pull, maneuver tooperate it, muscle fatigue sets in. Workers take more breaks to alleviate sore muscles, decreasing work efficiency and production. Repeated muscle strain most often leads to potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries and the high medical bills, insurance costs, worker’s compensation and lost man-hour expenses such injuries entail. Ergonomically-designed material handling equipment is made to conform to the worker, allowing workers of various sizes and physical abilities to comfortably and easily perform the same task using the same equipment. Ergonomic equipment improves worker efficiency, productivity and morale.

A heavy-duty, 24-volt motor easily moves heavy loads up to 2,000 pounds. The ergonomic variable-speed twist grip allows operators to quickly maneuver forwards or backwards at speeds from 0 to 3 mph without risking carpal tunnel injury. Powered by two 12-volt batteries, this powered tilt truck can perform for an entire 8-hour shift without recharging, ensuring efficient waste hauling for the duration of the shift. DJ Products’ highly versatile dump hopper is available in a variety of sizes and can be customized to any application or environment. Click here for more information and to view a video of DJ Products’ motorized dump hopper in action.

Material Handling Solutions Are a Win-Win for Employers and Employees

When people discuss ergonomics these days, much of the discussion centers on ergonomics for the office environment. This is an important topic, however, people that work in warehouses, hospitals and other environments that require pushing and pulling heave loads have long been aware that having the right tools makes all of the difference.

Many workers have a can-do attitude and this is great except when their desire to work quickly and efficiently leads to injury. Many of us overestimate our own strength. We see a cart with wheels and figure that we can push or pull that cart with no problem. What we don’t take into account is the load that is on the cart or the construction of the cart itself—it may have been designed to transport a lot of materials but it was probably not designed to ease strain on the human musculoskeletal system.

At DJ Products, our mission is to provide solutions for material handling situations that are ergonomically correct, safe and cost effective.

All of our products are battery powered “walk-behind” units, allowing better control by the operator, even in tight, difficult spaces. Because of this operating flexibility, our electric cart movers can be used in more applications than standard material handling equipment.

Call us at 800-686-2651 and speak to one of our Sales Engineers about our cart pushers, cart pullers, vehicle pushers, industrial tuggers and motorized carts. If you have not pinpointed the exact product you want, a Sales Engineer will be happy to explore custom applications where our base products match primary criteria.

Risk Factors Linked to Pulling Tasks

Injuries from pushing and, particularly, pulling tasks cost U.S. businesses tens of billions of dollars each year, yet are largely preventable when ergonomic equipment and ergonomic practices are introduced into the workplace. In our last post, we talked about how these two common work tasks place workers at risk for potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries. Today, we take a closer look at the risk factors associated with pulling heavy carts and equipment.

One-handed pulling tasks. When facing the direction of travel, pulling must be done one-handed, significantly decreasing the operator’s control of the load. The worker must stretch his arm out behind him and twist his body unnaturally to face the direction of travel. This places undue strain on the back, shoulder, arm and wrist muscles, increasing the chance injury.

Changing direction or maneuvering a wheeled cart while pulling it behind you with one hand is not only awkward and difficult, it focuses pressure on wrist, elbow and shoulder joints and on the tender muscles of the lower back, increasing muscle strain to dangerous levels. There is also danger that the operator may lose control of the load, particularly when on inclined grades. If the cart “overruns” the operator, there is risk of additional injury to the operator or others in the cart’s path.

Two-handed pulling tasks. When using two hands to pull a load, the operator must walk backwards, facing away from the direction of travel. Pulling places significant stress on the arm, shoulder and wrist muscles. While using two hands allows the operator to maintain better control over the cart, particularly when maneuvering around turns or in tight spaces, the inability to see the travel path invites disaster.

Facing away from his direction of travel, the operator remains unaware of obstacles in his path. He cannot prepare for dips or rough spots in the travel path that can affect his balance or the balance of the equipment he is pulling. He remains unaware of traffic sharing the same path, inviting collision.

The risk of stumbling and being overrun by the equipment he is pulling is increased when the operator is facing away from his direction of travel. Constantly looking over his shoulder twists the body, increasing strain on lower back, shoulders, arm, wrist and neck muscles and inviting injury.

Preventing injury from pulling tasks. DJ Products’ ergonomically-designed, motorized carts, tugs and movers take the strain out of pulling tasks. Battery operation allows a single worker to move loads without physical effort. Walk-behind design allows a full view of the path ahead, guaranteeing maximum operator control and safety. For more information about our full line of ergonomically-designed carts, tugs, and movers, visit the DJ Products website.

Battery Powered Tugger Reduces Injury at Food Processing Plant

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. Our experts recommended the CartCaddyShorty battery powered tugger, a motorized cart mover designed to push, pull and maneuver carts that require turning. The battery powered tugger is the most maneuverable tug on the market today with the power to handle most push/pull applications. Most commonly used with carts that have two front swivel casters and two straight casters, the ergonomically-designed CartCaddyShorty attaches to the swivel end of the cart to provide the power necessary for easy pushing, pulling, turning and intricate maneuvering. Heavy carts that usually require two workers to maneuver can be easily managed by a single employee. The battery powered tugger takes the physical burden off your workers, eliminating the exertion and straining that can cause serious and expensive musculoskeletal injuries.Musculoskeletal injuries cost U.S. businesses billions of dollars in medical, insurance, workers’ compensation and lost man-hour costs each year. According to OSHA statistics, back injuries alone cost businesses $12 million in lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs annually. The time-lost cost of a single back injury is estimated at $26,000.Through proactive use of the CartCaddyShorty, this major food processer was able to eliminate potential musculoskeletal injury risk at its facility. They also realized an increase in productivity and improved employee moral after introduction of DJ Products’ battery powered tugger. The CartCaddyShorty has also proved effective in hospital, hospitality and retail applications.Click here to learn more and to watch a video of the CartCaddyShorty in action. The world leader in providing battery powered tuggers and equipment movers to the manufacturing, hospital and retail markets, DJ Products offers a full line of ergonomically designed, powered carts, tugs and movers.

Your Turn to Talk: Where Do You Stand on Ergonomic Debate?

We’ve spent some time this week talking about the changing climate in Washington with regard to ergonomics and ergonomic legislation. On the campaign trail, President Obama repeatedly promised workers a healthier, safer workplace, saying he would use the full weight of his office to attack the problem of musculoskeletal injuries. Confirmation this week Hilda Solis as Obama’s new Labor secretary is expected to get the ball rolling.

Despite the fact that ergonomic systems and equipment have been repeatedly proven to significantly reduce worker injury and the exorbitant medical, insurance, disability and lost man-hour costs associated with musculoskeletal injuries, recent news reports give the impression that business owners fear the financial burden of government-regulated ergonomics. Admittedly, as one of the nation’s premier manufacturers of ergonomically-designed electric carts and motorized cart pushers, DJ Products is a bit biased on the subject. However, our considerable experience with customers from large manufacturers to small business owners indicates that rather than fearing ergonomics, savvy businessmen are embracing it, not only to protect the health and safety of their employees, but to streamline production and reduce production costs. In our experience, most purchasers of our ergonomic carts, tugs and movers recoup their investment within the first year, noting savings in medical and production costs.

In news reports of ergonomic panic, the leadership of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce appears to be fanning the flames of dissent. The chamber cites cost and potential for abuse (i.e., paying the cost of worker injuries suffered off the job) as its two main reasons for opposition. There are always some people who will try to abuse the system, but we don’t imagine that abuse will be any greater with ergonomic rules than without them. If potential abuse were the deciding factor, there wouldn’t be any government programs, so this argument is negligible.

The issue of cost, particularly in the current economy, is, of course, a consideration. However, throughout industrial history, new innovations have required some re-tooling to reap greater profit. With ergonomics, considerable benefits can be realized from minor changes: a change in position, routine or tool placement. Ergonomic equipment can be introduced gradually, a sector at a time, allowing businesses to realize immediate gains without tremendous financial outlay.

The chamber argues that regulation is unnecessary because businessmen recognize the value of ergonomics and are implementing programs without government intervention. If that’s true, then what’s the harm in regulation? The fact is that forward-thinking businessmen do recognize the value of ergonomics and they are integrating ergonomics into their operations. But many are not and their workers suffer so government acts for the common good.

But enough from us, we want to hear from you on this issue. Where do you stand on the ergonomic debate? Let us know and we’ll share your thoughts with our readers.

Move Stalled Vehicles Quickly in the Cold with a Car Pusher

We have mentioned that it can be quite a chore to move a stalled vehicle in the heat of summer but it is also no fun to need to move a stalled vehicle in the bitter cold of winter. If your company has a fleet of vehicles we are sure you work to keep them well maintained but that doesn’t guarantee that you won’t need to move one of these vehicles when the temperatures drop. Or perhaps the vehicles you need to move aren’t yours but belong to customers—if that is the case then you need something that can move the staled vehicle without the kind of damage that occurs when you use one vehicle to push another.

Either way, if your cart, car, or piece of equipment has all straight wheels or is on a rail, then DJ Products ergonomic solutions help solve material handling applications where no turning is required.

Our CarCaddy car pusher can push stalled vehicles across the lot at a service center or along a highway. And as we’ve mentioned, it will not damage the vehicle since the front push pad of the CarCaddy car and vehicle pusher is made of a soft, durable, padded material designed to preserve the paint and integrity of the back end of the stalled vehicle while also protecting the car and vehicle pusher.

Push or pull buses, trucks, and cars up to 10,000 lbs. with the DealerCaddy truck pusher. Its adjustable push pad was designed to contour the bumper on the back of any vehicle.

Material Handling Safety Tips

Avoid Injury[/caption]The nature of material handling work involves a number of situations with the potential to cause injury. Large, heavy carts and other equipment are being transported through aisles that can be narrow and congested. In addition, there are often other employees moving around the same areas who may not be paying as careful attention as you are.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Being sensible and vigilant can keep you and others injury-free.

Here are some tips to promote a safer work environment:

  • Always check your route to make sure it’s clear of potential blockage or other hazards. Help yourself and others by keeping the workplace clutter-free.
     
  • If you’re passing through doorways, make sure there’s enough clearance. Getting your hand or fingers caught can be painful.
     
  • Wear appropriate footwear such as steel-toed boots. This is a requirement at most companies, but if it’s not you should take this precaution yourself. Heavy-duty gloves can also be useful.
     
  • Make sure the load you’re transporting is evenly distributed. If it’s stacked too high you run the risk of objects falling on you or others.
     
  • Use good posture to support your back. Bend at the knees and lift with your legs.
     
  • Ask for assistance with loads that are too difficult to handle on your own. An even better solution is using a battery-powered material handling tug. For example, our CartCaddy5WP enables one person to easily move loads of up to 10,000 pounds.

DJ Products offers a full line of material handling tugs for use in applications from hotels and hospitals to airplane hangers. Contact us for more information about how we can simplify your job.

Part 6: Why Businesses Fail, the Conclusion

Today we conclude our six-part series on Why Businesses Fail (see our posts starting July 14). One of the primary reasons businesses fail is:

  • Faulty attitudes and objectives. Businesses fail when personal or company desires are placed ahead of customers’ wants and desires. You don’t run your business; your customers run your business. Customer satisfaction is the single-most important factor in driving business and repeat business to your door. Businessmen who forget that don’t remain in business long.

    Employee satisfaction goes hand-in-hand with customer satisfaction. When businesses fail to value their employees, employee satisfaction plummets, taking with it production quality and efficiency and customer satisfaction. It’s a downward spiral from which businesses don’t recover without an attitude adjustment. The bottom line is that it’s the human element that guarantees business success.

DJ Products understands the value and importance of customer and employee satisfaction — both ours and yours. That’s why we manufacture and use ergonomically designed electric carts and motorized cart pushers and equipment movers. Our equipment is smaller, more maneuverable and less costly to purchase and operate than traditional powered equipment like fork trucks, walkies and riding tugs. And our equipment is designed to eliminate the pain and strain of manually moving heavy carts and wheeled equipment. We value the health and safety of our workers — and yours.

DJ Products’ expert sales staff can assist you in assessing your material handling needs. On our website you’ll find a handy Ergonomic Load Calculator designed by experts to estimate the amount of horizontal force needed to move wheeled loads. Our sales staff can help you calculate load factors and recommend material handling products designed to protect the health and safety of your workers. Visit the DJ Products’ website for detailed specs on our complete line of products. If you have a material handling problem, DJ Products can provide the solution.