Tag: worker injury

Reducing Injury Risk for Hand Truck Operators

A recent case study of the beverage industry by ergonomic consultant ErgoWeb studied injury risk factors for hand truck operators and prevention protocols. The study’s findings have obvious parallel implications for any business or industry that utilizes manual hand trucks.

The study was prompted by significant musculoskeletal stress injuries — particularly back injuries — reported by delivery workers. Similar injury rates are common in any environment where materials are constantly loaded and unloaded and where hand trucks are used to maneuver and transport materials. Affected businesses include delivery firms, moving companies, shipping operations, loading docks, groceries, retail and big box stores, warehouses, fulfillment centers, storage facilities, auto service centers, manufacturing plants, supply centers and many others.

The study found that maintenance and weight distribution issues resulted in the greatest number of operator injuries. The highest risk of potential injury was attributed to the following:

  • Underinflated hand truck tires which placed undue stress on the musculoskeletal system.
  • Unequal weight distribution of product cases increased back compressive force during lifting, increasing the risk of back injury.
  • Improperly located product required twisting and lifting from un-optimal heights, increasing risk of back and shoulder injuries.
  • Improperly balanced hand truck loads placed unnecessary musculoskeletal stress on workers.

While new loading patterns, better hand truck maintenance and improved operator training can help reduce injury risk, a far more effective solution is to replace manually operated hand trucks with ergonomically-designed electric carts and tugs. Powered carts allow a single operator to easily transport and maneuver maximum loads without risk of injury. Adjustable handholds, adjustable speed controls, adjustable beds, scissors lifts, powered platforms and other ergonomic features allow loads to be handled at optimal levels to significantly reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injury. 

If you want to reduce the risk of worker injury in your facility, talk to the experts at DJ Products about replacing your outdated hand trucks with ergonomically-designed powered carts and tugs.

The High Cost of Back Injuries

Despite safety procedures, workers will still try to lift and carry items that weigh between 40 and 100 pounds without assistance. There’s something in the human psyche that says, “That doesn’t seem so heavy; I can do this myself.” That 60-pound weight range is the source of back injuries that cost U.S. businesses more than $1 billion a year in lost man-hours, medical costs, workers’ compensation and disability payments.

Back strain due to overexertion is one of the greatest causes of employee injury in the American workplace. Only the common cold fells more workers. In fact, 25% of workplace injuries are due to overexertion, according to the National Safety Council. NIOSH estimates that overexertion injuries cost American business 12 million lost workdays and $1 billion in compensation costs each year. Lower back injuries account for 60% of overexertion injuries. Nearly one-quarter of all workers’ compensation claims are for back injuries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. OSHA estimates that at least one in five disabling work injuries is a back injury.

Ergonomic design has been proven to significantly reduce overexertion and back injuries. By applying ergonomic principles to work station design, equipment and worker movements, back strain can be virtually eliminated. The only wild card is that over-zealous employee anxious to show off his muscles!

Ergonomically designed carts, tugs and lifts take the burden off worker muscles. Lifts can place tasks at the correct height for sorting, picking, packing and storage. Powered carts and tugs can move materials to designated work areas with no to minimal worker effort. DJ Products sells a variety of ergonomically designed carts to fit the needs of business and industry. One of our big bruisers, the heavy-duty CartCaddy HD, is designed to push, pull or maneuver carts or equipment up to 50,000 pounds. The electric lift option and mover arm allow adaptability to any size load or cart. It even allows the cart to pivot a full 180 degrees under the arm for maximum maneuverability.

Visit the DJ Products website for other ergonomic solutions that are designed to improve efficiency and productivity in your plant while decreasing potential worker injury.

Congress Debates Increasing Fines for Worker Injury, Death

Congress is being urged to increase financial penalties for workplace injuries and deaths, according to congressional testimony reported by McClatchy Newspapers. In last week’s hearing before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, workers’ advocate groups squared off against industry safety experts to debate increasing penalties when employers don’t protect their workers against hazardous conditions.

Workers’ advocates pressured the federal government to drastically increase fines and implement possible criminal prosecution for senior executives when workers are killed or seriously injured on the job. “The thought process has to be, ‘If I keep doing this, and I keep letting this happen. … I could go to jail,'” David Uhlmann of the University of Michigan School of Law and a former U.S. Department of Justice official, told the House Committee.

Speaking for the opposing view, a workplace safety attorney who helps businesses figure out how to respond appropriately to U.S. labor laws, recommended more clearly defined labor safety laws and more stringent enforcement of existing penalties for employers who exhibit a “callous disregard” for workers’ safety. “There needs to be a balance,” Lawrence Halprin, a lawyer with Keller and Heckman, told the House Committee, noting that confusing labor regulations often contribute to the creation of workplace hazards.

Last week’s hearing was one more volley in the Congressional debate that is accompanying preparation of anticipated legislation to overhaul the 39-year-old Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). With the Obama administration’s apparent blessing, House Democrats are preparing to give OSHA a new and sharper set of teeth. New regulations being considered would dramatically increase employers’ penalties, increase business owners’ accountability and protect workers who speak out about workplace violations. OSHA penalties have not been updated since 1990, and financial penalties were never indexed to inflation. Current penalties for the injury or death of a worker often total just a few thousand dollars.

“Penalties must be meaningful,” said Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “They must function to deter violations. They must get people’s attention.”

However, some committee members are concerned that their Congressional peers may be unduly swayed by the many stories of personal tragedy that have peppered the hearings. Rep. Tom Price, a Georgia Republican, noting that workplace fatalities have declined since 1994, said, “Sometimes Congress gets emotional and draws the wrong conclusions and makes the wrong laws.” Time will tell what happens here, but you might want to weigh in with your Congressman and tell him how you feel.