With the rising costs of workers’ compensation insurance and global pressures to increase productivity, warehouse and distribution center managers are taking a much closer look at improving ergonomics. With as many as 65% of worker’s compensation claims associated with manual materials handling, insurance companies are raising their rates—or mandating ergonomic improvements for continued coverage.
Equipment suppliers are responding to the need, engineering and designing features into their products to help workers minimize the strains associated with lifting, reaching, twisting, pulling and pushing. These new product features can also help address the demand for increased productivity as well.
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Tags: Material Handling, order fulfillment, warehouse safety, ergonomics, plant safety, Order Picking & Fulfillment, Safety & Ergonomics
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Working at height continues to rank high on the list every year when it comes to OSHA statistics, potential causes of major injuries and even fatalities.
Research shows that far too many people end up injured or worse because of their work on ladders, rooftops or other spots above the ground. As a result, it is extremely important for EHS leaders to be aware of the potential hazards their personnel face when working at heights, as well as the best ways to keep employees safe on the job.
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Tags: Warehouse Management, warehousing, Material Handling, lean manufacturing, industrial safety, lean warehousing, warehouse safety, industrial accident prevention, Safety & Ergonomics
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
When working with palletized goods stored at floor level beneath a rack beam in a typical warehouse, there are significant issues for order pickers who execute these tasks daily, including strains and stresses that can lead to major injuries, down time, and worker compensation expenses.
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Tags: positioner, ergonomics, Safety & Ergonomics, rack bumper, rolling pallet, pallet truck
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Above: Stock image of warehouse store and pallet rack
Pallet racks by nature are very safe storage equipment, but in any areas people interact with machinery, and heavy storage, there are dangers. A recent accident at a big box warehouse retailer helps illustrate some of the problems with busy pedestrian aisles between heavy storage racks.
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Tags: Safety & Ergonomics
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
There are some inherent safety and security issues when it comes to pallet rack – goods failing to be appropriately stacked on the pallets, failing to shrink wrap goods on the pallet, over hanging pallets past the rack beams into the flue space, and failing to secure high dollar products being stored in rack bays. Each of these situations present hazards either in safety or security.
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Tags: netting, cage, security, rack safety, Safety & Ergonomics, enclosure, straps, guard
Posted in Security|
I recently attended a product training class on high volume low speed fans, and a statistic was thrown out to the audience that really got me thinking. A NASA study, Compendium of Human Responses to the Aerospace Environment*, showed that worker productivity falls significantly for every degree over an optimum temperature of about 72 degrees. If the temperature hits 85 degrees in the workplace, productivity drops by 18% and accuracy a walloping 40%.
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Tags: air quality, hearing loss, noise, lighting quality, ergonomics, Safety & Ergonomics, worker environment, temperature comfort, fire safety
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
Pallet rack damage can be extremely costly and dangerous. Damaged racks are more likely to collapse or spill their loads, so avoiding that damage is critical.
Day after day, year after year, it’s inevitable that a busy forklift driver in a fast-paced operation will eventually hit a rack upright. I’ve been to many facilities and seen lots of damaged frames, ranging from paint scrapes to twisted steel. This might not cause an immediate collapse, although it can. It does set you up for trouble down the road when another truck impacts the same upright, the rack is overloaded or loaded incorrectly.
Any dented, gouged or twisted rack uprights should be replaced, but how can you avoid that damage in the first place? Let’s examine some common rack protector types and where they might fit for you.
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Tags: Pallet Rack, forklifts, Safety & Ergonomics, bollards, Rack Protection, warehousing
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
Heavy inventory stored high on racks have a chance for pallets or cartons to fall. How can you prevent this problem?
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Tags: warehousing, Racks, Safety & Ergonomics
Posted in Pallet & Warehouse Racks|
Above: the edge of this pick module, which leads to a fall of over 20 feet, is guarded by a series of pallet flow swing gates.
When companies install storage platforms, the hustle and bustle of a busy working day can soften safety processes–a kind of soft that might lead to a hard and very expensive landing. Here are some ways you can reduce issue with work platform falls.
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Tags: mezzanine gate, pedestrian safety, pedestrian gate, Space Optimization, Safety & Ergonomics, guard rail, handrail
Posted in Mezzanines & Industrial Platforms|
Fork lifts are the mules of the industry, and we expect them to just power up and run when we need them to, but there are some very important safety aspects that should be taken care of before every shift. Safety steps that lengthen the service life of the vehicle, assure the vehicle operates as it should, and helps make it more visible to others working in the same space with the forklift. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Safety & Ergonomics, forklift, inspection, check levels, fork truck
Posted in Safety & Ergonomics|
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