Vern Anderson, Ph.D., Coordinator Retail Trades

Occupational Health CDC/NIOSH

Mike Leiner

Manager Store SafetyTarget Corporation

Successful Applications of Ergonomic Principles to

Loss Prevention

Two Acknowledgments for Leadership in Safety

• 1. RILA recently signed a “Letter of Agreement” with the “Centers for Disease Control & Prevention” (CDC) and its Occupational Safety and Health Program CDC/NIOSH).

• 2. The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF), known for its Certification and Training for Loss Prevention also signed a “Letter of Agreement” with (CDC/NIOSH).

• The purpose of both of these Letters of Agreement was to acknowledge the importance of workplace safety and to provide information on safety and health to their membership. In addition, the resources of CDC/NIOSH are committed to these same goals.

• Ergonomic is good business!

Take Away Message

• Correlates with business success• Adds value- provides competitive edge

– Quality, efficiency, profitability– Controls costs (direct and indirect)

It’s the right thing to do• Protection of our most valuable resource: employees!

But, we can do more to protect our employees/customers.

Purpose of our Presentations

. We will show through examples how applying ergonomic principles can:

- improve productivity- reduce loss of property- reduce loss of work time

from preventable accidents

• What you may not know about ergonomics.• Why be concerned about MMH injuries? • Examples of Good Work Practices • Example of Ergonomic Solutions • Costs and Loss Prevention Goals• Matching Solutions to Problems

Presentation Outline

• Safety Activities: Phases (IAS)– Investigate –collect information – Analyze- assess and plan– Solve- develop solutions:

• Training: Takes time, re-training needed• Administrative: Management decisions• Engineering: i.e., Ergonomic solutions

Safety and Ergonomics

Ergonomic Solutions

???

.

Ergonomics is an engineering science to improve work efficiency

Ergonomics is about prevention through design.

What you may not know about ergonomics.

Ergonomics is about adapting work to fit your workforce: big or small*

Ergonomics is about how workers do their job and use tools (Logistics)

What you may not know about ergonomics

• Put aside the notion that workplace ergonomics is only about injuries

• Ergonomics makes good business sense:

• Healthy people work better

• Sick people perform poorly

Ergonomics : Some Facts

Why Address Manual Material Handling?

Some Facts to Consider: (Retail/Wholesale)• Affects 8-10% of workers yearly• Accounts for 21-36% of workplace injuries• Responsible for 33% -60% of workplace

injuries costs

Because Lifting Injuries are important

They represent the biggest single contributor to worker injury in the United States

In short: Lifting Related Injuries

...and the application of good ergonomic design and good work practices can substantially reduce those incidences.

Problem: Stocking shelves or a gymnast

We can do better

Another Tough Lift: Unloading Boxes

We can do better

Problem: All to Common

We can do better

Training Administrative Ergonomics

What are our Solutions?

Manual Materials Handling JobsVarious Solutions:

Good Work Practices “Soft Ergonomics”

Engineering Changes “Hard Ergonomics”

Training and Administrative

Employees capabilities and Job DemandsGood Work Practices: Get Help

Training and Administrative

Good Work Practice: Push instead of Pull

Cannot see ahead: Not Good.

Training and Administrative

Good Work Practices:Moving step stool into Van to stand on.

Ergonomic Study Examples

More Ergonomic Study Example

Ergonomic Study ExampleHeight Adjusted Pallet Jack

Used a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet (bottom 1/3) to waist level when stocking on store floor, thereby reducing back bending & compressive forces on spine when cutting boxes open and lifting from pallets.

BEFORE AFTER

Okay, so not everybody gets excited about ergonomics

Tested a spring-loaded customized self-leveling cart to reduce the bending and stooping required to load/unload flat-bed carts and the forces on the back /spine

Ergonomic Study ExampleSelf-Leveling Cart Deli/Bakery

Ergonomic Study Example: Results

BEFORE AFTER

• Strong positive usability feedback and highly recommended (2 associates)

• Back, Shoulder, & Knee discomfort ↓dropped ≥ 30% (2 associates)

• Productivity ↑increased 1.9% (delivery time) = 5.3 min. savings/day

Spring Self leveling cart : Deli/Bakery

Ergonomic Results Example: Deli Bakery

BEFORE AFTER

• Also Positive usability feedback and recommended (1 associate)

• Reported Low Back discomfort ↓ 29% (1 associate)

• Productivity ↑ 9.2% (transport time) = 6.2 min. savings/day (1 associate)

Tested Battery powered adjustable cart to reduce carrying & Lifting

Findings from Ergonomic Studies• Adjustable carts allowed products to be

placed at waist level– Reduced -bending down to floor level – More workers were able to do this job – Did not affect productivity

• Workers liked the cart– Reported less back fatigue – Easy to use - felt to be more productive– Liked cart maneuverability

• Sprains/strains–muscles, ligaments, tendons

• Chronic pain affecting joints

• Disc injuries of the back or neck

• Compression of peripheral nerves

• Soft tissues disorders bruises• Compression of blood circulation

Injuries from Manual Lifting Tasks

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What you don’t want.

• Median number of lost work days – 5 days for all workers with any injury– 25 days for workers with MSDs

• Average cost per injury– $1,100 for all other cases– $10,800 for an MSD

• MSDs tend to have – Longer durations – Longer treatment time– Greater work disability

Musculoskeletal Disorders

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Accident Costs

1% Profit

2% Profit

3% Profit

$ 1,000 $ 100,000 $ 50,000 $ 33,000

$ 5,000 500,000 250,000 167,000

$ 10,000 1,000,000 500,000 333,000

$ 25,000 2,500,000 1,250,000 833,000

$100,000 10,000,000 5,000,000 3,333,000

SALES TO COVER COSTS*

It is necessary to sell an additional $250,000 in products or services to pay the cost of $5,000 annual losses

*

$ 5,000 $250,000

MMH Example 1. Deli/Bakery

•Task 1. Breakdown pallets•Task 2. Transfer to work area•Task 3. Restock coolers/freezers

Intervention Tested

Trial a spring-loaded customized self-leveling cart to reduce the bending and stooping required to load/unload flat-bed.

MMH Example 1: Intervention Spring Loaded Custom CartBefore After

MMH Example 1: Intervention Results Summary: Self-leveling Cart

BEFORE AFTER

• Ergo risk reduced from HIGH to Moderate (Back) for heaviest weights• Ergo risk reduced from Moderate to Low (Back) for average weights• Strong positive usability feedback and highly recommended)

Lift to/from bottom 1/3 cart

MMH Example 1: Ergonomic Results

BEFORE54 lb wt.

lifted

AFTER54 lb wt.

lifted

Compressive Force ↓ 58% (1000 lb ↓)

HIGH Risk

LOW Risk (borderline)

MMH Example 2: Deli/Bakery/Meat Prep

•Task 1. Carrying multiple boxes–From Coolers/freezer in Deli/Bakery –To Meat Preparation

Intervention Tested

MMH Example 2: Intervention: Adjust High-Lift Cart

BEFORE AFTER

Testing a battery powered height adjustable high-lift cart to eliminate the manual carry and transport multiple boxes.

MMH Example 2 Results Summary: High Lift Cart Lift

BEFORE AFTER

BEFORE AFTER

From cooler to prep table

MMH Example 2 Intervention Results High Lift Cart

BEFORE AFTER

BEFORE AFTER

Lift-transfer into prep sink

MMH Example 3. Grocery Stockers

• Task 1. Stocking Goods on Grocery Floor–Canned Goods/Sauces

Intervention TestedHeight Adjustable Pallet Jack

MMH Example 3 Interventions Tested

Test a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet

BEFORE AFTER

MMH Example 3: Interventions Tested

Trial of a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet

BEFORE AFTER

MMH Example 3 Results Summary:

BEFORE AFTER

Height Adjustable Pallet Jack

MMH Example 4. Grocery Stockers

• Task 1. Stocking Goods on Grocery Floor–Canned Goods/Sauces

Intervention Tested

MMH Example 4 Intervention Stock & Roll Cart

Trial / investigate feasibility of height adjustable “Stock and Roll” cart to support & transfer multiple cases to aisle locations.

BEFORE AFTER

MMH Example 4 Interventions TestedBEFORE AFTER

Test/ investigate feasibility of height adjustable “Stock and Roll” cart to support & transfer multiple cases to aisle locations.

MMH Example 4: Results Summary:

AFTERBEFORE AFTER

• Ergo risk reduced from HIGH to Low (Whole Body) for carrying cases to shelf• Ergo risk reduced from HIGH to Moderate (Shoulder, Arm/Elbow, Hand/Wrist)

for static holds of cases and stocking shelves (canned goods)

Carry & stock cases of goods on aisle shelves

Examples: Additional Interventions Tested

BEFOREAFTER

Trial a Push-Button Height Adjustable Cart (battery powered) to minimize back bending

Examples: Additional Interventions Tested

List Price: $2,395BEFORE AFTER

Trial a Push-Button Height Adjustable Cart (battery powered) to minimize back bending

Examples: Additional Interventions Examined

BEFORE AFTER

Trial a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet to waist level when unloading

Examples: Additional Interventions Examined

BEFORE AFTER

Trial a Self-Leveling Cart (spring-loaded) to minimize back bending required to palletize

• Ergonomic is good business!

Take Away Message Repeated

• Correlates with business success• Adds value- provides competitive edge

– Quality, efficiency, profitability– Controls costs (direct and indirect)

It’s the right thing to do• Protection of our most valuable resource: employees!

But, we can do more to protect our employees/customers.

A New Research Initiative

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CDC Campaign to Assist Businesses Maintain A Healthy Workforce in the Retail/Wholesale Trades

Focus on Manual Materials Handling: “We can and need to do better!”

NIOSH/UC Sponsored Purpose:

Manual Materials Handling Workshop

“Matching Solutions to Problems”

October 11-12, 2011Hyatt Regency, Cincinnati, Ohio

Participants:Practitioners/researchers

Industry/safety/loss prevention representatives Manufacturers/vendors of MMH equipment

Contact: Vern Putz Anderson, NIOSH vep1@cdc.gov, 513-533-8319

Purpose: Develop engineering solutions for high risk manual materials handling (MMH) jobs in Retail, Wholesale, and Warehousing (RWW) Industries

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Questions??