Ergonomics in the workplace has sometimes resembled Mark Twain's line about the weather: everyone talks about the importance of ergonomics, but not a lot of companies have done something about it.

That may change in the not too distant future, especially in warehouses and distribution centers.

That's because the public warehousing and storage industry is one of seven industries where OSHA will concentrate its resources this year. OSHA chief John L. Henshaw says each of the seven has at least 5,000 severe injuries a year, with 'half of the lost workday injuries severe enough to cause injured workers to miss at least six days of work.'

However, IWLA, formerly the International Warehouse and Logistics Association (800-525-0165, www.iwla.com), an association that represents third-party logistics (3PL) providers and other public warehousing companies, takes exception to such statistics. 'They are greatly inflated,' argues IWLA Washington counsel, Patrick C. O'Connor.

If one examines, for example, OSHA citations issued for safety infractions in public warehousing over the last 10 years, O'Connor says, most citations are for non-3PL, non-IWLA companies. The majority of companies cited in these statistics are either transportation companies or private warehouses, he says.

Nevertheless, OSHA and IWLA are working together to improve ergonomics. Officials from each organization have met to determine how to raise the level of 3PL industry ergonomic practices for small warehouses as well as the large, multinational operations.

Furthermore, IWLA announced to its membership that OSHA will conduct inspections this year in the Chicago area. 'This is part of the new regional emphasis OSHA is rolling out nationwide to focus on enforcement to address ergonomic hazards,' says last month's IWLA newsletter.

To help Chicago facilities improve ergonomics, OSHA is conducting training courses this month. For details and to register, click here.

Another joint OSHA-IWLA effort to improve ergonomics includes modification of the Federal agency's 'eTool for grocery warehouses' (see www.osha.gov). This eTool will be adapted to fit 3PLs, O'Connor says.

IWLA intends to put together an inspection checklist for member firms, too. The checklist will cover many safety areas, including ergonomics. With it in hand, a 3PL owner or warehouse manager can do a warehouse walkthrough looking for problem areas. 'What we always hear from our members is: 'what are we supposed to be doing?' says O'Connor.

As it turns out, the IWLA and OSHA efforts are not the only ones in this arena. Underway since last fall is an effort by a joint industry-government team to create a publication called Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling. It will cover ergonomics across industry, not just in warehousing and distribution.

Still in development, these guidelines are being put together by a team from California OSHA with people from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health, the St. Paul Insurance companies, and Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA). Look for release of the guidelines early next year.

'Manual material handling is the single largest problem in industry with the highest cost to workers comp.,' says Jim Galante of Southworth and an active member of MHIA's Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) Council.

The guidelines will offer a best practices approach. Their focus will be on the most common manual handling jobs across a wide variety of industries, says Mario Feletto, area manager, Cal/OSHA Consultation Service, Research and Education Unit (916-574-2528, www.ca.gov).

Like other Cal/OSHA publications on ergonomics, the guidelines will be illustrated with photographs of manual materials handling jobs and improvement options. MHIA member companies are supplying examples of how 25 different types of equipment can provide solutions to problems. Common materials handling tasks will be covered including loading/unloading jobs, methods of transporting materials, as well as ways to manipulate and reorganize items.

'We will present a smorgasbord of improvement options for each task,' says Feletto.

While those programs are in development, other resources are available now.

The 'Ergonomic Toolbox' offers advice on re-engineering tasks for better ergonomics. It is a software program that helps users evaluate materials handling tasks in their operations based on input the user provides. The software then comes up with an ergonomic solution to the problem and offers equipment recommendations. It is in a CD format, and is available from the EASE Council (704-676-1190, www.mhia.org).

EASE also publishes a booklet Application Guidelines for Ergonomic Assist and Safety Equipment. It illustrates and describes the different ergonomic materials handling solutions available and how they can be applied in both manufacturing and warehouse/distribution environments.

For manual lifting operations, Ohio State University and the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation have developed a set of lifting guidelines (see table to left) that are available at no charge on the Bureau's Web site.

Guidelines are designed to minimize the risk of lifting tasks to workers returning from an injury. The program enables a manager or supervisor to enter criteria for various lifting tasks. Users enter several parameters including: the weight of the objects to be moved; whether the employee is healthy or has an existing lower-back disorder; the maximum horizontal reach distance; the vertical lift origin from the floor for each lift; and how much twisting is involved. The parameters are then analyzed and each lifting task is rated as a high, medium or low risk.

While managers are more aware of ergonomics than ever before, there is still much to be learned about the impact of factory and DC jobs on workers' backs, says Ohio State's Dr. William S. Marras.

He is conducting research into the health status of industrial workers. 'One of the things we've learned is that the dynamic moment—that is the weight of the object you're lifting multiplied by the distance of that object from the spine—is the most predictive factor of whether you're going to have a back problem,' says Marras.

Marras' research team has developed a device to monitor and measure the impact of these dynamic moments throughout the day on workers' backs.

While field research is underway, Marras is looking for more DCs and factories to participate in the study. Managers interested in having their facilities participate can contact Marras at 614-292-6670 or by e-mail at marras.1@osu.edu.

Click on the icon to read the web-exclusive story, Ergonomics at Washington State Liquor. - July 2004