INDEX PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
ERGONOMICS 4
OBJECTIVES OF ERGONOMICS 4
RESULTS OF ERGONOMIC APPLICATIONS 5
THE BACK STRUTURE 6
BACK AND BACK PROBLEMS 6
Back injuries 6
Causes of back injuries 7
The following are common causes of back injuries:– 7
Back injury prevention 8
Back injury-preventative techniques 8
Techniques 9
Strategies 9
ORIGINAL LIFTING MODEL 10
Strain index (SI) = 10
Action limit 11
Maximum permissible limit 11
Administrative controls 12
Engineering controls 12
Limitations of the NIOSH lifting model 13
LEGISLATIVE TRENDS: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES 13
CONCLUSION 14
APENDIX 1 15
REFERENCES 16
OCCUPATIONAL BACK INJURIES DURING MANUAL HANDLING OF MATERIAL
INTRODUCTION
Almost one third of all disabling injuries at work, temporary or permanent are related to manual handling of objects. Many of these incidents are avoidable and are the consequence of inadequate or simplistic bio-mechanical task analysis.
Injuries associated with manual materials handling have grown substantially and are currently estimated to exceed several billion dollars annually in the USA. In addition to the compensation costs are the tremendous costs associated with the suffering of the impaired workers.
Manual material handling injuries can result from lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling or carrying objects while performing activities .
Some of the most traumatic and costly manual material handling injuries impact on the back, more specifically the lower back has been the area of concern in most studies examining the low back pain associated with manual material handling.
Lifting, handling and dragging loads involve a good deal of static effort, enough to classify as h...
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... are not included.5
LEGISLATIVE TRENDS: STANDARDS, GUIDELINES AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES
Ever since the 19th century, government bodies in the developed nations have attempted, for social as well as economic reasons, to influence the way industry runs itself. Industries now have to comply with regulations, which limit worker exposure to the health - threatening aspects of their job.
The requirement for good working conditions is not a new one. The Occupational Health and Safety Act of 1970 requires all employees to “provide their employees with a workplace free from recognised serious hazards” irrespective of whether these hazards are covered by specific standards. If poor ergonomics constitutes a hazard, then employers are required to act.
Ergonomic Safety and Health Management Rules specify what constitutes an “ergonomic hazard” and what actions to take to remove the hazard. The rules assist employers in complying with already existing legislation.4
CONCLUSION
Through compliance with legislative trends, understanding of the back structure, and Health and Safety training programmes, the universal prevalence of occupational back injuries can be reduced and even prevented.
McGuire, C. (2011, April). Workplace Safety 100 Years Ago. Safety Compliance Letter(2524), 1-6. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=60166397&site=ehost-live&scope=site
The Regulations set out a framework to help employers avoid or reduce the risk of injury resulting from manual handling activities. The basic principle is that where manual handling of loads, which involves a risk of injury (particularly to the back) is present, the employer must take measures to avoid or reduce the need for such manual handling.
...lothing and equipments in the industry. These will greatly ensure the safety of the employees and hence minimize the injuries. Use of the administrative control and work practices will also lead to the production of quality products safe for consumption (OSHA Quick take, 2010).
Theis, J.L., & Finkelstein, M.J. (2013). Long-Term Effects of Safe Patient Handling Program on Staff Injuries. Rehabilitation Nursing, 39, 26-35. DOI:10.1002/rnj.108
In Australia, occupational exposures to environmental hazards are related to a wide extent of work related injuries such as stains, burning and open wounds. Based on the key work health and safety statistics in Australia, there were 128050 workers that report to claim for the compensations of work-related injuries or disorders from 2011 to 2012 and those most common occupational injuries often cause by body stressing, falls, heat and some chemical substance (Safe Work Australia, 2014). Also, according to the survey of National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance in Australian workplace, there were 228 worker fatality due to occupational injuries between 2011 and 2012 even though the final result of workers injury claims and fatalities are still decrease in comparisons to the record of 2010-11, but the injury incidence are not yet achieved the target rate which contribute by the Australian work health and safety
Proper ergonomic conditions prevent injuries to workers and allow them to work efficiently. Ergonomics reduces costs. Workers that do not have a good ergonomic workspace can suffer from pain and uncomfortable posture which is dealt with money spent on treatment. In Canada $800 000 000 per year goes to ergonomic related injuries. Appropriate ergonomic workspaces create an anti-injury space for workers. Ergonomics also increases worker’s productivity by designing a work place with good posture, good heights, fewer motions, and less exertion. Thus making the workspace more efficient for the worker. Ergonomics also
“Little empirical data are available examining the injury experience of hired crop workers in the United States (US).”(Wang, Myers et al. 2011) Work-related injury data from a national survey collected through the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) in the years 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2004 on 13,604 crop farm workers revealed that the bulk of injuries occurred to male (84%) and Mexican born (72%) workers. “The use of hand tools, falls, and lifting overex...
This industry has had the highest injury rate of any industry from accidents caused by machinery; Workers can be seriously injured by moving animals also suffer from crippling arm, hand, and wrist injuries. Back injuries can result from loading and unloading meat from trucks and from moving meat, meat racks, or meat trees along overhead rails. Workers can be severely burned by cleaning solvents and burned by heat sealant machines when they wrap meat. Many workers can also injure themselves by falling on treacherously slippery floors and can be exposed to extremes of heat and cold. Has caused workers many health effects with injuries many layoff due to safety
Currently it is commonly accepted among industries that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect employees regardless of the occupation as well as cost that these injuries impose on the employer and the populace as a whole. Nevertheless, in the manufacturing business it is mostly common for individuals to perform manual materials handling (MMH) task that are believed to factor in on some of the most pricy job-related injuries to date, such as those attributed to the back. And although through the advancement of technology with the aid of robotics and the use of other equipment the need for MMH has been decreased, but certain jobs still require the need for humans to perform those kinds of tasks and this is more apparent in smaller manufacturing businesses or warehouses that cannot afford these advancements. With MSDs contributing to a large percentage of MMH injuries, with over 387,000 or 33 percent of all work related injury cases in 2011, far exceeding all other work related injuries (Occupational Safety & Health Administration, 2011). Maybe this is due to the well-known fact that MSDs are connected with jobs and tasks comprising of repetitive motions and exertion, together with such identifiable risk factors as awkward postures, use of force, and lack of recuperation before restarting the same task. Nonetheless, the best means of prevention is through the improvement of working conditions and the implementation of an ergonomics program. However, one of the principal challenges that face managers and supervisors today is the systematic approach to conduct an ergonomics evaluation and to use ergonomics consistently through a proactive approach with the aim at reducing MSDs either by engineering or administrative imp...
The three-month intervention targeted the following areas: improvement of worker health through the involvement of unit managers, implementation of unit-wide safety changes, and worker education. The intervention agenda included three themes: 1) improvement of unit ergonomics and safety, 2) practicing safe patient handling, and 3) enhancing staff physical fitness. Floor safety champions were appointed to guide staff during the implementation of the safe patient handling activities. The program included mentoring sessions with an ergonomic specialist, which focused on increasing awareness of strategies to reduce the risk of injury to the worker and patient. Expanded knowledge, readily available supervisor support, and the improved work environment were associated with reduced worker stress and increased consistency in the implementation of safety techniques among workers (Caspi et al.,
DOI: 06/17/2015. The patient is a 40 year-old male field technician who sustained a work-related injury while positioning a work ladder against a utility pole.
Warehouse employees were routinely tasked to lift loads weighing between 40-57 lbs., oftentimes from above the waist. Which potentially exposed the employees to “Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs), caused by lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward body postures and performing the same or similar tasks repetitively” (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], n.d., Safety and health topics: ergonomics, para.1).
Purchasing the equipment to resolve this problem appears costly in the beginning, but the benefits of use substantially outweigh the purchase price. Musculoskeletal injuries are among the most common and costly injuries affecting hospital personnel. Injuries can lead to thousands of dollars in expense to the employer, per staff member injured, due to time off, temporary staffing, medical expenses, and compensation claims. According to a study by Aon, injuries such as these can cost the employer approximately 12,000 dollars, per employee, per incident (OSHA.gov). With studies presenting hospitals among the most injurious places to work, the actual expense is
Following guidelines that OSHA puts in place are put there for a reason; however, some organizations think that OSHA tie their hands on how they run their business. Some have issues with following this because they like taking short cuts to save money, when it could cost them more if they do not follow their guidelines. The dilemma is when they are not following OSHA standards, which is putting their employee’s at risk. An example of this would be organizations such as nuclear power houses that have to keep all their OSHA records. Organizations such as factories need to have a safety personnel on staff at all times to keep the facilities OSHA compliant. When they are not in compliant there will be fines to pay.
Accidents at work can occur at any time and there are a lot of consequences and considerations, especially for the injured worker. Industrial workers or people who deal with heavy objects are not the only one at risk of getting into