Back Belts May Not Be The Answer

We have all seen them. At grocery stores, at the hardware store, maybe at your own company in the warehouse or at the loading dock.

Many firms rely on back belts to reduce the risk of employee lifting injuries. Don't be fooled. A study published in the December issue of the Journal of the American medical Association states the following:

"There is no statistically significant difference between the rate of workers compensation claims for back injuries for employees who use back belts and those that do not. Poor back belt design is not the reason for the lack of positive results. There is no significant indication, according to the research, that any type or design of back belt will reduce pain or injury. The answer may lie in proper lifting and equipment to aid in material handling.

Forklift Danger At The Loading Dock

As part of Materials Handling Equipment Company's Forklift Operator Training program, we address both trailer drop and trailer creep at the loading dock. The following information is taken from our Forklift Operator Training program:

During the loading and unloading of cargo, two trailer reactions can occur: Trailer Drop and Trailer Creep (a.k.a. Trailer Walk). Trailers equipped with air ride suspensions having a trailing arm arrangement (Figure 1) can experience both of these dangerous phenomenons. Trailer drop occurs due to the low spring rate that inherently gives air ride suspension its soft ride.

When a large load is quickly added to a trailer by driving a forklift on to it, the trailer deck will drop as fast as the air springs internal bumpers will allow. This lowered deck position is most often only temporary, as a truck in good repair will have a height control valve that will open in such an event. Air will be sent into the air springs in order to return the trailer to its original ride height.

Two items must be addressed - first, even a truck in brand new condition will have an inherent time delay involved in returning to its original ride height and assistance from the tractors air compressor may be required. Second, in this age of deregulation, most trailers are old and may be in need of repair. Also consider the result if the tractors engine is shut off and unable to send air to the air springs. For this and other reasons, we strongly suggest an automatic dock leveler device along with a Dok-Lok trailer restraint system.

Trailer creep, also known as dock walk, is the repetitive forward movement of the trailer that causes it to move away from the loading dock. This movement is a consequence of the downward trailer movement and the resulting rotation of the suspensions trailing arms, along with the corresponding rotation of the tires when the trailers parking brakes are applied. A loaded trailer left at your dock for an extended period of time can lose air pressure in its air springs, allowing the trailer deck to drop. Again, this drop can result in forward movement that could damage or collapse the trailers landing gear.

Installing trailer jack stands at the trailers nose can prevent landing gear collapse. Tractor-trailer owners can add inexpensive automatic dump valves to an air ride suspension system. A truck product that extends a pair of sturdy mechanical support legs over the rear of the suspension trailing arms can be added to a trailer as well. Such a system is marked under the brand name "Surelok" (see figure 2). But only a small number of trailers are equipped with such devices and many drivers will forget to use them.

Now the questions to ask is - "Are all the trucks and trailers entering my dock state of the art; are their drivers concerned with my safety; or do I as a dock owner have to take proactive measures to guarantee that my employees are safe?" For the vast majority of dock owners, the answers lie in forklift training, automatic dock levelers, trailer restraints and trailer jack stands.

MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS

Musculoskeletal Disorders or MSD's as they are known on a workers compensation claims report affect a business in the form of direct and indirect costs. A voluntary ergonomics program will help reduce the costs of MSD.

First we must determine if an employee complaint is job-related.

For an MSD claim to be covered under workers compensation, it must be directly related to the physical work regularly performed by the employee. It also must meet the criteria of an OSHA recordable case - it is either diagnosed by a health care professional or reported by the employee, plus it must involve medical treatment, days away from work, restricted work, or job transfer/rotation.

The Problem - Workers must perform all work activity using healthy and safe postures. But, in order to use healthy and safe postures a worker would have to be a skilled observer of his or her own joint and muscle function. We can train a 12 year old to do a back flip on a 4" balance beam with perfect body position, but we can't seem to train a 40 year old to pick-up a carton without a back injury.

Progressive employers need to address ergonomic solutions for manual handling and manufacturing production jobs.

It is interesting to note that a larger percentage of women report some of the most severe MSD's. Women account for 70% of the carpal tunnel syndrome cases and 62% of the tendinitis cases that requires time off from work according to OSHA.

ERGONOMICS IS NOT DEAD

Congress voted to repeal the OSHA Ergonomics Standard that took effect 01/16/01. This does not however mean that you do not have to worry about back strain and other job related MSD's. Workers compensation claims will still be made and will still be paid. Production will still suffer due to poor ergonomics in the workplace. Congress gave business breathing room. President Bush has stated that he has asked Labor Secretary, Elaine Cho, to devise a better set of ergonomic legislation to address work place safety. We will see Ergonomic Standards in the next few years. The time to act is now. Reduce workers compensation claims for MSD's and we will prove that no further government regulations are needed. And discover the productivity benefits available with more ergonomically designed work areas and tasks. At its core, ergonomics means adapting the work place to the worker instead of forcing the worker to adapt to the workplace. Kind of makes sense!

TRAINING CITATIONS

In 1999 OSHA citations for failing to train operators of powered industrial trucks ranked 26th. In 2000 OSHA increased focus on operator training. Citations for failing to train forklift operators now rank 10th.