October
Cascades Tissue Group
1200 Forest St
Eau Claire, WI, United States 54703
Dear Mr. Senor,
Please find attached a report which details the results of an ergonomics assessment that was conducted at your facility in Cascades in October 2013. Also included with this report you will find a summary of some of the observations that were made during the assessment and the relevant conclusions and recommendations based on the same.
It was indeed a pleasure to serve your ergonomic consultation needs.
Sincerely,
Introduction
Ergonomics is a scientific discipline that ventures into analyzing the interactions between humans and the elements in their environment. By studying this discipline, it becomes easier to understand the importance of maintaining the correct posture and the adverse impact strain and force can have o the different muscles of the body.
An assessment and analysis had been conducted of an activity that is performed by a worker in a factory in Cascades, Arizona in October 2013. The analysis is conducted to study the ergonomically potential risks associated with Kingman Automatic Shrink Wrapper. An operator is required to manage the machine and to load the poly wrapper rolls and to operate the machine. The activity that has been selected for the purpose of this assignment is lifting tasks. Since the operator of the Kingman Automatic Shrink Wrapper machines needs to lift the poly rolls, the profile presents an excellent opportunity to study the work and to analyze the risks that are associated with this machine from the point of view of ergonomics and in particular the task of lifting.
An analysis of human body postures and body movements was conducted at the said facility during the course of this assessment project. The same have been mentioned below and will be referred to during the course of this report are:
- Shoulder flexion
- Shoulder extension
- Forearm supination
- Elbow flexion
- Elbow extension
- Shoulder vertical abduction
- Shoulder horizontal abduction
- Spinal lateral flexion
- Cervical spine twisting
- Cervical spine extension
- Cervical spine flexion
- Hand power grip
- Wrist flexion
Analysis of the manual process of loading the shrink wrapper machine
General Workstation/Environment related workstation
- The factory where the operator was observed performing the task of lifting and securing the poly rolls is located in Kingsman, Arizona. The particular area in which the operator has to perform this task maintains normal temperature and there is no humidification control.
- Proper lighting is maintained within the work station and there is climate control to some level since the temperature has to be maintained between normal and cool.
Manual process of loading poly rolls on the machine – Specific observations
- The machine has to be loaded automatically before it can start wrapping the boxes.
- The poly rolls are stacked together in a common space which is approximately at a distance of 32 feet from the machine (See Appendix A). The operator has to come away from the machine to this point and manually pick up one roll and take it back to the machine. Each poly roll weighs around 39 pounds. This is the first instance of physical labor that the operator has to perform.
- Next, the operator removes the empty core from the machine and places the new roll in its place. The roll is placed at a height of 38” from the floor and the operator has to lift his hands up in order place the roll properly (See Appendix B). This is the second instance of physical labor as this movement requires a lift above the shoulder level height in order to position the new roll onto the top and bottom. The angle of asymmetric rotation involved in lifting the roll is almost 45 degrees.
- The roll is then secured in its place (See Appendix C) and threaded in preparation for re-starting the wrapper (See Appendix D).
- This process is repeated almost 3 to 4 times in 12 hours.
Analysis of work performed by operator
- There are two instances of physical labor that the operator has to perform to complete his assigned task of lifting and manually loading the poly rolls successfully. In the first instance, the operator has to lift the roll in his hands which weight about 39 pounds and then carry it across to the machine for a distance of 32 feet.
- This process has to be repeated four times every day the pressure is multiplied by those many times. The operator also needs to strain the muscles of his lower back as he goes down to pick up the roll and the same is repeated when the empty roll is placed back, however, at that time the weight is significantly less.
- The movements involved in completing the task of loading the poly rolls are extension of the elbow, extension of the wrist and flexion of the shoulder.
- In the second instance of physical labor the operator is required to lift his arms up above the shoulder level.
- He has a weight of 39 pounds in his arms which put substantial pressure on his shoulders and the muscles of the arms.
- There is pressure on the neck as well at this time as the head is bent backwards to fix the poly roll in place.
- In completing the loading activity, the movements that are involved are extension of the elbow, extension of the neck, flexion of shoulder, and flexion of the elbow and shoulder abduction.
Areas of ergonomic related concerns
In performing and completing the work of loading the poly rolls, the operator runs the following risks:
- The risk of damaging the muscles of his back as he picks up the poly roll and carries it to the machine for some distance.
- The act or the movement of placing the roll on the machine at a height which is above shoulder level also puts strain on the lower back muscles.
- The risk involved of damage to the shoulder and forearm muscles. Lifting heavy weights is always considered as dangerous and bad for the health of the muscles. The posture involved in both the instances is considered as unhealthy.
- Concentration of force on the grip as the operator uses his hands to hold on to the roll for the duration when he moves the roll to the machine.
- Extensive static loading which is created in the flexor muscles of the right forearm.
- The practice of securing the roll on to the machine with the hands promotes the occurrence of contact based forces on the respective fingers and palm area.
Summary of risk factors
The work of loading performed by the operator involved various movements of flexion and extension which puts strain on the muscles of the body. Coupled with the force of moving and lifting a weight of 39 pounds the risk is very high that there would be swelling and contraction of the muscles and eventually there would be high degree of spasms which would affect the efficiency and working ability of the worker.
Recommendations
For every concern that has been observed there can be certain control factors which would help in neutralizing the effect to some degree:
- Use of a wide platform to decrease the height between the floor and the machine where the roll has to be loaded.
- Allocation of a second member to reduce the force and strain of lifting the 39 pound roll alone.
- Assigning a new spot for stocking the rolls closer to the machine to reduce the distance between the rolls and the machine.
- Promote the use of arm and elbow exercises to those who are involved in this work in order to reduce the operator’s upper forearm pressure and muscular strain as well as rest for the back and cervical muscles.
- Providing breaks to the operator at fixed intervals to stretch and release pressure on the muscles to improve efficiency.
- Providing short training about the risks operators run because of incorrect postures during work will be useful in creating awareness and aiding them in reducing the risk of muscular damage.
Appendix A: Area where the rolls are stacked
Appendix B: Operator loading the poly roll onto the machines
Appendix C: Operator securing the roll on to the machine
Appendix D: Operator working on the machine
References:
Workplace health, safety and welfare: A short guide for managers Leaflet INDG244(rev2) HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg44.htm
Managing the causes of work-related stress: A step-by-step approach using the Management Standards HSG218 (Second edition) HSE Books 2007 www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg218.htm
