Vern Anderson, Ph.D., Coordinator Retail Trades Occupational Health CDC/NIOSH Mike Leiner

1. Successful Applications of Ergonomic Principles to Loss Prevention Vern Anderson, Ph.D., Coordinator Retail Trades Occupational Health CDC/NIOSH Mike Leiner Manager Store Safety Target Corporation

2. 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.

3. Take Away Message • Ergonomic is good business! • 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.

4. Purpose of our Presentations . We will show through examples how applying ergonomic principles can: - improve productivity reduceloss of property reduce loss of work time from preventable accidents

5. Presentation Outline • 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

6. Safety and Ergonomics • 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

7. Ergonomic Solutions ???

8. What you may not know about ergonomics. . Ergonomics is an engineering science to improve work efficiency Ergonomics is about prevention through design.

9. 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)

10. Ergonomics : Some Facts • Put aside the notion that workplace ergonomics is only about injuries • Ergonomics makes good business sense: • Healthy people work better • Sick people perform poorly

11. Why Address Manual Material Handling?

12. Because Lifting Injuries are important 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

13. In short: Lifting Related Injuries They represent the biggest single contributor to worker injury in the United States ...and the application of good ergonomic design and goodwork practices can substantially reduce those incidences.

14. Problem: Stocking shelves or a gymnast We can do better

15. Another Tough Lift: Unloading Boxes We can do better

16. Problem: All to Common We can do better

17. What are our Solutions? Manual Materials Handling Jobs Various Solutions: Engineering Changes “Hard Ergonomics” Good Work Practices “Soft Ergonomics”

18. Training and Administrative Employees capabilities and Job Demands Good Work Practices: Get Help

19. Training and Administrative Good Work Practice: Push instead of Pull Cannot see ahead: Not Good.

20. Training and Administrative Good Work Practices: Moving step stool into Van to stand on.

21. Ergonomic Study Examples

22. More Ergonomic Study Example

23. Ergonomic Study ExampleHeight Adjusted Pallet Jack AFTER BEFORE 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.

24. Okay, so not everybody gets excited about ergonomics

25. Ergonomic Study ExampleSelf-Leveling Cart Deli/Bakery 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

26. Ergonomic Study Example: Results Spring Self leveling cart : Deli/Bakery • 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 BEFORE AFTER

27. 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

28. 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

29. Injuries from Manual Lifting Tasks • 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

30. What you don’t want. Musculoskeletal Disorders • 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

31. Accident Costs 1% Profit 2% Profit 3% Profit $ 1,000 $ 100,000 $ 50,000 $ 33,000 $ 5,000 500,000 250,000 167,000 500,000 $ 10,000 1,000,000 333,000 $ 25,000 2,500,000 1,250,000 833,000 $100,000 10,000,000 5,000,000 3,333,000 It is necessary to sell an additional $250,000 in products or services to pay the cost of $5,000 annual losses SALES TO COVER COSTS* $250,000 $ 5,000 *

32. MMH Example 1. Deli/Bakery • Task 1. Breakdown pallets • Task 2. Transfer to work area • Task 3. Restock coolers/freezers Intervention Tested

33. MMH Example 1: Intervention Spring Loaded Custom Cart After Before Trial a spring-loaded customized self-leveling cart to reduce the bending and stooping required to load/unload flat-bed.

34. MMH Example 1: Intervention Results Summary: Self-leveling Cart • 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) BEFORE AFTER Lift to/from bottom 1/3 cart

35. MMH Example 1: Ergonomic Results HIGH Risk BEFORE 54 lb wt. lifted Compressive Force ↓ 58% (1000 lb ↓) LOW Risk (borderline) AFTER 54 lb wt. lifted

36. MMH Example 2: Deli/Bakery/Meat Prep • Task 1. Carrying multiple boxes • From Coolers/freezer in Deli/Bakery • To Meat Preparation Intervention Tested

37. 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.

38. MMH Example 2 Results Summary: High Lift Cart Lift BEFORE AFTER From cooler to prep table BEFORE AFTER

39. MMH Example 2 Intervention Results High Lift Cart BEFORE AFTER Lift-transfer into prep sink BEFORE AFTER

40. MMH Example 3. Grocery Stockers • Task 1. Stocking Goods on Grocery Floor • Canned Goods/Sauces Height Adjustable Pallet Jack Intervention Tested

41. MMH Example 3 Interventions Tested AFTER BEFORE Test a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet

42. MMH Example 3: Interventions Tested BEFORE AFTER Trial of a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet

43. MMH Example 3 Results Summary: BEFORE AFTER Height Adjustable Pallet Jack

44. MMH Example 4. Grocery Stockers • Task 1. Stocking Goods on Grocery Floor • Canned Goods/Sauces Intervention Tested

45. MMH Example 4 Intervention Stock & Roll Cart AFTER BEFORE Trial / investigate feasibility of height adjustable “Stock and Roll” cart to support & transfer multiple cases to aisle locations.

46. MMH Example 4 Interventions Tested AFTER BEFORE Test/ investigate feasibility of height adjustable “Stock and Roll” cart to support & transfer multiple cases to aisle locations.

47. MMH Example 4: Results Summary: AFTER BEFORE AFTER • Ergo risk reduced from HIGHto Low(Whole Body) for carrying cases to shelf • Ergo risk reduced from HIGHto Moderate (Shoulder, Arm/Elbow, Hand/Wrist) for static holds of cases and stocking shelves(canned goods) Carry & stock cases of goods on aisle shelves

48. Examples: Additional Interventions Tested BEFORE AFTER Trial a Push-Button Height Adjustable Cart (battery powered) to minimize back bending

49. Examples: Additional Interventions Tested AFTER BEFORE List Price: $2,395 Trial a Push-Button Height Adjustable Cart (battery powered) to minimize back bending

50. Examples: Additional Interventions Examined BEFORE AFTER Trial a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet to waist level when unloading