Ergonomics Assignment: Improving Large Distribution Warehouse

Question

Task: You are the Safety and Risk Manager for a large distribution warehouse. The company has recently won two major contracts in succession, and with increased production, has been required to employ more staff and change the packaging of goods coming into the warehouse. Staff on the two new packing lines stand and work at fixed height benches and are cutting open boxes, removing and packing hand held products into new boxes. The boxes are then are placed onto the conveyor belt line and two employees take the boxes from the line and stack them onto two pallets on the ground at the end of the line. The job of pallet stacking is rotated among those working on the line. Once the pallets have been stacked to a height of around 1.5m a fork lift truck removes them and brings new pallets to be filled.

Note: You are free to make further assumptions about the design of the packing line and process to allow discussion of hazards, risks and controls. If applicable, such assumptions should be made known to the reader.

The ergonomics assignment should consider the following two parts: Part A
In preparation for the ergonomic assessment of the new packing line, detail what ergonomic assessments you would carry out, noting:
(i) The specific tasks you would focus on and why
(ii) The suggested ergonomic improvements

Part B
Later, you return from annual leave and you discover the Production and Facilities Managers have ordered, purchased and installed mechanical lifting aids for the end of each line. Both Managers are unhappy as production seems to have slowed down rather than increased, and the lifting aids are not always being used. They report to you that a member of staff “pressed the wrong button and dropped a number of boxes”. Fortunately, the boxes just missed a member of staff’s foot. You are asked to speak with staff to “fix the problem and get them to use the lifting aides properly”.

During initial discussions, a number of staff says they feel the lifting aide takes longer than manual handling and also is too complicated to use. Outline:

(i) The ergonomic approach that would have improved the purchase, installation and ultimate use of the mechanical lifting aid
(ii) any potential breaches of health and safety law that could arise from the way the machinery has been brought into use

Answer

Introduction
Workplace ergonomics is a science of designing the workplace in a way considering the capabilities and limitations of the workers for using the machines and processes. A workplace ergonomics helps in improving the work processes and eliminating the risk factors that leads to injuries. Ergonomics based designing also helps in improving human performances in an organization (Ariyanti et al. 2019).In the present case scenario, it is seen that the warehouse has manual work for moving and lifting of boxes where the staffs work at fixed height benches and manually stack the boxes in lines. The staffs face the risk of cutting huge boxes and to use the new mechanical lifting aid that has been implementing without consultation.

Aim
The part A of the report aims to analyze the processes of large distribution warehouse and suggest the ergonomic assessments that can be carried out in specific tasks of the warehouse with suggestion for ergonomic improvements.

Further, the aim of part B of the report is to analyze the ergonomic approach that would have improved the purchase and installation of mechanical lifting aid in the company. Further this part purposes to identitythe potential breaches of health and safety law that could arise with the way the machinery was bought to use and made recommendation to prevent breaches.

Objectives
The objectives to meet aim of part A are:

• To have a clear understanding of the risk associated with manual work in the organization and chances of errors.
• To remove the barriers to staffs’ health and safety by bringing improvement in the process of manual work.

The objectives to meet aim of Part B are:

• To determine the ergonomic approaches that focus on participatory work and consultation.
• To provide timely training to workers using the new system and enhancing participation.
• To identify and eliminate the breaches of health and safety laws.

Method of Analysis Used
The report makes use of case information, secondary data on ergonomic theory and processes to analyze the present scenario and review of local and national workers health and safety legislations.

Overview of the Findings
Specific Tasks to Focus On
Manual handling is a common throughout the industry and all over the world and this leads to increased sickness and injuries absence in the workplace. Increased risk of injuries is due to the lifting processes and weights of heavy machinery. However, the increased risk of high incidence can be reduced by managing manual handling processes and through improvement in processes (Hse 2021). an ergonomic approach is a fundamental component that help in managing risk through different strategies with a focus on removing the manual handling system and designing the workplace through planning. The specific tasks that I will focus to improve in the distribution warehouse system is the manual processes of cutting open boxes, removing and packaging hand held products into new boxes at height benches and the manual job of pallet stacking at the end of new packaging lines. These two manual jobshave high risk of injuries for the staffs due to human errorssuch as falling from height due to lapses of attention or slips, rule-based mistakes and violations of rules due to job pressure. In manual cutting, removing, packing and stacking of boxes there are high chances of mistakes and violation. This is because manual tasks need conscious attention on the part of the staffs. Moreover, there are also high chances of decision-making failures on the end of the staffs such as errors in judgement in stacking up the boxes in a way that does not fall. Attention failure can also be seen among the staffs that cut the boxes at a height. Error in understanding the ways to stand on the bench can lead to fall and injuries (Ariyanti et al. 2019). The chances of these errors are high in these two-manual works because of absence of signs, signals, clear instructions, rules and system interface.

Thus, focusing on these two manual tasks is important to form ergonomic solutions that can reduce human errors and violations. Focusing on these two processes in the new packing line will help the warehouse to improve safety of their workforce in manual work and reduce work related injuries and health damage. Ergonomic solutions will help in reviewing the overall chances of human error and preparation of procedures that are clear and communicated (Sharma and Nema n.d.). Moreover, it will also help in managing the performance influencing factors such as work pressures, level of supervision, clarity of roles and responsibilities and organizational learning.

Suggested Ergonomic Improvements
To reduce the chances of injuries and health risk in both the manual work in the new packing line it is important to carry out ergonomic assessments such as new guidelines for different processes, conduct assessment of processes, selection of appropriate safety equipment and consider performance influencing factors (Sharma and Nema n.d.).

New guidelines formation- this is the first ergonomic improvement that will be bought in the manual work of the new packing line. The guidelines will include rules for lifting such as the amount of load to lift, the operation is taking place in reasonable work conditions and the body position of the handler. Further, the guidelines will also be provided for the frequency of lifting and lowering work and processes of twisting. Guidelines figures will be given for related manual work in the workforce.

Timely and systematic assessment of processes and human reliability assessments- the second ergonomic improvement that will be bought in the warehouse manual work will be systematic assessment of processes such as the height and condition of the benches, the condition of cutting equipment and the pallets. Implementation of pro-active assessment will help in identifying, preventing and mitigating the chances of human errors that can occur in a system and help improve the safety performance of the warehouses. Human reliability assessments will also be implemented as an ergonomic improvement in the warehouse that will help in evaluating the contribution of human to the risk and their capability of the tools they are using.

Selection of safety equipment- review the current condition of the equipment used in cutting and stacking of the boxes and consider improving the procurement procedure of the equipment. This can be implemented through a more thorough risk assessment process to assess the associated risk of the equipment. Similar review and amendment procedure should be followed in introducing new equipment in the warehouse. This will help in procuring and introducing effectively and with all safety precautions.

Analysis of performance influencing factors- ergonomic improvements in the warehouse will also include analyzing the factors that impact the performance and safe use of the equipment. For safety and risk management each equipment should be labelled with clear signs, signals and usage instructions. Further, the work environment should have efficient lighting and space to help the staff to easily climb up the benches for work and easily stack up the boxes in the pallets with less risk of falling or tripping (Hse 2021). Along with job factors, there will be thorough analysis of the organization factors that includes increase in the level of supervision, clear and effective communication between the staffs in cutting process and in stacking process and effectiveness of organizational learning.

Part B
Ergonomic Approach that Would Have Improved the Purchase and Installation of Mechanical Lifting Aid In the given scenario it is seen that the production and facilities managers have ordered, purchased and installed mechanical lifting aids for end of each line in the new packing line. The new mechanical lifting made the processes slower and increased the chances of accidents in the warehouse due to improper use of the new mechanical lifting efficiently. Ergonomic approaches towards purchasing, installing and use of mechanical lifting would have helped in improving the processes and reduce risk of accidents (Burgess-Limerick 2018). This is because ergonomic approach helps in bringing change in the organizational process in a planned manner after conducting effective risk assessment of the machines. Moreover, approaching installation and use of new mechanical lifting process will help avoid the change of physical injury and use the new mechanical lifting safely.

The ergonomic approach that would help in improving the purchase, installation and use of mechanical lifting aid in the new packing line is initial participatory design techniques and effective training process. this is because in the initial discussion with the staffs it was evident that they are uncomfortable and lack knowledge in using lifting aid and thus find it too complication. Initial consultation and timely training will make the staffs feel more comfortable in using the new lifting mechanism. Participatory ergonomics is referred to the involvement of people in planning and controlling of work activities and processes by using sufficient knowledge. Participatory ergonomics place the end users efficiently so that they can actively be involved in the new development process (Rasmussen et al. 2017). In relation to the present scenario it would be beneficial if the company would take a participatory ergonomic approach to involve the staffs in decision making process of choosing the new mechanical aid and take their suggestions in doing so. Along with participatory ergonomics the company should also implement timely training for educating the staffs about the new system. Training will help in improving the competency of the staffs about the new mechanical aid by improving their knowledge and understanding of the system (Rost and Alvero 2018). Open consultation at earliest stages is the key component to successful ergonomic analysis, design and successive use of modified work.

Such ergonomic approach will help reduce risk of injury and damage from using the new machinery as well as make the staffs feel comfortable in using the mechanical aid.Such approaches will enable the new packing line to improve the purchase, installation and use of mechanical lifting support.

Potential Breaches of Health and Safety Law
The redesigning of new mechanical lifting aid has been bought into use by the production and facilities managers without any prior planning and communication with the operational staffs in the production unit. This will lead to potential breaches of health and safety law on the part of the organization. According to the Work Health Safety Act the employers are required to consider the safety and health of the staffs while implementing any new system or processes (Stubbs 2020).

Moreover, under this law the employees are entitled to improve safety and reduce risk to health in connection to handling, storage and transportation of substances. Moreover, and employer has the duty to provide information, training and supervision as necessary to the staffs for ensuring health and safety of the workers. However, in the given scenario the production and facilities managers failed to offer required training and supervision to the staffs for the new mechanical lifting aid and this resulted in failure in correct usage of the machine. Lack of training has put the health of staffs at danger and lead to potential breaches of Work Health Safety Act (Act 1974). Participatory design approach suggested above helps in meeting the diligence requirements in the Work Health and Safety legislation of UK because the present way the machinery has been bought into use fails to match all the requirements of the work health and safety law.

Moreover, the manual handling operations regulations 1992 the employers should prevent hazardous manual handling operationsand assess the hazardous manual handling operation on a timely manner. According to this regulation it is important for the employer to assess the capabilities of the individual performing the task and making use of the equipment (Hse 2021). Moreover, they should focus on considering the layout of the environment. however, in the given scenario the managers have failed to consider the capabilities of the staffs to use the new mechanical lifting aid and this will cause a breach in the manual handling operations regulations. This is because the new mechanical lifting aid has bought to use without the involvement of the staffs and in the absence of required training to manually handle the mechanical lifting machine.

Conclusion
From the above analysis it can therefore be stated that ergonomic approach of participatory design will be beneficial for the new packing line to efficiently place their new mechanical lifting aid by considering the capabilities of the staffs as well as providing them required training to fill the capability gap. At present the new machinery implementation breaches many areas of work health and safety legislation and manual handling operations regulations 1992. Moreover, as safety and risk manager I will focus on the manual handling tasks in the new packing lines such as cutting of boxes and stacking of boxes onto the pallets. This is because these two areas have the maximum health risk to the staffs and require ergonomic improvement. As a part of reducing risks in these two areas the suggested ergonomic improvements are Timely and systematic assessment of processes and human reliability assessments, Selection of safety equipment, Analysis of performance influencing factors and New guidelines formation. These improvements will help reduce health risk to the staffs by making them effectively implement the manual work with effective labeling the equipment and following guidelines and instructions to use the machinery. This shows that approaching manual work with ergonomic processes will make the process efficient and ease out the total manual handling task as well as the implementation of new machinery design.

Recommendations
The recommended action that will help in better management of both cases of A and B and to prevent breaches of workers health and safety laws are:

• To introduce new training system in the organization for using the mechanical lifting aid.
• To conduct participatory ergonomic approach for successful implementation of new system.
• To introduce engineering controls by providing height adjustable benches or reducing sizes of boxes.
• Design clear instructions for workers climbing on benches and cutting the boxes.

References
Act, H.S.W., 1974. The Health and Safety at Work, Etc. Act.

Ariyanti, S., Widodo, L., Zulkarnain, M. and Timotius, K., 2019. Design Work Station Of Pipe Welding With Ergonomic Approach. Sinergi, 23(2), pp.107-114.

Burgess-Limerick, R., 2018. Participatory ergonomics: Evidence and implementation lessons. Applied Ergonomics, 68, pp.289-293.

Hse, 2021. Manual Handling Operations Regulations 199. [online] Hse.gov.uk. Available at: [Accessed 15 April 2021].

Rasmussen, C.D.N., Lindberg, N.K., Ravn, M.H., Jørgensen, M.B., Søgaard, K. and Holtermann, A., 2017. Processes, barriers and facilitators to implementation of a participatory ergonomics program among eldercare workers. Applied ergonomics, 58, pp.491-499.

Rost, K.A. and Alvero, A.M., 2018. Participatory approaches to workplace safety management: bridging the gap between behavioral safety and participatory ergonomics.

International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics.
Sharma, N. and Nema, A., Improving Productivity and Reducing Accidents using Ergonomic Approach.

Stubbs, D.A., 2020. ERGONOMICS, HEALTH AND SAFETY: A FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT?. Contemporary Ergonomics: Ergonomics For Industry, p.16.