Employee safety has been a topic of concern as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, as we approach the month of June, also recognized as National Safety Month, we might be thinking about employee safety in different ways than in past years.
The steps we are taking to keep our employees from contracting COVID-19 are in addition to the steps we have been taking for many years to keep our employees safe from work injuries and death. As we take measures to keep our employees from contracting COVID-19, we don’t want to lose sight of the other necessary safety measures.
Manual Material Handling
Material handling is one area of concern for employee safety. Tasks such as lifting, carrying and pushing can make the workplace unsafe for your employees. Injuries associated with material handling can also be quite expensive with medical costs, lost productivity, and decreased employee morale. As an organization, you want to take preventive measures to minimize injuries and the costs associated with them.
Manual material handling is risky, time-consuming and laborious. Physical weariness and fatigue are common occurrences in manual material handling tasks. Three primary factors include stressful postures like bending or twisting, highly repetitive motions such as frequent reaching and lifting, and forceful exertions like carrying or lifting heavy loads.
Regardless of whether you have an excellent ergonomic process that caters to your employees’ capabilities, daily manual work can take a toll on your employees’ health and well-being. Cumulative fatigue eventually will give way to a musculoskeletal disorder.
Use the Right Equipment
Rather than carrying products manually, a conveyor can be used to move products from place to place and/or from one height to another height. By choosing to use conveyor systems for your material handling needs, you can increase employee safety by making the process safer, faster and more efficient.
Conveyors can replace the need for your employees to reach, lift and take product to a higher location. They are capable of moving your product to a raised height, such as a vibratory bowl or hopper, while keeping your employees’ safe on the ground.
When utilizing a conveyor system, you eliminate the need for your employees’ to bend down, lift, and carry product. Conveyors can bring your product from low to the ground to a height that is ergonomically safe for employee interaction with your products.
Conveyors are just one of the many ways in which you can increase both employee safety and productivity.