Investments in pallet recycling equipment and automated systems can go a long way to alleviate worker fatigue and work-related injuries and claims, as well as the costly associated business issues they give rise to, according to industry suppliers.
Both pallet manufacturing and recycling operations can put employees in the position of repeating stressful work-related tasks, whether it be assembling new custom pallets by hand with a pneumatic nailing tool, repairing pallets or handling pallets — lifting them, carrying them and stacking them.
Those manual tasks give rise to fatigue and injuries, which also spurs problems that are costly to a pallet business, note suppliers.
Pallet Enterprise interviewed representatives of four industry suppliers to discuss what kind of problems pallet companies face related to worker fatigue and injuries, the ramifications of those issues, and how the suppliers can provide solutions to overcome them. The four suppliers were Automated Machine Systems (AMS), Pallet Repair Systems (PRS), Smetco, and Universal Machinery Sales.
AMS receives inquiries from pallet companies seeking to reduce worker fatigue and injuries, acknowledged Kevan Grinwis, vice president of AMS. The claims generally are of fatigue, and pain or injuries involving the back, arms or shoulders, he indicated.
In addition, those kind of work conditions sometimes spur employee worker compensation claims, high turnover and low morale, he added.
Pallet companies are looking to retain employees longer, noted Ken Butler, sales manager for Smetco. “The best way they think they can do that is to make the work easier,” said Butler.
“I hear that frustration a lot,” added Butler, having to constantly hire new employees. They quit because of injuries or because the work is too onerous.
Jeff Williams, president of PRS, echoed that observation. Calls from pallet company owners or managers typically emphasize that they cannot attract or retain employees because the work is too strenuous. “There’s too much heavy lifting,” said Williams, or the work is too repetitive. There is a lot of manual labor, repetitive tasks, bending over or stooping, he noted. “It’s often a question of, ‘We can’t attract enough qualified labor to do this work because…it’s too hard.’”
“The biggest thing we find…is people don’t want to do the work,” said Mona Tracy, president of Universal Machinery Sales. “Once you get good workers in there, you don’t want to get accidents,” and you don’t want employees experiencing inordinate fatigue, she said.
When employees work at a job that makes them tired, added Tracy, “They don’t want to go to work. They won’t show up.”
Besides the cost of workers compensation insurance and claims, the associated problems — like high employee turnover — are costly, noted Butler. A business instantly loses production when an employee leaves or is out injured, and time spent for the hiring process — advertising or recruiting and screening job applicants — and then training new employees is additional lost productive time.
The most common complaints related to worker injuries are back or shoulder injuries or pain, according to Butler. “Mostly it’s those two…It’s from lifting,” he explained, lifting and carrying pallets. The repetitive work of lifting pallets, handling pallets, and stacking them by hand is the most common cause of worker fatigue and injury, he reiterated.
The most common work-related activities that cause fatigue are handling and moving pallets and repeatedly using a pneumatic nailing tool, noted Tracy. “We always look for a place to alleviate” heavy lifting, she said, whether it be the nailing tool or pallets. “That’s the biggest thing.”
The primary causes of fatigue and injuries are repetitive motion and heavy and-or improper lifting, but particularly lifting and stacking pallets by hand and lifting and moving pneumatic nailing tools, said Grinwis.
Manually stacking pallets is the number one cause of over-tired workers, according to Williams. Picture someone stacking pallets that weigh 50-60 pounds, 18 to 20 high, on and off all day long — an activity that goes on hundreds of times per day. “That, to me, is yesterday’s task,” said Williams. “I don’t see that in the future whatsoever.” Automatic stackers and maybe some conveying equipment eliminate the heavy lifting and carrying.
Stacking lumber is another source of worker stress, noted Williams. “It’s not as heavy, and not as high…but it’s a tough one also because of the repetition.” That repetitive, tiring motion can be alleviated or eliminated by board stackers, scissor lifts or rack tippers, he noted.
A third source of fatigue is manually removing leading edge deck boards with a pry bar. Equipment that allows a machine to remove a board is the solution, suggested Williams.
Butler expressed surprise at seeing larger companies still relying heavily on manual labor to handle, move and stack pallets. “What’s surprising,” he pointed out, “is you’ll have smaller companies” turning to automated systems to alleviate worker injuries and fatigue.
It is important to have regular meetings with workers to get feedback from them, said Tracy, who suggested weekly meetings. “Talk to your people. Find out what’s going on.” Is something too heavy to lift? Is there too much walking involved in a task? Too much bending over? “They want you to know…Have a good conversation with your people.”
The solutions recommended by suppliers are fairly straightforward and do not necessarily require a major capital investment.
“In those situations, we recommend a variety of solutions depending on the specifics of the customer’s business,” Grinwis commented. Those solutions may include ergonomic work tables, pallet stackers, sorting systems, conveying systems and automated repair lines. Another solution is a table with an overhead gantry and balancers for pneumatic nailing tools.
Conveyors can move pallets to workers and carry them away, noted Butler. A scissors table can keep work or materials at the proper height. Some pallet repair tables are mechanized to help turn the pallet over, further reducing manual labor.
Discussions with pallet recyclers focus generally on making tasks easier, according to Williams. “Let’s reduce the walking. Let’s reduce the heavy lifting. Let’s take the nail gun and counter-balance it.”
“Conveyors, stackers, dispensers — the material handling solution makes sense,” added Williams.
If employees are tired at the end of the day, “move up” to machinery or equipment that can help them and enable them to do their job without as much tiring effort, said Tracy.
She commonly recommends the use of a scissors lift, which can be used to place material at a height and place where it is easily retrieved and handled, avoiding repeated stooping or bending. Conveyors connecting work areas reduce walking back and forth, especially important if workers are handling or carrying pallets or material. Tracy also frequently recommends the use of equipment to balance the nailing tool overhead to reduce lifting; even a ‘holster’ for the nailing tool on the side of a work table helps reduce stressful lifting, she suggested.
A modest investment in equipment in the range of $5,000-10,000 can be offset by gains in worker health and productivity within six months, according to Tracy.
Automation can make pallet recycling operations particularly more efficient, noted Butler. However, the underlying interest in automation is driven by the need to prevent injuries to workers and keep employees working, he added.
Automation in pallet sorting, however, is somewhat different, Butler pointed out. It can lead to a significant increase in production compared to manually handling pallets. “The numbers are there…It pays for itself a lot quicker,” said Butler, but alleviating worker injuries is still a key concern of business owners and managers.
Smetco currently is working with Oregon Pallet in Salem, Oregon, to supply two automated pallet repair lines, according to Butler. Oregon Pallet is making the investment for precisely the reasons he discussed above: to eliminate injuries and claims, to keep employees working longer, and reduce turnover.
PRS supplied an automated repair line to Atlanta Pallets in 2015. The company president talked with Williams at the annual leadership conference of the National Wood Pallet and Container Association in March. His employees enthusiastically embraced the automated system because it has made their work so much easier. One employee, age 65, had been producing 300 pallets per day, but it was wearing him out. With the new PRS system in place, he is now producing 500 pallets per day.
“He doesn’t have to walk or lift,” or stack pallets by hand, explained Williams. “It’s doing it all for him.” The worker is simply using a pry bar to remove the damaged board and attaching repair stock with a nailing tool.
Those kinds of solutions enable pallet recycling businesses to attract good workers and retain them in jobs that are sustainable from a labor and ergonomics point of few, added Williams.
Grinwis pointed to an article in the February 2015 issue of Pallet Enterprise about an AMS customer, Pallet Consultants in Pompano Beach, Florida. AMS supplied an automated pallet repair line for the company. The Pallet Consultants CEO reported no recordable safety incidents in 2014 after the installation of the automated pallet repair line, and that employee morale had improved.
If you haven’t taken a look at the physical strain your production employees face, now may be the time to look for basic automation or ergonomic tools to reduce the amount of lifting, bending and stacking that can wear down production workers. In this tight labor environment, you need to keep everybody that you can working as effectively as they can.
Ergonomic and Automation Solutions
Automated Machine Systems
Kevan Grinwis
www.automatedmachinesystems.com/
Pallet Repair Systems Group
Jeff Williams
Smetco
Ken Butler
Universal Machinery Sales
Mona Tracy
