Jason Nitchie, the owner of Durham Pallet, started thinking about decreasing worker strain long before he first heard the four-syllable term ergonomics. And even though he hadn’t come across the word, he appreciated the results he saw. Attention to making work easier was helping to reduce employee turnover and increase productivity.
“It was just paying attention to how the staff members were working and the injuries,” Nitchie, the owner of the Durham, Ontario pallet recycling and rental pallet depot operation, recalled. “I thought there had to be better ways to do this work. But if you would have asked me what ergonomics meant 10 years ago, I’d have had no idea – like what’s that university word mean?”
“It was just paying attention to how the staff members were working and the injuries,”
Nitchie, the owner of the Durham, Ontario pallet recycling and rental pallet depot operation, recalled. “I thought there had to be better ways to do this work. But if you would have asked me what ergonomics meant 10 years ago, I’d have had no idea – like what’s that university word mean?”
A focus on reducing worker strain is also an emphasis for larger pallet companies, such as Pallet Resource of NC. The company, which has over 100 employees at its 22-acre site in North Carolina, tested the waters with its first lift table about three years ago. Buoyed by the success of the first installation, it now has placed eight units in its cut-up department. The result has been less back pain and increased productivity.
Ergonomics can be defined as the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment or, alternatively, as the fit between people and their work. The five aspects of ergonomics include safety, comfort, ease of use, productivity/performance and aesthetics. Ergonomists look to help companies make employees safer and more productive by suggesting improvements that can reduce inefficiencies such as strain, bending, reaching and unnecessary steps.
For Durham Pallet, the results of its ergonomics efforts have paid off handsomely. Even with the current tight labor market found in its local marketplace, the company has had no issue with employee retention. Impressively, it successfully competes for workers in the immediate vicinity with an automotive plant, several grocery distribution centers and a steel company.
“I don’t struggle to find staff,” Nitchie explained. “That tells you that Durham is a safe, good place to work. People are very comfortable with the way that they’re treated and the equipment that they use. They stay because of those electric lift tables, the conveyors and the stackers.”
Here are some straightforward ideas that can help many pallet plants reap the benefits of reduced worker strain.
Lift Tables
After Pallet Resource of NC installed its first lift table in its cut department, it received positive feedback from its workers, setting the stage for the investment in several other units. Owner Mac Grimes gathered some of his key people to talk with me about their experiences with this equipment. Overall, it was very favorable. The tables have not only helped reduce lower back strain from bending, but also risky twisting motions.
“We tested it out to see what it was going to do,” explained Raymundo Maya II, second shift supervisor. “It was working well for us and was efficient, so we asked Mac if we could install more. Now pretty much every saw has a lift table.”
Many companies are not yet taking advantage of this opportunity, according to Kevin Wieser, managing partner and machine designer for Go Fast Manufacturing. “I’ve been to quite a few pallet plants over the years,” he said “We walk into a place, and you see guys stacking boards off the floor. It hurts my back just to look at this activity.”
Wieser grew up working in a pallet and cut stock facility. “At the work stations that didn’t have the lift tables, you just went home that day, feeling a lot worse than if you were at a station that did have a lift table,” he recalled. “For something so simple, I’m really surprised we don’t see more of them.”
Wieser says there are advantages to having a lift table. First, there will be fewer injuries related to stacking or unstacking boards. Another benefit is increased production. “If your operator runs the lift table right and uses it to their advantage, you should have less distance to bring that workpiece to your machines,” he said. You should get more productivity from your operators on top of them feeling better.
“And at the end of the day, they’re not that much money,” he continued. “I haven’t really ever done an ROI on one, but it’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Go Fast recently became a distributor for Advanced Lifts, which offers a wide range of industrial lifts. They are available in single-phase or three-phase. Installation is easy. A single-phase can plug right into a 120-volt socket and rest anywhere the ground is level. All lifts are built to order.
Durham Pallet introduced Bishamon lift tables several years ago. It installed them in conjunction with gravity infeed conveyors. Stacks of pallets are placed by the forklift and brought forward when needed by the operator. The solution eliminates worker downtime associated with waiting for a fresh stack of pallets or the forklift operator waiting to place a stack of pallets. When the stack goes below 36 inches, Nitchie explained, the operator pushes a button to raise the lift table. That way, workers are always working at table height. “They’re never bending over,” he emphasized.
Conveyors
Go Fast Manufacturing offers a variety of roll case and chain-fed style conveyors that can help improve ergonomics and boost productivity.
“Again, it’s kind of an obvious win,” Wieser said of the opportunities for conveyors, “if you put that in front of a nailer or a trim saw or a notcher. Anything where you’re mainly feeding material.”
“You can stage bundles on those ahead and make it easier for your operator to operate,” he continued. “Now, when the operator does his bundle, he won’t need a forklift driver waiting for him to clear the pallet off. He just presses a slip pedal and the next one comes on over.”
Go Fast has sold several conveyors, and Wieser stated that they are being predominantly used for feeding bundles of components to pallet nailing machines. Conveyors, combined with lift tables, can help eliminate bending. “The conveyors are all being installed in front of pallet nailers so the guys can maintain steady production,” he said. “And now they can do it at a comfortable work height too.”
Exosuits and Exoskeletons
What if technology could take the strain out of bending, lifting, and setting down pallets and material? That is the purpose of exoskeleton technology that is emerging on the market. According to Matthew Marino, co-owner of Prime Performance LLC, in Portland, Oregon, this technology is ready for commercial adoption.
“It is available now, and pallet companies should be looking at this stuff,” he said. Taking a step back, he emphasized the hierarchy of ergonomics and safety controls. If inefficiencies and risky physical demands such as lifting, bending, and reaching can be engineered out through automation or mechanization, then exosuits may not be required. However, if lifting, bending or other high-risk movements remain part of the job, then exosuits should be considered as a solution.
Simply put, an exoskeleton or exosuit is a wearable device that augments, enables, assists or enhances physical activity via mechanical interaction with the user’s body, according to the ASTM International F48 Committee on Exoskeletons and Exosuits, one of a handful of organizations developing standards for these emerging technologies. Exoskeletons and exosuits are worn on users’ bodies and are designed to improve human performance. Exoskeletons have a rigid frame, while exosuits fit more like clothing, snugly to the body.
For the pallet industry, “It sounds like we’re talking here about a lot of bending over, lifting stuff up off the ground, stacking things where there’s a high risk for lower back injuries,” he said. “There absolutely are back-assist exoskeletons and exosuits available on the market right now that can help people who are working in these in these industries. The prices of these technologies range from about $800 on up to $8,000 or more if we’re talking about some of the really intense powered systems.”
Marino advised companies that have lower back injury risk in their operations to begin testing exosuits or exoskeletons. He emphasized that there is a learning curve. Operations that start sooner will gain a competitive advantage over late adopters. There are a lot of products on the market, so begin testing and find one that people are willing to accept and adopt.
He cautioned that an exoskeleton purchase should go hand-in-hand with an implementation program that has a designated manager for the initiative. “It’s not like simply putting on a pair of boots, or gloves,” he said. He noted that companies often are bringing in exoskeletons for voluntary use by employees, and that can be challenging. Production workers can resist changes in their work routines and equipment, especially if initial awkwardness is experienced. He also noted that exoskeletons may have a more difficult time finding acceptance in material handling environments with social barriers like traditional “macho” workplace cultures where safety may not be the highest priority.
“There needs to be a dedicated implementation manager and support staff, and a program in place to successfully implement these types of technologies,” he concluded. Experts like Marino with many years of experience working with these types of technologies are available to assist companies with implementation. They can help match the best exoskeletons and exosuits with the users that stand to benefit most, provide training, ensure proper fit of these devices on people’s bodies, recommend wear schedules, conduct pilot testing, support users, and advise managers and leaders on how to expand and sustain the use of these technologies in their operations. “And at the end of the day, exoskeletons and exosuits need to be comfortable, they need to be easy for people to use, and they need to be useful for people in their job.”
Other Ergonomics Ideas
While not the focus of this article, automated stackers can be a powerful ergonomics solution. After Durham Pallet installed automated stackers, it saw production from its repairers increase by 20%. In addition, people have much more energy for other activities at the end of their shift.
Other simple ideas to improve ergonomics at Durham Pallet included tool balancers that make nailing tools much easier to use. With a full coil of nails, nailing tools can weigh over 20 lbs. That can take a toll over the course of a shift, he noted.
Durham Pallet also considers hand tool proximity and location in its process. Prybar holders are conveniently placed on the edge of repair tables to limit reaching. Pallet repairers are also required to carry a hammer on a belt so that it is always close at hand. They always know where it is, so they avoid losing time looking for it. Employees initially may find it awkward to carry the hammer, but it is something they come to appreciate. It ultimately boosts production while eliminating bending or reaching to pick up a hammer left on the table or the floor.
Another simple idea used by Durham Pallet is the placement of safe lifting posters at point-of-lifting locations (one is included in this article). “Putting posters like that up around all the stations sinks into the employees’ memories much more effectively than if you have yet another meeting. “The visuals are very important, and I have quite a few different styles of posters,” Nitchie said.
For Durham Pallet and many other companies, attention to reducing the strain of material handling is helping create safer and more productive workplaces. Take the time to analyze the at-risk movements being undertaken in your operation. Simple solutions such as lift tables, conveyors, stackers, exoskeletons and others are well worth exploring.
