Ergonomic and Musculoskeletal Evaluation of Warehousing Tasks at a Logistics Agency in Georgia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hatcher, Sarah M. ; Ramsey, Jessica G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Safety management at a logistics agency requested a health hazard evaluation because they were concerned about ergonomics and potential musculoskeletal injuries among logistics employees who performed general warehousing and forklift operations. Our evaluation consisted of observing work processes, practices, and workplace conditions
  
  measuring workstation heights and taking pictures of workstations
  
  and interviewing employees about their work and their health. We evaluated employees with various job tasks in five buildings. Employee job tasks included picking, packing, processing, storing, loading, and unloading. We found that most workstations and areas were not ergonomically designed to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Most workstations were static and did not adjust and lacked antifatigue mats and adjustable chairs or stools. The most common potentially work-related pain reported was in the back and shoulders. Some of our recommendations included (1) reducing heavy lifting (e.g., reorganizing material storage based on weight and size to allow for two-person lifts and facilitate material handling equipment use), (2) ensuring the appropriate ergonomic design of workstations, (3) using employee input to guide efforts in improving worker safety, health, and well-being, and (4) encouraging employees to report health concerns they think are work-related to their supervisors.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Forklifts Lifting Logistics Manual Materials Handling Materials Handling Equipment MSD MSDs Musculoskeletal Disorders National Security OSHA Region 4 Warehousing

  More +
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2018-0195-3395, 2024 Mar ; :1-24
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201801953395
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Chiu, Sophia ; Grant, Michael ; Hamilton, Cheryl ; Moore, Kevin ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069404
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2023]. Ergonomic and musculoskeletal evaluation of warehousing tasks at a logistics ; agency in Georgia. By Ramsey JG, Hatcher S. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and ; Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational ; Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2018-0195-3395,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  928110 - National Security - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5b512b0a233ad6b538f36fe0d60e77d65298850dce53fcb4afa77b1fddaad02bdc8f3e6dd74d0f4716e88969e469042832076e0f1405788926e35d5224a5f527
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172304/cdc_172304_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.11 MB ]