Ergonomic and Safety Climate Evaluation at a Brewery – Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ramsey, Jessica G. ; Tapp, Loren C. ; Wiegand, Douglas M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On October 16, 2009, NIOSH received an HHE request from a union representative at a brewery in Colorado. The request concerned MSDs possibly caused by repetitive motions including lifting, pulling, pushing, and reaching in the can line and bottle depalletization (depal) areas. During January 20-21, 2010, we visited the brewery. We observed workplace conditions and work processes and practices. We videotaped tasks on the can line and bottle depal. We also measured workstation heights and reach distances. We talked with employees privately to discuss their health and workplace concerns. We reviewed medical records of work injuries, and surveyed employees about their health and safety reporting behavior and perceptions of health and safety within the organization (i.e., safety climate). We found that employees were exposed to a combination of risk factors for developing upper extremity WMSDs, including awkward postures, forceful exertions, and repetitive motions. Personal factors such as age, sex, smoking, physical activity, and strength can also influence the occurrence of MSDs. The employee interviews and review of OSHA Form 300 Logs of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses confirmed that the most common WMSDs were to the upper extremity (shoulder and wrist). Twelve employees indicated they were injured on the job in the past 12 months
  
  only half reported their injury(ies) to the employer. Recommendations for reducing the risk of WMSDs include designing all work surfaces to be within a height range of 27 inches - 62 inches and providing rotating platforms. The safety survey indicated that half of the employees feel that the safety training they receive is not adequate, and that the safety procedures and practices in place do not work. Recommendations for improving safety communication and involvement are also included in this report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Alcoholic Beverages Cumulative Trauma Disorders Engineering Environmental Monitoring Ergonomics Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management Staff Development

  More +
• Keywords:
  Bottle Depalletizer Bottling-industry Breweries Brewery Brewery-workers Brewing-industry Can Line Cumulative-trauma Engineering-controls Equipment-design Exposure-assessment Extremities Force Height-factors Human-factors-engineering Injuries Manual-lifting Manual-materials-handling Musculoskeletal-system-disorders OSHA Region 8 Posture Repetitive-work Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety Climate Safety Reporting Shoulder Training WMSDs Work-analysis Work-performance Work-practices Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders Wrist

  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, HETA 2010-0008-3148, 2011 Dec ; :1-20
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA201000083148
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  28 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Evans, Stefanie M. ; Feldmann, Karl D. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Hartle, Greg
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040025
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-103617
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2011]. Health hazard evaluation report: ergonomic and safety climate ; evaluation at a brewery – Colorado. By Ramsey J, Tapp L, Wiegand D. Cincinnati, ; OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control ; and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH ; HETA No. 2010-0008-3148,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  312120 - Breweries - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7bc0425d54595385fd47c25dad3a7de32c28b2d44617a81b0ec0b912480fcdf6628d395dba75cd0fbe37fe18924aee32c3bb74d7212d10fbff70763603928a5c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172494/cdc_172494_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.13 MB ]