Ergonomic Interventions for the Furniture Manufacturing Industry. Part I – Lift Assist Devices

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mirka GA ; Shivers C ; Smith C ; Taylor J ; Mirka GA ; Shivers C ; Smith C ; Taylor J
• Description:
  The objectives of this intervention research project were to develop and evaluate engineering controls for the reduction of low back injury risk in workers in the furniture manufacturing industry. An analysis of injury/illness records and survey data identified upholsterers and workers in the machine room as two occupations within the industry at elevated risk for low back injury. A detailed ergonomic evaluation of the activities performed by these workers was then performed and the high risk subtasks were identified. The analysis for upholsterers revealed: (1) high forces during the loading and unloading of the furniture to and from the upholstery bucks, (2) static awkward postures (extreme flexion>50 degrees, lateral bending>20 degrees, twisting>20 degrees) during the upholstering of the furniture, and (3) repetitive bending and twisting throughout the operation. For machine room workers, this ergonomic evaluation revealed repetitive bending and twisting (up to 5 lifts/min and sagittal flexion>80 degrees, lateral bending>15 degrees, twisting>45 degrees) when getting wooden components from or moving them to the shop carts that are used to transport these materials. Engineering interventions were then developed and evaluated in the laboratory to document the reduction of exposure to these stressors. The height-adjustable upholstery buck system eliminated the lifting and lowering requirements and affected trunk kinematics during the upholstery operation by reducing peak sagittal angles by up to 79% (average: 52%; range: 27-79%), peak sagittal accelerations by up to 42% (average: 71%; range: 0-74%) and peak lateral position by up to 31% (average: 20%; range: 12-31%), and showed no impact on time to complete the task. The machine room lift reduced peak sagittal angle by up to 90% (average: 76%; range: 64-90%), peak sagittal accelerations by up to 86% (average: 72%; range: 59-86%) and had a positive impact on the time to complete the task (average reduction: 19%). [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Interior Design And Furnishings Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Vibration
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Low Back Injury Furniture-industry Furniture-manufacture Furniture-workers Furniture Industry Injuries Intervention Research Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational-exposure Risk-factors Trunk Motion Trunk Posture Vibration-exposure

  More +
• ISSN:
  0169-8141
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  263-273
• Volume:
  29
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024335
• Citation:
  Int J Ind Ergon 2002 May; 29(5):263-273
• Contact Point Address:
  The Ergonomics Laboratory, Department of Industrial Engineering, North Carolina State University, Box 7906, Raleigh, NC 27695-7906, USA
• Email:
  mirka@eos.ncsu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics
• End Date:
  20030929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9927f65cb5f5323b31cc733b80703251690a399b7b4353cc2a10d8a506b73fdb952a534d21a49df43210a033c06398e6efd2e2c0446b5a46535d2a9e3dd97433
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/196186/cdc_196186_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 733.08 KB ]