8 Essential Ergonomics and Injury Prevention Solutions For Manual Material Handling

Manual material handling can be hard on the human body. To prevent the daily wear and tear of manual material handling tasks from turning into a costly string of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) injuries at your distribution center, you’ll need a proactive strategy and corresponding set of tactics in place to control risk.

So far in our series on MSD prevention in manual material handling, we’ve been covering strategy. The goal of this post is to provide a series of practical tactics you can work on to improve your workplace starting today. It’s a comprehensive approach to a complex problem. A synergy exists when all of these tactics are implemented that produces better results together than any one tactic would on its own.

(Use the links below to catch up on this series on preventing injuries in manual material handling.)

Engineering Controls

Engineering controls eliminate or reduce awkward postures with ergonomic modifications that seek to maintain joint range of motion to accomplish work tasks within the mid-range of motion positions for vulnerable joints. Proper ergonomic tools should be utilized that allow workers to maintain optimal joint positions.

1. Workplace Improvements

Improving the workplace through engineering controls is the preferred control method for reducing risk. A systematic process for risk identification and reduction should be in place to ensure that physical changes to the workplace are made that eliminate hazards/reduce risk.

Start here: Identify the ergonomic risk factors in your workplace using our recommended ergonomic assessment tools.

In addition to the ergonomic assessment tools, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has created helpful design considerations for the manual material handling environment. See the links below for more information:

Administrative Controls

Administrative controls establish processes and procedures that can reduce injury risk.

2. Job Rotation

Job rotation is the structured interchange of workers between different jobs, requiring workers to rotate between different workstations or jobs at certain time intervals. Job rotation increases the variety of tasks required as the worker takes on more duties, enlarging the physical demands and adding variety to the job.

Start here: Learn how to implement job rotation in your workplace with our step-by-step guide to job rotation.

3. Warm-up stretching and stretch breaks

Making sure your team members are physically ready for work reduces injury risk and promotes a health, safety and team culture. Stretching is a vital part of a healthy fitness regimen. Pre-shift stretching and warm-up exercises reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries by reducing fatigue, improving muscular balance and posture, and improving muscle coordination.

Start here: Register for a free Basic Resource Center account and get access to our ebook, “A Safety Leader’s Guide to Workplace Stretching and Warm-up.”

4. Workplace Athlete Training

Training workplace athletes is an essential element of the MSD prevention process. They must be trained on the benefits of the above administrative controls and learn musculoskeletal self-care best practices. Classroom training should be followed up with one-on-one application training by an experienced injury prevention specialist.

5. Proper Lifting / Handling Techniques

Educating employees on proper lifting techniques should be a key employee training objective in your education program. Workers are making decisions moment by moment that affect their work and the toll it takes on their bodies. Educated decisions and behaviors require education!

Start here: Download an educational Workplace Athlete handout on proper lifting techniques here.

In addition to the proper lifting techniques handout, you might also be interested in these guides to handling specific objects from CCOHS

6. Team Lifting

When a load exceeds recommended weight limits, workplace athletes should be required to perform a team lift.

Start here: Download our educational Workplace Athlete handout on team lifting guidelines.

Workplace Athlete Musculoskeletal Health and Wellness

A musculoskeletal disorder, by definition, is a disorder to a workplace athlete’s musculoskeletal system. Because of that, you can’t ignore the workplace athlete’s musculoskeletal health and wellness.

7. Musculoskeletal Self-Care, Rest and Recovery

As mentioned earlier, musculoskeletal health should be a regular topic in classroom training sessions and then followed up regularly by an injury prevention specialist with one-on-one consultations. This is an ongoing process to create a health and safety culture and promote overall health and wellness of workplace athletes.

Start here: Register for a free Basic Resource Center account to Download a selection of educational Workplace Athlete handouts centered around musculoskeletal self-care.

8. Early Intervention – Identify Early Signs of Fatigue

Early intervention is a proactive strategy to find early signs of an injury and prevent it from happening.

When employees recognize they are experiencing fatigue and discomfort (early warning signs of MSD), they are encouraged to report it. Once the issue is reported, self-help tools should be readily available to the employee through an experienced injury prevention specialist.

Early intervention is about prevention, not treatment. It addresses fatigue and discomfort before it becomes a painful musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) and a costly claim for the company.

Preventive consultations should be available to each and every employee, and the self-help techniques recommended should not be therapeutic in nature and should serve as a means to help employees counteract daily fatigue that could potentially turn into an injury that requires medical evaluation and treatment. Prevention is better than treatment!

Reduce Risk to Prevent Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs)

Do you know the common bond between all of these tactics?

They’re all about proactively reducing risk to prevent MSDs. Implementing all of these tactics together in one common process is the most effective and efficient way to reduce risk and prevent common and costly MSDs.

References and Further Reading

For more on common ergonomics solution for manual material handling, check out these resources below: