Vern Anderson, Ph.D., Coordinator Retail Trades Occupational Health CDC/NIOSH Mike Leiner

1. Successful Applications of Ergonomic Principles to Loss Prevention Vern Anderson, Ph.D., Coordinator Retail Trades Occupational Health CDC/NIOSH Mike Leiner Manager Store Safety Target Corporation

2. Two Acknowledgments for Leadership in Safety • 1. RILA recently signed a “Letter of Agreement” with the “Centers for Disease Control & Prevention” (CDC) and its Occupational Safety and Health Program CDC/NIOSH). • 2. The Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF), known for its Certification and Training for Loss Prevention also signed a “Letter of Agreement” with (CDC/NIOSH). • The purpose of both of these Letters of Agreement was to acknowledge the importance of workplace safety and to provide information on safety and health to their membership. In addition, the resources of CDC/NIOSH are committed to these same goals.

3. Take Away Message • Ergonomic is good business! • Correlates with business success • Adds value- provides competitive edge • Quality, efficiency, profitability • Controls costs (direct and indirect) It’s the right thing to do • Protection of our most valuable resource: employees! But, we can do more to protect our employees/customers.

4. Purpose of our Presentations . We will show through examples how applying ergonomic principles can: - improve productivity reduceloss of property reduce loss of work time from preventable accidents

5. Presentation Outline • What you may not know about ergonomics. • Why be concerned about MMH injuries? • Examples of Good Work Practices • Example of Ergonomic Solutions • Costs and Loss Prevention Goals • Matching Solutions to Problems

6. Safety and Ergonomics • Safety Activities: Phases (IAS) • Investigate –collect information • Analyze- assess and plan • Solve- develop solutions: • Training: Takes time, re-training needed • Administrative: Management decisions • Engineering: i.e., Ergonomic solutions

7. Ergonomic Solutions ???

8. What you may not know about ergonomics. . Ergonomics is an engineering science to improve work efficiency Ergonomics is about prevention through design.

9. What you may not know about ergonomics Ergonomics is about adapting work to fit your workforce: big or small* Ergonomics is about how workers do their job and use tools (Logistics)

10. Ergonomics : Some Facts • Put aside the notion that workplace ergonomics is only about injuries • Ergonomics makes good business sense: • Healthy people work better • Sick people perform poorly

11. Why Address Manual Material Handling?

12. Because Lifting Injuries are important Some Facts to Consider: (Retail/Wholesale) • Affects 8-10% of workers yearly • Accounts for 21-36% of workplace injuries • Responsible for 33% -60% of workplace injuries costs

13. In short: Lifting Related Injuries They represent the biggest single contributor to worker injury in the United States ...and the application of good ergonomic design and goodwork practices can substantially reduce those incidences.

14. Problem: Stocking shelves or a gymnast We can do better

15. Another Tough Lift: Unloading Boxes We can do better

16. Problem: All to Common We can do better

17. What are our Solutions? Manual Materials Handling Jobs Various Solutions: Engineering Changes “Hard Ergonomics” Good Work Practices “Soft Ergonomics”

18. Training and Administrative Employees capabilities and Job Demands Good Work Practices

19. Training and Administrative Good Work Practice

20. Training and Administrative Good Work Practices

21. Ergonomic Study Examples

22. More Ergonomic Study Example

23. Ergonomic Study ExampleHeight Adjusted Pallet Jack AFTER BEFORE Used a Height Adjustable Pallet Jack to elevate low boxes on pallet (bottom 1/3) to waist level when stocking on store floor, thereby reducing back bending & compressive forces on spine when cutting boxes open and lifting from pallets.

24. Okay, so not everybody gets excited about ergonomics

25. Ergonomic Study ExampleSelf-Leveling Cart Deli/Bakery Tested a spring-loaded customized self-leveling cart to reduce the bending and stooping required to load/unload flat-bed carts and the forces on the back /spine

26. Ergonomic Study Example: Results Spring Self leveling cart : Deli/Bakery • Strong positive usability feedback and highly recommended (2 associates) • Back, Shoulder, & Knee discomfort ↓dropped ≥ 30% (2 associates) • Productivity ↑increased 1.9% (delivery time) = 5.3 min. savings/day BEFORE AFTER

27. Ergonomic Results Example: Deli Bakery BEFORE AFTER • Also Positive usability feedback and recommended (1 associate) • Reported Low Back discomfort ↓ 29% (1 associate) • Productivity ↑ 9.2% (transport time) = 6.2 min. savings/day(1 associate) Tested Battery powered adjustable cart to reduce carrying & Lifting

28. Findings from Ergonomic Studies • Adjustable carts allowed products to be placed at waist level • Reduced -bending down to floor level • More workers were able to do this job • Did not affect productivity • Workers liked the cart • Reported less back fatigue • Easy to use - felt to be more productive • Liked cart maneuverability

29. Injuries from Manual Lifting Tasks • Sprains/strains–muscles, ligaments, tendons • Chronic pain affecting joints • Disc injuries of the back or neck • Compression of peripheral nerves • Soft tissues disorders bruises • Compression of blood circulation

30. What you don’t want. Musculoskeletal Disorders • Median number of lost work days • 5 days for all workers with any injury • 25 days for workers with MSDs • Average cost per injury • $1,100 for all other cases • $10,800 for an MSD • MSDs tend to have • Longer durations • Longer treatment time • Greater work disability

31. Accident Costs 1% Profit 2% Profit 3% Profit $ 1,000 $ 100,000 $ 50,000 $ 33,000 $ 5,000 500,000 250,000 167,000 500,000 $ 10,000 1,000,000 333,000 $ 25,000 2,500,000 1,250,000 833,000 $100,000 10,000,000 5,000,000 3,333,000 It is necessary to sell an additional $250,000 in products or services to pay the cost of $5,000 annual losses SALES TO COVER COSTS* $250,000 $ 5,000 *

32. Loss Prevention is Goal #1 LOSS Elimination Prevention Control Use Ergonomics to focus on controlling what precedes the loss TARGET: Reduce Injury/illness frequency

33. Loss Reduction is Goal #2 Claims Mgmt. Policy Structure/ Funding Medical Mgmt LOSS Use Administrative resources for controlling what follows the loss TARGET: Reduce Injury/illness severity

34. Effective Program: Goal Integration Policy Structure/ Funding Claims Mgmt. Medical Mgmt LOSS Elimination Prevention Control • Reduce Injury/illness frequency • With Ergonomics Reduce Injury/illness severity with Administrative Resources

35. Use ALL Your Metrics Claims Mgmt. Medical Control LOSS Funding Elimination Prevention • Past Loss measures of SEVERITY/ COST • Experience Modification rating • # Days away from work • Cost per man-hour • % cost due to cases > $20K • Reporting Delay Past Loss measures of INCIDENCE / CAUSE TCIR, DART WC Case Rate MSD Case Rate Loss Prevention LOSS REDUCTION

36. A New Research Initiative CDC Campaign to Assist Businesses Maintain A Healthy Workforce in the Retail/Wholesale Trades Focus on Manual Materials Handling: “We can and need to do better!”

37. NIOSH/UC Sponsored Purpose: Manual Materials Handling Workshop “Matching Solutions to Problems” October 11-12, 2011 Hyatt Regency, Cincinnati, Ohio Participants: Practitioners/researchers Industry/safety/loss prevention representatives Manufacturers/vendors of MMH equipment Contact: Vern Putz Anderson, NIOSH vep1@cdc.gov, 513-533-8319 Purpose: Develop engineering solutions for high risk manual materials handling (MMH) jobs in Retail, Wholesale, and Warehousing (RWW) Industries

38. Questions??

39. Next up: Mike Leiner Manager Store Safety: Target Corporation

40. Ergonomics Designing Jobs to Fit Your Workforce The task demands exceed the person’s (workforce) capacities Risk of overexertion injuries Turnover Effort Energy Load Person’s Capacities The Task

41. Ergonomics Designing Jobs to Fit Your Workforce Loss productivity - workers not challenged Boredom Turnover Load The Task Person’s Capacity Fulcrum

42. Ergonomics: Achieving Balance Optimal work conditions Optimal Productivity Low Risk Effort Energy Load Person’s Capacity The Task Fulcrum

43. Balancing Capacity with the Task Employees capabilities and Job Demands People and Work Tasks

44. Good Work Practices

45. Identifying Risk Factors

46. Achieving Balance

47. Good Work Practices

48. Good Work Practices

49. Introducing Equipment to Maintain Balance

50. Balancing Capacity with Productivity