A major manufacturer of board games was experiencing cumulative trauma injuries in one of its facilities. Approximately nine percent of those injuries were associated with packing games into shipping cartons. A specific job analysis/problem-solving/solutions implementation methodology was applied to prevent future injuries and provide a basis from which other packing workstations would be designed. Work/workstation changes resulted in significant improvements. The most significant were reductions in stress to the wrists, shoulders and back, and a 90 percent reduction in damage to the packaging and related returns from the customer.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArmstrongT.J., 1983, An Ergonomic Guide to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Akron: American Industrial Hygiene Association).
2.
DruryE.G., 1987, A biomechanical evaluation of the repetitive motion injury potential of industrial jobs. Seminars in Occupational Medicine.Vol 2, No. 1, pp.41–49.
3.
DruryC.G.WickJ.L., 1984, Ergonomic applications in the shoe industry. In: Proceedings of the 1984 International Conference on Occupational Ergonomics, Toronto, pp. 489–493.
4.
GrandjeanE., Fitting the Task to the Man.Taylor & Francis Ltd., London, 1982.
5.
SilversteinB.A.FineL.J.ArmstrongT.J., 1987, Occupational factors and carpal tunnel syndrome. American Journal of Industrial Medicine.11, pp. 343–358.
6.
The Joyce Institute, 1988. Applied Industrial Ergonomics Reference Manual. (Seattle: The Joyce Institute).
