Many packaging operations require employees to stand in a single location and perform repetitive movements all day requiring heavy lifting or awkward postures to get their final product into proper packaging. At Hughes, we help to streamline the packaging processes and create automated and ergonomic-friendly commercial packaging solutions designed to prevent safety concerns such as repetitive motion injuries. A repetitive motion injury is an injury to a part of the body that is caused by performing the same motion over and over again thereby straining the body part. Simple adjustments in your daily tasks performed in the packaging of your goods could prevent workers from suffering from Repetitive Motion Injuries. You can prevent low back injuries and improve your posture and packaging at the same time!
Avoid Lower Back Injuries with Automated Equipment
Most injuries to the back are a result of lifting, bending or pulling…especially if they are repetitive motions. If your workers are hand wrapping loads, for example, they’re doing all three. Studies have shown that industries that tend to impose greater spinal loads on workers (such as case distribution in warehouses or distribution centers) present significantly greater risks of lower back pain (but also greatly benefit from the appropriate interventions).
So, how do distributions centers prevent this? In one word: automation. Hughes commercial packaging solutions are designed to automate almost all the tasks that put your employees at risk for back injuries. Taking the example above, our semi-automatic stretch wrappers attach the film, stretch it and guide the film layers from the top to the bottom with the turntable spins and finishes the process- all automatically!
Position Yourself as the “Employer of Choice”
Emphasizing an ergonomics process can have a positive impact on hiring and retaining a workforce in a competitive market by reducing barriers to job placement, reducing the cost of turnover and boosting morale. Distribution centers who demonstrate the importance of ergonomic packaging solutions while at the same time implementing proper packaging equipment solutions will definitely add value to their bottom line.
Check out OSHA’s website to read more on how to design, implement and maintain an active ergonomics process that raises employee awareness, eliminates workplace exposure and reduces the costs associated with injury claims.
Equip Your Operating Line
Forward-thinking companies who are ready to equip your operating lines with ergonomic packaging solutions can turn to the experts at Hughes. Hughes Enterprises offers you a wide variety of packaging equipment to fill any and all of your shipping and packaging needs – regardless of your industry or company’s size. Ergonomics plays a valuable part in daily operations, so take the steps to prevent repetitive motion injuries in the distribution center or on the line. For more information please contact a Hughes Enterprises Packaging Consultant.