The least recognized aspect of ergonomics on the construction site is the fact that ergonomics, and safety and health, is profitable. Back injuries cost an average of $30,000 per case. The high incidence of these injuries in construction makes workers’ compensation a very costly part of staying in business. The aggressive prevention of these losses makes construction a much more profitable endeavor. Injuries and illnesses are the second largest cost in construction today. One-half of workers’ compensation costs in construction are musculoskeletal disorders. The frequency rate of back injuries for construction work is more than twice that of general industry. That means a substantial number of work-site injuries are a result of wear and tear on the body where the capabilities/limitations of the human body are exceeded or overexerted. Construction work requires and attracts workers with great strength, skill and agility.
However, while muscles can adapt and even grow, the joints, tendons, and
ligaments cannot. Recovery for the muscles is rather quick and uncomplicated. However, you can subject the joints and connecting tissues to permanent damage. These types of injuries too often disable and drastically shorten careers. This is a tragic result for the construction workers who rely heavily on their hands and back to perform their task.
Cumulative trauma disorders
Cumulative trauma is a term referring to the wear and tear on the musculoskeletal system.
Cumulative means that physical stresses add up gradually over a period of time and injury results from repeated stresses on a particular body part. Trauma means a bodily injury or insult.
Disorder means a physical ailment or abnormal condition. Therefore, the term cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs). Common CTDs include carpal tunnel syndrome in the wrist, tendinitis in the wrist, elbow, shoulder and other major joints, and even many back injuries.
Risk factors
Risk factors are an element of a job or a task that we know increase the probability of developing a CTD. The broad categories of occupational risk factors include:
• Repetitive motions;
• Awkward posture (positions);
• Forceful exertions;
• Mechanical pressures on soft tissues;
• Inadequate rest.
Other contributing factors include adverse environmental conditions, such as cold, vibration and personal characteristics. Exposure to risk factors does not always result in CTDs. It is important to note we also are exposed to such risk factors off the job. The ability to recognize and evaluate these factors on the work site is important in avoiding and controlling them.
Ergonomics
Ergonomics is a safety science focused on preventing the overexertion and overuse of injuries that are a result of cumulative trauma to the musculoskeletal system.
Ergonomics attempts to achieve this by better fitting the task to the worker rather than forcing the worker to adapt to the work.
A good ergonomics program systematically identifies and controls the risk factors
that we know contribute to cumulative trauma and overexertion. Ergonomics principles apply to hand tool use and selection, materials handling, workplace and workspace design, display of dials and gauges, placement of controls, handles and knobs, shift work and more.
Ergonomics has not had much influence in the construction industry to date. The arguments about changing workers, changing the environment, location, workstation, and other factors has kept ergonomics out of construction for far too long. The fundamental principles of ergonomics apply to any and every work situation imaginable.
Technology that can reduce if not eliminate many risk factors on the job site is now available and advancing every day. We have the technology and the knowledge to fully use ergonomics in construction to gain the same benefits realized by general industry. So what is the missing ingredient?
A contemporary safety management process that influences the organizational culture to value safety and health. In short, a safety culture. The introduction mentions the elements of the effective safety culture. Employment of ergonomic principles and necessary training can be optimally successful with a safety culture in place.
Ergonomics principles
The most effective means of controlling CTDs is to reduce, if not completely eliminate, a worker’s exposure to the known risk factors. Employers can accomplish this through engineering controls.
Engineering controls attempt to design the work, workpiece and/or work tool to minimize motions, postures, and forces that can damage and prematurely fatigue. Administrative controls, such as reducing a worker’s exposure to the risk factors, can complement engineering controls.
General ergonomic principles include:
• Use stools and workbenches as work surface rather, than the ground, when possible;
• Keep frequently used tools within reach or in garment pockets;
• Adjust working heights and reaches that allow the worker to keep the elbows as close to the side of the body as possible;
• Extend reach with tool extensions, according to manufacturer’s recommendations, or minimize reach distances with proper placement of work surfaces like ladders, scaffolds, and platforms;
• Use jigs or fixtures to hold workpieces, parts or tools — this allows both hands to operate the tool (more strength and control) and relieves the free hand from serving as a clamp;
• If gloves are necessary for comfort, protection or cleanliness, select the proper size, material, and style.
Tools
Tools are often the machine part of the man-machine interface. Pay particular attention to the design, selection, condition and proper use of manual and powered tools. Principles for hand tools and general tool use include:
• Ensure the availability and accessibility of the right tools and in working condition to do the
job;
• Establish systematic preventive maintenance for all tools and equipment;
• Repair or replace defective tools;
• Bend the tool, not the wrist — use ergonomically designed tools;
• Look for anti-vibration technology in air hammers and chisels;
• Use mobile equipment for material breaking or cutting rather than hand-held equipment;
• Use powered instead of manual tools or equipment when work requires high forces or repetition;
• Choose tools with the torque and speed to match the task — avoid overkill;
• Handle length should span the full width of the hand (gloved hand) or 4-inch minimum;
• Hand grips should be non-conductive, textured to avoid slip or twist, and without contour or finger grooves.
Materials handling
It is important to recognize that materials handling is often one of the largest cost components of a product or operation. Unnecessary handling of materials costs time and money. More importantly, unnecessary handling exposes workers
to risk factors. General principles for materials handling include:
• Storing supplies and materials between knee and shoulder height to avoid excessive reaching and bending;
• Using the lifting equipment available on-site to hold and position loads for work;
• Improving housekeeping to avoid complicating materials handling, thus making daily cleanup part of the job;
• Scheduling and laying out materials for ease of use rather than ease of delivery to reduce repetition and duration of exposure to risk factors;
• Deliberate pre-planning for materials (Just-In-Time);
• Planning deliveries, including the size of load, its position, location, and timing;
• Training workers in the identification of ergonomic hazards and material-handling strategies.
General advice
Safety and health professionals recognize it is crucial to managing safety and health just like any other priority on the job site. Owners, contractors and work leaders have a responsibility to communicate expectations and enforce safe work practices. The following tips should help:
• Never overlook employee participation in problem-solving;
• Back problems are not just lifting and postural problems — pay attention to slip, trip and fall hazards;
• Educate supervisors and foremen about where losses occur; painters think ladders are relatively safe, while that is the greatest injury agent for their industry;
• Noise, vibration, and impact affect equilibrium; therefore, falls also are ergonomic concerns. Owners can require construction safety planning
to establish an operational philosophy. Owners need to:
• Add safety performance into bid criteria for awarding contracts;
• Develop site-specific safety plans, including job safety analysis and phased safety programs;
• Encourage safety networking with contractors and labor, including a complaint log;
• Maintain safety statistics — when a spike occurs in frequency, then a recovery plan is required;
• Push for worker training and certification in apprenticeship programs;
• Pay serious attention to proper medical management of an injury;
• Promote joint labor/management safety committee on large jobs.
New technological trends
Many specific technological advances have been made in ergonomics for construction, but there is still no magic bullet. The key remains to build
in safety and health technologies, and strategies, not add them as an afterthought. Here are recent innovations used here and abroad:
• A pogo-stick looking device ties re-bar in concrete work without bending, cutting or twisting wire;
• Machinery that lays heavy block in Sweden;
• Battery powered screwdrivers that replace manual and electric versions;
• Torque screw heads that require 40-percent less push force than Philips;
• Garments that include knee pad pockets, tool holsters, neck air cushions, integrated fall arrest harness;
• A disk attachment to handles for extension poles while working overhead to reduce grip forces;
• Eyewear with a bifocal feature on the top of the lens for overhead work;
• An extension handle for a floor-spreading trowel that improves posture and
productivity;
• Auto feed screws for power drills;
• A handle extension for power drills to allow worker to stand while fastening floors;
• A block with a handhold in the center designed to fit the hand;
• A redesign of packaging (50 versus 90-pound bags of concrete) for the convenience of the user rather than the manufacturer;
• Improved cab design for better vision, operation, and comfort;
• Truck design for tool storage and accessibility versus pickup truck method;
• Vehicle seats designed to reduce whole body vibration;
• Easier erecting scaffolds with sprockets that don’t weld the frames.
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