june2023 - 29

The astronomical
importance of
shop ergonomics
Vehicle maintenance puts a heavy burden
on the body, but with the proper tools, from
sophisticated exoskeletons to simplistic
creepers, shop managers can lighten the load.
By Alex Keenan
» Software can track a shop's safety practices.
VelocityEHS
E
ven the most basic preventative maintenance
tasks, when repeated over the course of 20
years, take a toll on the body and can result
in a back or shoulder strain while performing
an otherwise-innocuous task. But while the
task may appear innocuous, the cost is not.
" If I strain a muscle in my shoulder or my
arm, that's at least six weeks of therapy, twice
a week, " said Michael Renforth, VP of safety,
health, and environmental for Dickinson Fleet
Services. " And then that's obviously light duty.
So that means you can only lift five or 10 lbs.,
you can only push or pull up to five or 10 lbs.,
and usually there's no climbing. Basically, this
person is sorting paperclips. "
And if the injured technician in question
runs a mobile truck, then the loss of manpower
is even worse, as the idle truck becomes a
sunk cost until another technician gets into the
driver's seat. But the impact of an injured tech
does not simply begin and end with him or her,
the hidden costs multiply throughout the shop.
And because technicians are a shops' most
valuable asset, management needs to consider
not just what tools and technology can help
workers perform more efficiently, but more
ergonomically as well. One small strain can
cascade into a litany of problem for a fleet,
so preventing musculoskeletal disorders
(MSDs) should be at the top of any shop's list
of priorities.
According to Kristi Hames, senior solutions
strategist for VelocityEHS, an environmental,
health, and safety software provider, here's
what happens when a worker suffers one of
these injuries:
" You're dealing with someone who's out of
work, so you're short staffed, you're dealing
with the cost of an injury and having to pay
for that, " Hames said. " You might have to pay
overtime for someone to cover that job, and
you might have to pay extra to have a temp
come in and do that job. "
But even when someone is able to cover the
missing technician's work, they'll still need
to learn the rhythm of the job, which will
decrease a shop's efficiency.
If technician MSD injuries were a rare occurrence,
these setbacks might not be so detrimental.
But they are more common than you
might think. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported 272,780 incidents of worker injuries
due to MSDs in 2018. On a granular level, 28%
of injuries among general maintenance and
repair workers involved an MSD in the same
year, with the highest concentration of these
injuries found in those aged 45-54. That's right
around the median age for diesel technicians
in the U.S., according to Zippia.
So, what injuries must managers strive to
prevent among their standing, crouching, and
supine (lying face upward) technicians, and
what tools can help them do so?
Standing sprains
According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, precision production, craft,
and repair workers accounted for 17% of back
injury cases.
" The way these injuries happen is when
you get into the peaks of exhaustion or strain,
like if you're picking up things repetitively, "
explained Marvyn Rieger, key account manager
for mobility accounts at Ottobock, a developer
of industrial exoskeletons that reduce
fatigue for workers by providing extra support
for backs and shoulders. " You're most likely
going to get that pain in your back after you've
picked up a heavy crate. "
Exoskeletons have been used in the automotive
manufacturing space for several years
to ease the repetitive motions of lifting power
tools overhead to assemble chassis. As the
» One of the most obvious and common ergonomic tools in any shop is the automotive lift.
Rotary Lift
June 2023 | FleetMaintenance.com
29
http://www.FleetMaintenance.com
june2023

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