While commercial laundering isn’t a “high-risk” occupation like construction, feeding napkins or sorting soil for 40 hours a week, can put laundry employees at risk for various joint and muscle strains, known as ergonomic injuries. And while the U.S. has no ergonomics rule, the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act states in its General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1) to (2) and (b) that: “(a) Each employer —(1) shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”
Examining Risk Factors
How that rule manifests itself with individual linen, uniform and facility services companies varies widely as each company has the obligation to protect employees, but the details—at least in the area of ergonomics—are not spelled out in a specific rule. For companies—especially smaller laundries—policies on ergonomics often bump up against productivity demands on which the company’s market viability rests. Don Maida, a longtime operator and now a consultant with Tingue, says the challenge for companies he’s seen is the need to set ergonomic policies, starting with onboarding employees and carrying through on an ongoing basis. “They’re always looking for that balance,” says Maida. “Of how much time we’re paying them for doing ergonomics and doing the safety training. A lot of it is required by law. Otherwise, it’s a business decision to let that slide until something goes wrong. But that’s the hardest balance, I think for a lot of the smaller operators, that you be consistent with your onboarding. Most of us are pretty good at rolling something out the first time and getting everybody on board. Getting the training done and getting the evaluations done. After that, there is a tendency for ergonomics training/awareness to ‘fall off the rails,’” he says.
Few would dispute that the risk of ergonomic injuries is real, given the nature of most production jobs in commercial laundries. “The risk is significant,” says Chris Corcoran, executive vice president of HHS-FMA, Tulsa. OK. “Strains tend to be the leading cause of injury, many times a result of incorrect handling of large laundry delivery carts.” Sandi McCulloch, director – safety and risk for Core Linen, Huntersville, NC, adds that ergonomic risks are part of the nature of laundry work. “As in any industry, the act of repetitive motion increases the potential for ergonomic injuries such as strains,” she says. “With the vast amount of work being done manually (such as the separating of linen out of dryers/bins and loading single-feed equipment such as ironers) in a laundry facility, the risk of ergonomic injuries is quite significant.”
What to do? Stephen Jenkins, vice president, health and safety for Cintas Corp., Mason, OH, says operators need to focus on minimizing the physical stress of laundry tasks wherever practical to minimize the risk of ergonomic injuries “It’s common to see strain and sprain injuries in any industry’s top one or two types of injuries,” Jenkins says. “When people push, pull, carry, or lift things frequently, these job demands can exceed what the employee can do over time. The goal of ergonomics is to engineer out those physical stressors that exceed employees’ capabilities.
Maida suggests the use of “process mapping” as a starting point for laundry operators to review each step of what they’re asking employees to do so that they can take steps to reduce the risk. As part of a Lean Six Sigma efficiency program, Process Mapping is a visual tool used to represent the steps and elements involved in a process, such as feeding flatwork into an ironer. Going through this process helps companies understand and improve their workflows by identifying inefficiencies, bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Key aspects include removing unnecessary steps that may contribute to ergonomic strain. Engaging employees in the process can help by enlisting their aid in looking for ways to improve efficiency and save on unnecessary movements that slow down the process.
Cross-Train = Less Strain
Another tactic that companies commonly use to reduce ergonomic strain on employees is to regularly reassign them to different workstations so they have the opportunity do use different muscles and joints when working on production. “Cross-training is always an excellent means to help reduce these injuries,” says McCulloch. “Job rotation allows specific muscle groups to rest and decreases the overall muscle strain, compared to the overuse of one muscle group. Job rotation through cross-training also helps fight off muscle fatigue which often develops with repetitive motion. While you may still have some ergonomic injuries, you should note that their severity decreases.”
Maida adds that cross-training staff can offer a win-win for both employees and companies by giving the business a more flexible, versatile workforce. “Cross training can have benefits for the employer because you have more people that can do several functions,” he says. Employees sometimes will earn extra pay for working multiple tasks. Corcoran adds that moving new staff around can help them get accustomed to more challenging jobs once they’re conditioned in less-demanding tasks. “I don’t have any real data on this but anecdotally, if a laundry has a good ‘work hardening’ program, i.e., they don’t put new employees on difficult, repetitive tasks until they are ‘work hardened;’ it will help reduce injuries.”
For some companies, rotating staff to different jobs can boost productivity by providing cover for when employees take vacation or are out sick. Several sources said this move—even when done solely for business purposes—can benefit employees by altering their movements. Maida recalls working with one plant operator who deliberately moved people around daily. “Employees would come onto their shift and find out where they would work,” he says. “He just moved them all around every day. All you know is that’s where they went on the date. Which I thought was unique.” While not specifically designed to benefit ergonomics, the staff responded well to this system. “He got good results from that,” Maida says. “Even though they were similar motions, it was just different enough that he saw positive results, fewer injuries.”
McCulloch added that while this approach may produce fewer benefits than a systematic ergonomics rotation, it’s still worthwhile. “Any time we give employees differing job tasks, even for small periods of time, you will see positive results,” she says. “Allowing muscle groups time to relax and recover from repetitive tasks will always bring with it positive impacts. However, for the greatest impact, planned durations of rotation will provide the greatest benefit.” Jenkins says he’s had a similar experience, but he added that companies are likely to have greater success in reducing ergonomic injuries by further developing these programs. “Job rotation can reduce ergonomic injuries,” he says. “Establishing whether job rotation reduces ergonomic risk generally requires professional input to consider whether the muscles used vary across the tasks. Engineering out the ergonomic risks is typically considered a better approach.”
Optimizing Workstations
Taking proactive steps to better match the employee to his or her work demands can “absolutely” have a major impact on reducing ergonomic strains, says McCulloch. “The body performs best when workstations are placed at a body’s optimal height,” she says. “The ergonomic ‘sweet spot’ for someone who is 5-foot-three-inches (160 cm.) tall is different than that of an employee who is 6 feet (182 cm.) tall. When a worktable is at stationary height, the body must work outside the optimal location for their muscles to perform at their best.”
McCulloch endorsed the idea of employee conditioning as well to prepare them for each day’s shift. Pre-shift stretching exercise routines are an excellent way to warm up and loosen muscles before work,” she says. “Just as runners will stretch prior to a run, workers benefit from getting the blood circulating and loosening up prior to a day’s work.” The advantages that stem from these programs not only benefit staff but a company’s insurance rates as well, she adds. “Any changes to specifically target muscle strain and fatigue should lower cumulative-trauma injuries, which translate to lower workers’ compensation costs and decreased recovery times.”
Jenkins adds that morale can benefit from making the physical workplace more employee friendly. “Any technique that mitigates the ergonomics risk by fitting the workstations and tools to the worker is a positive for the business in many ways,” he says. “It reduces injuries, soreness, fatigue and pain. In addition, stretching programs, work conditioning and a host of other techniques can reduce workers’ comp claims and costs. Better ergonomics have been shown to make a return to work easier.”
Corcoran concurs, saying that in his experience, the adoption of such industrial-conditioning programs have had a positive impact on staff. “We implemented pre-shift stretching, etc., and it assisted with reducing injuries,” he says.
Who’s Most Vulnerable?
While the focus of this article is mainly on ergonomic injuries among plant production staff, it’s noteworthy that commercial laundries can apply training and other steps in this area to help reduce injuries among route service reps (RSRs) and maintenance employees as well. J.R. Garcia, currently director of customer service, Crown Linen LLC, Miami, and a long-time safety specialist, notes that in his experience RSRs and maintenance people are at greater risk of injuries than their counterparts in the plant. “While I don’t have data, I can say with certainty that the two groups that historically see a substantially higher incident rate are drivers and maintenance workers,” Garcia says.
Maida adds that RSRs and maintenance staffers also are more vulnerable to slips, trips, falls and back injuries. “Those are the big ones,” he says. “I’ve had more issues with drivers getting hurt at stops, falling down stairs and that type of incident.” This is especially true in cities like Providence, RI, where business deliveries often require trips down basement stairs in which snow or rain may create slippery conditions. Maintenance staff and especially RSRs also are likely to have more lifting tasks, such as carrying bundles of clean uniforms or moving pieces of equipment, than production employees. Training them on how to safely enter/exit trucks and use proper lifting techniques, can help.
Another question for operators is whether older staff members, especially baby boomers (born 1946-1964) are more vulnerable to ergonomic injuries than younger co-workers. We received a range of responses to this question. Jenkins provided his perspective on having older staffers in the plant, in terms of their propensity for injuries. “High forces or repetitions fatigue muscles and require longer recovery times,” he says. “Keeping those forces and movements within safer limits relative to age, so the body can work without overexertion, is important. If work is kept at levels of exertion that allow our bodies to recover, then injury risk is reduced.” Awareness and adjusting work duties accordingly can help companies avoid injuries among older staff members. “As we age, our bodies take longer to recover, so work demands may have to be adjusted for older workers,” Jenkins says. However, senior employees often know how to adapt to their jobs. “Keep in mind that older workers often have the wisdom of experience to work more effectively and adapt to job demands.”
Maida also said that older employees tend to require longer recovery times if they have an ergonomic injury. However, younger staffers often tend to get injuries because of the types of tasks they’re assigned. “If you have an older employee with ergonomic injuries, they are going to take longer to come back to work,” he says. But younger employees typically will get more ergonomic injuries because the company gives them more strenuous jobs.
McCulloch says government statistics show that older employees can require double the recovery time as that of younger staff. This fact reinforces the point that companies need to implement ergonomically sound practices in order to protect all staff, while maximizing efficiency.
Why Prevention Matters
As with other forms of risk management, any operator who thinks they can ignore ergonomics risks higher staff turnover, workers’ comp rates, lower productivity and more. There are a variety of steps that operators can take to mitigate these risks. But there’s more. Staff morale improves if you show them you care about preventing ergonomic injuries.
Brian Varner, a laundry safety consultant recalls how a client he worked with always talked to staff on the floor, handing out water bottles and taking other steps to show his concern for them. When Varner asked why he did this, he answered that , “You take care of the employees; they’ll take care of the P&L!” TS
JACK MORGAN senior editor of Textile Services. Contact him at 540.613.5070 or jmorgan@trsa.org.
