Pallet Stacking Safety: Revealing 5 MSDs Facts

Safety is paramount in a manufacturing facility. Everyone needs their group members to be wholesome and obtainable to carry out their jobs. Injuries are probably the most undesirable consequence, usually falling into two classes: speedy and progressive.

Immediate accidents, akin to a reduce, burn, or damaged bone, require immediate medical therapy. Manufacturing services have private protecting tools (PPE) and security protocols to stop these accidents. Alternatively, progressive accidents construct up over time and could also be tougher to mitigate. Some of those progressive accidents embody listening to loss, respiratory points, and musculoskeletal issues (MSDs). 

This weblog article will talk about pallet stacking security and the way this guide job will increase the dangers of musculoskeletal issues. We’ll introduce 5 necessary info and concentrate on security inside three key industries: Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, and Consumer Goods Manufacturing.

Fact 1: The UK misplaced 149.3 million working days to MSDs in 2021 [1]

How palletizing programs scale back MSDs in meals & beverage tertiary packaging

Fact 2: The incidence charge for MSDs within the United States was 25.4 days per 10,000 full-time equal (FTE) staff in 2020 [2]

Working in meals manufacturing poses hazards. While the trade has seen some profitable automation, meals and beverage manufacturing encompasses a remarkably numerous array of merchandise that make it difficult to automate totally. Food and beverage manufacturing contains powders (sugar, flour, spices, child meals), liquids (soda, wine, cooking oils, dressings, sauces), dry merchandise (cereals, nuts, espresso), and perishable merchandise (fruits, greens, cheeses). Dense merchandise (akin to drinks and powders) could be cumbersome. Other merchandise (akin to liquids) might shift with motion, making it extra harmful for an individual to raise above their head or transfer beneath their waist. When it involves palletizing merchandise, selecting and putting require two key actions: again and shoulder flexion.

Lower again ache will increase when there’s a longer length of again flexion in gentle (20° to 40°) and extreme (>45°) positions (reported by the University of Buffalo) or excessive again flexion (>60° per Department of Kinesiology on the University of Waterloo). The guide palletizing of meals or liquids exposes individuals to each. Those who’ve skilled again ache know that restoration can take a very long time.

Fact 3: Injured staff within the US wanted a median of 14 days earlier than returning to work [2]

However, introducing collaborative robotic (cobot) programs in palletizing operations provides a promising resolution. By assuming the bodily and repetitive pressure of putting merchandise on pallets, cobots mitigate the danger of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) related to palletizing duties. For instance, these cobots can execute lengthy horizontal and tall vertical reaches that might be harmful for a human employee.

While the meals manufacturing trade tackles the inherent challenges of automating all through the worth stream, integrating cobots in palletizing operations represents a proactive step in the direction of enhancing office security and lowering the incidence of MSDs.

Pallet stacking security in pharmaceutical manufacturing

Like meals and beverage manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing encompasses a variety of merchandise. It contains merchandise akin to:

1. Solid medicines: These embody tablets, capsules, caplets, and capsules, typically in blister packs, bottles, or jars.
2. Liquid medicals: Pharmaceutical liquids akin to syrups, suspensions, options, and oral liquids are packaged in bottles, vials, ampoules, or sachets.
3. Powders and granules: Powders and granules could also be packaged in sachets, pouches, bottles, or jars and might embody merchandise like antibiotics, dietary and protein powders, or granules for oral administration.
4. Injectables: Injectable medicines, remedies, and vaccines are available in vials, ampoules, or prefilled syringes. These require particular packaging and dealing with as a result of their route of administration.
5. Topical remedies: This class contains lotions, ointments, gels, lotions, and patches. These are packaged in tubes, jars, or sachets.
6. Disposable sterile merchandise: Intravenous (IV) luggage, needles, infusion options, masks, gloves, face shields, and surgical kits require specialised packaging to take care of sterility.
7. Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines: OTC medicines can are available in varied types however don’t require a prescription. These embody ache relievers, cough syrups, antacids, and allergy medicines.

Given the various vary of pharmaceutical merchandise, packaging can differ considerably in dimension, form, and weight. Some merchandise are heavy which poses a danger to staff manually putting them on pallets.

Fact 4: 15-20% of misplaced working days within the UK had been as a result of MSDs in 2021 [1]

Additionally, automated palletizing programs play a significant function in defending the product being palletized. Given their typically excessive worth and delicate nature, minimizing product waste and injury is prioritized after employee security. Automated palletizers guarantee exact, constant dealing with and palletization, thereby lowering the danger of unintentional injury. By implementing automated palletizing programs, pharmaceutical producers can’t solely improve employee security but in addition safeguard product high quality and integrity, finally contributing to operational effectivity and regulatory compliance.

Reducing materials dealing with dangers in client items manufacturing

In client items manufacturing, the manufacturing setting is dynamic, with a variety of merchandise being processed and packaged. Consumer items embody varied gadgets, together with: 

1. Household Products: cleansing provides, filters, pots, pans 
2. Office Products: Printer ink, pens, pencils, paper, extension cords
3. Electronics and Appliances: espresso makers, headphones, laptop computer batteries
4. Personal Care Products: cosmetics, hair care, oral hygiene merchandise

Manual palletizing in client items manufacturing poses further security dangers to staff. Products tower on pallets, requiring staff to put merchandise each beneath and above waist stage. This follow will increase the chance of musculoskeletal accidents, significantly when coping with heavy or cumbersome gadgets. Lifting, climbing, pushing, pulling, and pivoting are the first actions in guide materials dealing with (MMH) actions, which create a danger of damage on the again and shoulder.

Fact 5: MSDs are chargeable for about $50 billion in annual prices within the US [3]

Automated palletizing programs provide an answer to those challenges by lowering reliance on guide labor and minimizing the related danger to individuals. By automating the palletizing course of, these programs alleviate the bodily pressure on staff and create a safer working setting. They can deal with all kinds of client merchandise effectively and precisely, guaranteeing correct stacking and palletization with out the danger of human error.

Conclusion

Providing individuals with a secure working setting is a prime precedence for meals & beverage, pharmaceutical, and client product producers. Injuries, whether or not speedy or progressive, pose vital dangers to staff and might result in substantial lack of working days and productiveness. Musculoskeletal issues (MSDs) are among the many progressive accidents that may outcome from guide duties like pallet stacking, significantly prevalent within the manufacturing of Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, and Consumer Goods.

Through the dialogue of 5 essential info, it turns into evident that bodily pressure, together with repetitive motions, awkward postures, and overexertion, considerably will increase the danger of MSDs. However, the combination of automation (akin to collaborative robotic programs) provides a promising resolution to mitigate these dangers. Cobots can deal with the bodily pressure of palletizing duties, lowering the chance of MSDs, rising pallet stacking security, and enhancing total office security.

Overall, by embracing automation in palletizing operations, industries can create safer working environments, defend employee well being, and enhance operational effectivity, finally resulting in better productiveness and success.

The future is secure

At Robotiq, we observe the ideas of LEAN ROBOTICS to create a standardized resolution that’s simpler to scale, repeatable, and simple to make use of. We make it simple to transition from guide palletizing to automated palletizing. 

Implementation is simpler than you suppose. Talk with certainly one of our automation specialists right this moment to kickstart your challenge. (Your individuals will thanks).

If you might be able to make the transfer to automating your end-of-line course of, our FREE Automated Palletizing Buyer’s Guide offers you insider tips about discovering the very best automated palletizing resolution for your corporation.