Things are Looking up for Lift Trucks

With increased scrutiny from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other governmental bodies, lift trucks are being designed to adapt to new environmental and ergonomic demands, while maintaining their critical role in warehouse success.

In line with the trend toward outsourcing non-core competencies, shippers today are rethinking the need to maintain a private fleet of lift trucks. Increasingly, companies are outsourcing some or all fleet functions — including maintenance — to a third party, usually a lift truck manufacturer offering complete packages of equipment and services.

"In general, lift truck buyers don't really care whether the equipment is green, blue or yellow — they just want to have a piece of equipment that will transfer stuff from Point A to Point B consistently, without any failure," notes Dirk von Holt, president of the Industrial Truck Association (www.indtrk.org), as well as lift truck maker Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp. (Via LOGISTICS TODAY)

Mock election measures usability of new voting technologies

The most popular spot at South Towne Mall Wednesday evening did not contain sale racks, but voting booths. Indeed, as Utahns voluntarily lined up to test out new ballot machines in a mock election, they were eager. The only real complaint heard by Elections Office Director Michael Cragun was 'when's my turn?'

Instead of relying solely on his own judgment for the final verdict, Lt. Governor Gary Herbert and his elections office will make the final pick on the proposed new voting technologies based partially on the results from the mock election event.

The Director of Utah's Services for the Adult Blind Bill Gibson reported the visually-impaired community in Utah is enthusiastic about the potential the new voting systems since Herbert may decide to implement touch-screen audible ballots for the entire state, allowing voters to vote by hearing their ballot choices. (Via Park Record )

Repetitive Motion Injuries Are Still No. 1 Workplace Injury

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 435,180 -- or 33 percent -- of the workplace injuries and illnesses resulting in days away from work in 2003.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the information March 30 in its report on the characteristics of lost-worktime injuries and illnesses for the year.

Not only are repetitive motion injuries extremely common, they cause workers to stay away from work longer than injuries that appear to be far graver, such as falls or amputations.

For example, the survey uncovered the following patterns:

• Among major disabling injuries and illnesses, carpal tunnel syndrome caused the highest median days away from work (32 days) followed by fractures and amputations (30 days).


• Among the most frequent events or exposures, repetitive motion, such as grasping tools, scanning groceries and typing, resulted in the longest absences from work -- a median of 22 days.


• Falls to a lower level caused the next longest absences from work, with a median of 15 days.

While MSDs make up the largest single category of lost-worktime injuries and illnesses, the number of MSDs varied greatly among industry sectors.
(Via Occupational Hazards)

Innovative Design Inspired by Accessibility

The Web provides unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. People who are blind no longer wait for 25 pounds of braille to be printed and delivered or for a volunteer to read. People who have difficulty moving in physical space can easily attend classes. Those who find it hard to read the labels on products or have trouble getting oriented in grocery stores (whose layouts change frequently) can shop using Web sites with images and search features.

However, we have much work to do—most existing Web content is not fully accessible. Browsers, multimedia players and assistive technologies do not yet provide a completely usable and accessible experience. Authoring tools and development environments (including blogging applications) neither produce fully accessible Web content nor have accessible interfaces.

Until people with disabilities are able to both access and contribute to the Web, the Web will not be fully accessible. Unfortunately, an accessible Web will not solve all accessibility issues—there are still many obstacles that contribute to unequal access in the physical environment. (Via Digital Web Magazine)

Older Workers More Receptive to Workplace Change

Thinking about making ergonomics improvements to the workplace but not sure how well they will be received by older workers?

A new study indicates that older workers may be the easiest segment of workers to convince that change is good: when changes are seen as beneficial to the company, older workers are the first to adopt.

The study, conducted by Dr. Tracey Rizzuto from Louisiana State University (LSU), surveyed over 360 workers, nearly 60 percent of whom were 46 or older and 11 percent were over 55.

Rizzuto’s survey focused on willingness to learn new systems, motivation, commitment and satisfaction in accepting changes. Ultimately, she found that the older workers were more willing and excited about changes. (Via TheMatureMarket.com)

Poll: Most American Adults Sleep Poorly

Getting a good night's sleep is hard for many adults and that often means poorer health, lower productivity on the job, more danger on the roads and a less vibrant sex life.

Most people ignore the problem and few think they actually have one. Only half of those polled were able to say they slept well on most nights.

One-fourth of adults say sleep problems have some impact on their daily lives.

"People who sleep well, in general, are happier and healthier," he said. "But when sleep is poor or inadequate, people feel tired or fatigued, their social and intimate relationships suffer, work productivity is negatively affected, and they make our roads more dangerous by driving while sleepy and less alert." (Via ABC News)

Health Tip: Backpack Injuries

Overloaded backpacks used by children have received a lot of attention from parents, doctors, school administrators and the media in recent years.

More than 21,000 backpack-related injuries are treated at hospital emergency rooms, doctors offices and clinics each year, with injuries ranging from contusions, to sprains and strains of the back and shoulder, and fractures.

The Council also advises that you choose the following when buying a backpack:

* Ergonomically designed features that enhance safety and comfort
* A padded back to reduce pressure on the back, shoulders and under arm regions, and enhance comfort
* Hip and chest belts to transfer some of the backpack weight from the back and shoulders to the hips and torso
* Multiple compartments to better distribute the weight in the backpack, keep items secure, and ease access to the contents
* Compression straps on the sides or bottom of the backpack to stabilize the articles and compress the contents so that the items are as close to the back as possible
* Reflective material to enhance visibility of the child to drivers at night

(via Forbes)