Safety & Health in the Stone Crushing Industry - Occupational ...

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B Improving Heavy Physical Work
Many work places cause pain or discomfort when workers are working there for hours. Pain and
cramps in the back, the shoulders, and the neck are often the consequences. Naturally, this can slow
the work process down. By simple means, these workstations can be improved.
During the research project, we conducted a so-called ergonomic assessment of workplaces in stone
crushing units. "Ergonomics" is a term used to describe the study of all the different demands on the
body caused by work. The goal is to combat these demands in order to have a work environment that
is both safe and productive.
Problematic and eventually damaging tasks are for instance tasks that require the worker to
−
−
assume an awkward posture
repeat one movement very often and
− lift or carry heavy loads
By improving work tools and work practices, fatigue and discomfort can be reduced and ultimately
injuries prevented. Having job tasks that are designed to ease worker fatigue and discomfort will
actually end up saving the company money, for having healthy workers equates to having higher
productivity and quality of work. An ergonomics program contains several necessary steps:
• Observe the job tasks for possible risk
factors
• Identify those jobs that are of high risk
• Analyze the specific high risk jobs
• Re-design the equipment or practices
used during the particular job in order to
reduce risk to the worker
• Get feedback from the employees on
whether the implemented changes have
helped alleviate injury