Pallet Stacking Security: Revealing 5 MSDs Information

Security is paramount in a manufacturing unit. Everybody desires their staff members to be wholesome and accessible to carry out their jobs. Accidents are essentially the most undesirable final result, sometimes falling into two classes: speedy and progressive.

Instant accidents, equivalent to a lower, burn, or damaged bone, require immediate medical therapy. Manufacturing amenities have private protecting tools (PPE) and security protocols to stop these accidents. Alternatively, progressive accidents construct up over time and could also be more durable to mitigate. A few of these progressive accidents embrace listening to loss, respiratory points, and musculoskeletal issues (MSDs). 

This weblog article will talk about pallet stacking security and the way this handbook activity will increase the dangers of musculoskeletal issues. We’ll introduce 5 vital details and give attention to security inside three key industries: Meals & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, and Shopper Items Manufacturing.

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

How palletizing techniques cut back MSDs in meals & beverage tertiary packaging

Truth 2: The incidence fee for MSDs in the US was 25.4 days per 10,000 full-time equal (FTE) employees in 2020 [2]

Working in meals manufacturing poses hazards. Whereas the business has seen some profitable automation, meals and beverage manufacturing encompasses a remarkably various array of merchandise that make it difficult to automate absolutely. Meals 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 (equivalent to drinks and powders) could be cumbersome. Different merchandise (equivalent to liquids) could shift with motion, making it extra harmful for an individual to carry above their head or transfer beneath their waist. In terms of palletizing merchandise, selecting and inserting require two key actions: again and shoulder flexion.

Decrease 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 College of Buffalo) or excessive again flexion (>60° per Division of Kinesiology on the College of Waterloo). The handbook palletizing of meals or liquids exposes individuals to each. Those that have skilled again ache know that restoration can take a very long time.

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

Nevertheless, introducing collaborative robotic (cobot) techniques in palletizing operations gives a promising answer. By assuming the bodily and repetitive pressure of inserting merchandise on pallets, cobots mitigate the chance of Musculoskeletal Issues (MSDs) related to palletizing duties. For instance, these cobots can execute lengthy horizontal and tall vertical reaches that will be harmful for a human employee.

Whereas the meals manufacturing business tackles the inherent challenges of automating all through the worth stream, integrating cobots in palletizing operations represents a proactive step in direction of enhancing office security and decreasing 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 equivalent to:

1. Stable medicines: These embrace tablets, capsules, caplets, and drugs, typically in blister packs, bottles, or jars.
2. Liquid medicals: Pharmaceutical liquids equivalent 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 embrace 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 attributable to 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) baggage, 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 numerous types however don’t require a prescription. These embrace ache relievers, cough syrups, antacids, and allergy medicines.

Given the varied vary of pharmaceutical merchandise, packaging can differ considerably in dimension, form, and weight. Some merchandise are heavy which poses a threat to employees manually inserting them on pallets.

Truth 4: 15-20% of misplaced working days within the UK had been attributable to MSDs in 2021 [1]

Moreover, automated palletizing techniques 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 decreasing the chance of unintended injury. By implementing automated palletizing techniques, pharmaceutical producers can’t solely improve employee security but additionally safeguard product high quality and integrity, finally contributing to operational effectivity and regulatory compliance.

Decreasing materials dealing with dangers in shopper items manufacturing

In shopper items manufacturing, the manufacturing atmosphere is dynamic, with a variety of merchandise being processed and packaged. Shopper items embody numerous gadgets, together with: 

1. Family Merchandise: cleansing provides, filters, pots, pans 
2. Workplace Merchandise: Printer ink, pens, pencils, paper, extension cords
3. Electronics and Home equipment: espresso makers, headphones, laptop computer batteries
4. Private Care Merchandise: cosmetics, hair care, oral hygiene merchandise

Handbook palletizing in shopper items manufacturing poses extra security dangers to employees. Merchandise tower on pallets, requiring staff to position merchandise each beneath and above waist degree. This apply will increase the probability of musculoskeletal accidents, notably when coping with heavy or cumbersome gadgets. Lifting, climbing, pushing, pulling, and pivoting are the first actions in handbook materials dealing with (MMH) actions, which create a threat of harm on the again and shoulder.

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

Automated palletizing techniques provide an answer to those challenges by decreasing reliance on handbook labor and minimizing the related threat to individuals. By automating the palletizing course of, these techniques alleviate the bodily pressure on employees and create a safer working atmosphere. They’ll deal with all kinds of shopper merchandise effectively and precisely, making certain correct stacking and palletization with out the chance of human error.

Conclusion

Offering individuals with a protected working atmosphere is a high precedence for meals & beverage, pharmaceutical, and shopper product producers. Accidents, whether or not speedy or progressive, pose important dangers to employees and might result in substantial lack of working days and productiveness. Musculoskeletal issues (MSDs) are among the many progressive accidents that may outcome from handbook duties like pallet stacking, notably prevalent within the manufacturing of Meals & Beverage, Pharmaceutical, and Shopper Items.

Via the dialogue of 5 essential details, it turns into evident that bodily pressure, together with repetitive motions, awkward postures, and overexertion, considerably will increase the chance of MSDs. Nevertheless, the mixing of automation (equivalent to collaborative robotic techniques) gives a promising answer to mitigate these dangers. Cobots can deal with the bodily pressure of palletizing duties, decreasing the probability of MSDs, rising pallet stacking security, and enhancing total office security.

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

The longer term is protected

At Robotiq, we comply with the rules of LEAN ROBOTICS to create a standardized answer that’s simpler to scale, repeatable, and straightforward to make use of. We make it straightforward to transition from handbook palletizing to automated palletizing. 

Implementation is less complicated than you assume. Discuss with one among our automation specialists right now to kickstart your undertaking. (Your individuals will thanks).

If you’re able to make the transfer to automating your end-of-line course of, our FREE Automated Palletizing Purchaser’s Information provides you insider recommendations on discovering the perfect automated palletizing answer for your small business.