WEIGHTY CONCERNS

NANCY DEL PIZZO

Retailers are developing new solutions to one material-handling issue that continues to carry a lot of weight: their labor force.

Increasing concerns about ergonomic issues -- and a lack of guidance from government regulatory agencies -- have retailers and wholesalers find-

ing new ways to reduce workers' compensation claims while driving productivity.

"In the grocery distribution business, with the amount of weight handled and the repetitive nature of this handling, ergonomics is certainly an issue," said Patrick J. McNamara, vice president of distribution at P&C Food Markets, Syracuse, N.Y.

"Twenty years ago, grocery selectors felt the same pain and experienced the same symptoms, only they weren't referred to as 'repetitive motion disorders.' " In fact, he says, the biggest problem in grocery distribution has been and still is back injury.

Dealing with ergonomic challenges in an uncertain regulatory climate will no doubt be among the issues discussed this week as ProMat '95 gets under way in Chicago. The international

material-handling conference, sponsored by Material Handling Industry of America, Charlotte, N.C., continues through Thursday.

With new standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration not expected until late this year, supermarket warehouses have been left to develop standards on their own. Among the wide array of programs undertaken in supermarket warehouses are:

Reslotting the warehouse: Retailers and wholesalers told SN that even minor reconfigurations of racking makes product picking safer and easier. Some adjustments include raising slots 6 inches above floor level; limiting two-deep pick racks; allowing for adequate space between pallets for foot placement, and using gravity-assisted racks.

Slot management: Stocking heavier, bulkier products at a midlevel -- rather than too high or too low -- allows for safer product picking. Refacing, which calls for pallets to be rotated as they are depleted, eliminates the need for workers to reach deep into a slot to select a product.

Enforcing case weight limits: Some companies have taken a tough stance and refused to accept cases weighing more than 50 pounds. In most instances, manufacturers have been responsive and reduced case weights.

Employee exercise regimens: P&C, for example, includes a warm-up and stretching period at the start of each shift. "We have an area in the rear of the warehouse set aside for this," McNamara said. "One employee leads the group in exercise."

P&C more recently stepped up efforts to protect employees and drive productivity in its new 270,000-square-foot perishables distribution center. The new facility, and an existing grocery warehouse, were reslotted to make them more "selector-friendly" to minimize bending, straining and climbing for product.

Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., also has examined its warehouse slotting setup and made some improvements.

Mike Bargmann, Wegmans' director of distribution, said the company hired an ergonomics consultant to review its warehouse and make recommendations.

"It's not even so much of a cost issue as it is a quality-of-life issue," says Bargmann, adding, "We are also concerned about OSHA regulations, because right now nobody can tell what they are."

Wegmans has made strides to improve ergonomic conditions in its warehouse on an ongoing basis, "as we make operational changes," said Bargmann.

"We've raised pallets by placing them on support racks so workers don't have to bend as much, and we've raised slots where we have reserve pallets, keeping the reserves at the bottom," he said.

In addition, simply repositioning pallets, which measure 48 inches by 40 inches, has eased the strain on workers selecting products, he said.

Under Wegmans' old configuration, the 40-inch section of a pallet faced the slotter, who then had to reach in 48 inches to select boxes. By simply reorienting pallets so the wider portion faces out, Wegmans has cut the necessary reach for each worker by 8 inches.

Improving product selecting and lifting positions is also a concern for Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Bros., according to Andrew Westlund, vice president of distribution.

"We're doing anything we can to help our employees maintain a healthy position when lifting. There's risk to lifting any item, even a pencil," he said. Specifically, "we're trying to improve the handles on boxes and reduce the amount of reach required to move product.

"We're also planning to stay up on the most ergonomically [advanced] equipment when we're in a replacement cycle. Right now, we're experimenting with new equipment," Westlund said.

Product case weights, increasingly blamed for worker injury across all industries, can be difficult to regulate, he added.

"On product that we manufacture internally, we've reduced box weights [averaging] 60 to 75 pounds to 35 or 40 pounds. But how are we going to get manufacturers of 50-pound bags of dog food or 100-pound wheels of cheese to change?" he asks.

For the most part, the industry has successfully reduced average case weights, primarily through the efforts of the Joint Industry Shipping Container Committee.

Some of this success can be credited to aggressive warehouse managers. In 1993, wholesaler Richfood Inc., Mechanicsville, Va., informed suppliers that it would no longer accept products in packages heavier than 50 pounds, said Charlotte Edwards, vice president of risk and insurance services.

"If the package we receive is heavier than 50 pounds, we call the vendor and ask them to readdress how they package goods. We're seeing compliance at near 100%," she said.

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., Quincy, Mass., also closely monitors case weights. "Our goal is to reduce the over-50-pound cases by encouraging vendors to decrease the weights," said Ed Ruddy, area manager at the company's Readville, Mass., distribution center.

"We invite vendors to come see our warehouse firsthand and to explain the issues. We can't mandate different weights for items already in the industry, but we can refuse to accept any new items not under 50 pounds."

Another strategy that has proved to be key in preventing employee injuries and maintaining productivity is the use of "work-hardening programs." Work-hardening programs teach injured employees how to get back to work more quickly by showing them the least stressful means of conducting their job duties.

Says Stop & Shop's Ruddy, "We have a therapist on site a few times a week who monitors the stresses on employees and their body mechanics. The therapist holds training sessions with supervisors to illustrate proper lifting techniques."

At Richfood, the company's on-site fitness center features a work-hardening area. Here, racks are set up to simulate a work situation and part-time occupational and physical therapists take the injured employees through the details of their jobs, teaching them the most effective, safe methods of performing each task, according to Edwards.

Used in conjunction with the company's Light Duty Return To Work program, work hardening has helped get employees back on the job after injury, she said. "Combined with use of our fitness center, work hardening and the Light Duty program have helped us reduce workers' compensation claims by 69% over two years."

Injury rates in food distribution are well above the national average, according to William F. Cesare, Ph.D., and president of Providence, R.I.-based Industrial Health Strategies, ergonomic and work-hardening consultants.

"Workers compensation costs have risen 300% in the past six years," he said.

Cesare praised companies such as P&C that have introduced incentive programs to prevent accidents and injury in the workplace.

P&C's McNamara said, "As a group, we set a yearly goal for a maximum number of lost days due to injury. Employees who reach the goal are given various awards, such as gift certificates."

As more warehouse executives demand changes in the worksite with ergonomics in mind, industrywide injury rates are expected to continue to drop. Says Stop & Shop's Ruddy, "When vendors come in saying, 'You're one of the few raising these issues,' you know there's a problem. With a more concerted effort by the industry, we'll see more improvements."