Picking the right process
Online grocery shopping means many people now have the option to opt out of long trips to the supermarket where they pick produce from the shelves themselves. Many businesses send out food orders directly from their stores, but some come directly from large distribution centres, which also supply other shops and businesses.
Workers in these warehouses have been found to be at higher risk of suffering musculoskeletal injuries, particularly through the amount of repetitive lifting their job requires. A new study published in the journal Applied Ergonomics has identified 44 ergonomic practices that have been used in distribution centres and can help workers.
Researchers interviewed 97 people from 30 different centres to understand which practices were in place at their facilities. They included setting maximum weights for some cases of goods, giving staff shock-absorbing insoles for their shoes, using automation for some tasks and setting up safety committees.
However, despite the practices delivering improvements, the study also identified a number of barriers to them being adopted more widely. These included resistance to new technology, the need for leadership teams to support changes and a lack of understanding about the value of ergonomic tools.
The study said: “While this work was originally aimed at grocery distribution centres, many of the identified practices are likely to be applicable in other types of case pick and piece pick distribution centres where there is a manual selection process.”
