AFMA offers ergonomics guide
By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today, September 15, 2003
High Point — The American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. has unveiled a voluntary ergonomics guideline that could help the industry reduce repetitive motion injuries at the same time it lowers workers' compensation insurance costs.
In the works for more than a year, the 100-page document marks a collaboration between AFMA, the North Carolina Department of Labor, N.C. State University, The Ergonomics Center of North Carolina and individual manufacturers.
The Clinton administration had developed a series of federal standards for workplace ergonomics, but Congress rejected those in 2001. Industry groups then assumed a bigger role in the process, and AFMA began tackling the issue in the summer of 2002.
"The whole goal from day one was to do something proactive that would address the injuries and illnesses in furniture manufacturing, particularly those that either could be attributed to potential ergonomic hazards or that were attributed to ergonomic hazards," said Kevin Beauregard, an assistant deputy commissioner with the division of Occupational Safety and Health in the N.C. Department of Labor. "There is a lot of repetitive work in the furniture manufacturing industry where you are producing the same type of product over and over again."
Ergonomics deals with repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back and neck problems. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2001 there were 9,600 cases of musculo-skeletal disorders nationwide in the wood household furniture industry and 7,000 cases on the upholstery side. In 1996, the N.C. Industrial Commission reports, the furniture industry in North Carolina paid out an average of $33,000 per claim.
One feature of AFMA's guideline is a series of appendices that detail specific ergonomic trouble areas. The section describes problems experienced by various manufacturers, how they corrected the problem and the estimated costs.
While there may be short-term costs, companies can save money by solving ergonomics problems because they cut back on injuries and resulting lost work time, Beauregard said.
Gary Mirka, an associate professor of industrial engineering at N.C. State University and an ergonomics researcher, said industry input was key in developing the document.
"The focus we took was to develop a best-practices approach to this," Mirka said. "What we were trying to do was illustrate to the furniture industry that ergonomics does work. Many of (the manufacturers) had some good solutions for problems that were endemic in the industry.... These are things people in the furniture industry have been using for some time and find to be effective."
A solution might be as simple as putting a prop underneath a work platform to limit the amount of reaching required for a job. In other cases, a piece of equipment might have to be redesigned or workers might have to be rotated among tasks not involving the same repetitive motions.
The guideline doesn't cover retail, where some workers do heavy lifting. However, some information, including a posture sheet, could prove useful outside of furniture manufacturing.
But the guide isn't meant as a cure-all, and for that reason, North Carolina doesn't plan to use it as an enforcement tool.
"It is a broad area and there is not one solution that will be good for every workplace," Beauregard said. "If we find potential for ergonomic problems, we give recommendations on how the employer can control those. We would let them know what the guidelines are and it would be their choice on whether they feel it's the right solution for them."
Andy Counts, AFMA's chief executive officer, said he was pleased with members' involvement in the process. He said that in addition to protecting workers and lowering the cost of workers' compensation insurance, the guideline should help businesses avoid federal mandates on worker safety.
"We felt we had a window of opportunity to take a proactive stance," Counts said.
AFMA released the guideline during its human resources, safety and environmental conference in Myrtle Beach, S.C. last week. Members can download it starting this week from www.afma4u.org. Non-members can receive a copy by calling the N.C. Department of Labor at (919) 807-2875.
