Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling Now Available From The EASE Council

The Ergonomic Assist Systems and Equipment (EASE) Industry Group of Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) announces the availability of Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling. This 68-page full color booklet was developed and co-published by EASE, Cal/OSHA, CNA Insurance Companies and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

The total cost to work related injuries and deaths in the United States is over $150 billion. Manual material handling (MMH) work related injuries was the major contributor to these types of incidents. In fact, musculoskeletal disorders related to MMH are the single largest claims component of workers' compensation insurance.

Scientific evidence shows that effective ergonomic interventions can substantially reduce the physical demands of MMH work tasks, thereby lowering the number of recordable incidences and the severity. This could help reduce the amount of time lost because of work related injuries, which is particularly important in today's difficult economy.

Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling can help recognize high-risk MMH work tasks and choose effective options for reducing their physical demands such as:

• Eliminating lifting from the floor and using simple transport devices like carts or dollies
• Using lift-assist devices like scissors lift tables, load levelers or industrial tilters
• Using equipment like powered stackers, manipulators, hoists, cranes, or vacuum assist devices
• Using vertical or horizontal carousels to eliminate walking and carring loads
• Guiding your choice of equipment by analyzing and redesigning work stations and workflow

Ergonomic Guidelines for Manual Material Handling is available at no cost at the MHIA Bookstore at www.mhia.org/bookstore  or call 800-345-1815/704-676-1190.

EASE is an Industry Group of MHIA and is the resource for trends, information, practices, equipment, and organizations that focus on ergonomics and improving the working interface between people and the materials they must move and use to reduce injury and increase productivity while providing a significant and timely return on investment. EASE members produce a large variety of equipment such as adjustable worker elevation platforms, balancers, containers, lift tables, tilters, manipulators, pallet rotators/inverters, stackers, vacuum assist devices, workstations cranes and high density storage systems.

MHIA is an international trade association that has represented this industry since 1945. MHIA members include material handling equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers, and third party logistics providers. Member companies come from all areas of material handling and various parts of the world, making MHIA a strong national and international representative for the material handling industry. Much of the work of the industry is done within its product-specific sections, councils and affiliates. The association also sponsors trade events, such as ProMat and NA 2008 to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate industry professionals on the productivity solutions provided through material handling and logistics.

Contact: For more information on MHIA activities and programming contact Carol Miller at 704-676-1190/800-345-1815 or visit our Web site at www.mhia.org.

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