Educate employees on the basics of body biomechanics and the importance of maintaining the body in an ergonomically neutral position. Generally, the torso should not be bent forward farther than 6 to 10 degrees from vertical, reaches should be limited to shoulder height vertically and 16 to 18 inches horizontally. The task should be able to be performed with the elbows in close to the torso and the wrist should not be bent either up or down, or to either side. Educate employees specifically on lifting techniques which should include the following. Train supervisors and sales force to provide a preliminary evaluation of the delivery areas and to develop contractual agreements with stores at delivery points in order to eliminate and control hazards associated with delivery of beer at the delivery points.
Employees repeatedly move full kegs of beer from a delivery truck to a hand truck.
Kegs are moved from above shoulder to approximately knee height. Full kegs of beer weigh approximately 162 pounds. Tasks with a LI of 1 or greater pose an increased risk of pain and injury and should be considered hazardous unless appropriate administrative and engineering controls are implemented. In addition, tasks with a LI greater than 3 should be considered hazardous for most of the working population and appropriate engineering controls must be implemented. Provide a friction-feed pulley system mounted on the beer delivery truck to reduce biomechanical demands and the potential for back injuries, and eliminate the task of manually unloading full kegs of beer onto the hand truck.