Photo: RicardoImagen/gettyimages
Chicago — Around 3 out of 4 warehouse workers have considered leaving their jobs because of injury concerns or discomfort, according to the results of a recent survey.
ProGlove, an industrial wearable technology provider, surveyed more than 200 warehouse workers and managers in the United States and United Kingdom to understand the impacts of “ergonomic debt.” A company press release describes ergonomic debt as the “cumulative strain that builds up from repetitive motions and heavy or outdated tools that were not designed with people in mind, ultimately leading to lower productivity, absenteeism and higher staff turnover.”
More than 73% of the workers said they’ve considered quitting because of physical strain. Of them, 36% have missed shifts in the past year because of work-related pain or exhaustion.
Other findings:
- Of the workers who took time off, half missed four to six days a year, while 15% missed one to two weeks.
- Only 22% of the respondents’ organizations measure repetitive strain or musculoskeletal injuries.
- More than a third (37%) of the managers said their workflows aren’t designed to prevent those injuries.
Lastly, two-thirds of the warehouse managers had never heard the term “ergonomic debt.”
“That tells us that too many warehouse workers are carrying a physical burden that has gone unrecognized for far too long,” Konstantin Brunnbauer, managing director at ProGlove, said in the release. “There’s only so much strain a body can take, and it will only get worse as demand increases.”
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication