FEATURE WORKPLACE SAFETY
HOW WORKPLACE SAFETY PROMOTES EFFICIENCY
Axel Schmidt, senior communications
manager, ProGlove, explains how as logistics teams and supply chain managers prepare for the future, in a world dominated by uncertainty and COVID-19, workplace health and safety has become increasingly important.
T
he question of how logistics and
supply chain managers may need to prepare for the next crisis on the horizon, or another pandemic, is critical. Today, flexibility is definitely a crucial prerequisite. As we have all seen through the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations want to be in a position that enables them to set up, relocate or redesign workplaces quickly and respond to market needs with agility. The same goes for the underlying processes. But, as organisations get ready to deal with the future, what should they as they develop their operations?
PREVENT OLD HABITS FROM ENDANGERING EMPLOYEES A first key objective is to prevent employees from reverting back to old habits that could endanger them. In a COVID world, smart wearables can play an important role and enable social distancing onsite. Technologies, such as wearable scanners, can for instance provide organisations with an app that can connect the workers to their devices. The basic idea is fairly simple: the app detects when workers fall below the minimum social distance for too long. In response, it generates a message that the wearable device can output as a combination of acoustic, haptic and visual warning signals. Particularly in busy or noisy work environments, combined signals are extremely helpful for attracting employees’ attention and warning them. This type of technology is especially well suited to help workers at the assembly line or in logistics by providing this uncomplicated reminder to keep the right distance.
INJURIES CAN BE PREVENTED WITH WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY In addition to COVID-secure considerations, employers have a duty of care to keep the workforce safe during the working day. But every industry comes with associated risks. Especially within sectors such as manufacturing, materials handling and logistics - for example, with machinery, items at various heights and a noisy environment - there are a number of safety risks that must be considered. For instance, slips, trips and falls, injuries from lifting or being struck by a moving object are some of the hazards that could cause harm. To illustrate the scale of the problem that
organisations face, in 2018/19 in the UK, 28.2 million working days were lost due to work-
24 SUMMER 2021 | INDUSTRIAL COMPLIANCE related illness and injury and in
2017/18, the estimated economic cost to Great Britain totalled £15 billion.
MANAGING WORKPLACE FATIGUE MORE EFFECTIVELY TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS Alongside this, worker fatigue is one element that can significantly contribute to increased risks of injury at work. More than 3.5 million people are employed as shift workers in the UK. Badly designed shift-working patterns and long working hours that do not allow for sufficient periods of rest and recovery can result in accidents, injuries and ill health. It generally contributes to slower reaction times among employees, memory lapses, lack of attention and reduced coordination, which can have severe ramifications at the workplace. This is said to cost the UK £115 - £240 million per year in terms of work accidents alone. This is where the use of hands-free wearable
technology and ergonomically designed workplaces can benefit the safety of workers. Wearable technologies and ergonomic workplace design aim to decrease the risk of repetitive strain injury and accidents resulting from fatigue and exhaustion. It can also help employees avoid extraneous tasks and remove unnecessary repetitive actions, such as time-consuming walks across the warehouse. This, essentially, eases strain on the worker and helps employees improve safety. For instance, the technology could immediately
notify a worker of the next pick up location via their wearable device, rather than having to trek back to retrieve this information from a central data point or computer. Not only does this reduce the risk of health problems and injuries from strain, but productivity is also increased as workers will have higher energy levels through the day. By ensuring that the majority of physical movement is directly linked to necessary duties, risks can be avoided by minimising extraneous movement and avoiding additional weight to carry around, which tires employees. ProGlove’s wearable scanners, for example, weigh
40 grams. They are up to ten times lighter than traditional bulky scanners. Thus, the weight saved can be as much as 1.5 metric tons per employee per day. This provides employees with some much needed relief through the day and helps safeguard employees and their health – which is especially important for helping organisations to manage any musculoskeletal disorders that some staff may have.
MAKING PICKING PROCESSES SAFER Considerable potential for wearable technologies, like wearable scanners, may lie where businesses would least expect them. Order picking is a perfect example that shows promise. There is great potential for savings to be made
by looking at the picking process, especially with regard to travel and picking times by workers. Typically, travel time accounts for 30 to 50 per cent of picking time, and includes the time that a warehouse worker needs to reach the goods and return to the picking area. Shortening the distance can, therefore, make a significant contribution to improving the entire order processing time. The same applies to the picking time, i.e. the interval from the first contact with the item, including transport to the storage location, and depositing at the storage location. Further, it is particularly important to ensure that the item is picked accurately, so that the entire picking process does not need to be repeated. This is where smart glasses or wearable devices are recommended. Scanning articles with these technologies, as they are picked, and having the access to real-time information about these articles improves both picking accuracy and efficiency.
REMOVING PROCESS BOTTLENECKS IMPROVES SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY Bottlenecks arise within companies’ processes due to external as well as internal conditions. For example, fluctuations in demand and dynamic markets represent major challenges for production. In addition, complex structures within technical processes, process organisation and logistics are also susceptible to errors and inefficiency. The more complex the internal structures, the more difficult it is to understand where and why bottlenecks occur. Long throughput times, underestimated forecast qualities regarding demand, or overfilled warehouses with semi- finished goods, are typical examples of the negative consequences that arise from a bottleneck – but they are often not the hurdle itself. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse what the original problem is that is impacting on other areas within production and logistics. A typical example is the number of parts and
process steps used together. Too many production parts increase complexity and cause costs to skyrocket – resulting in efficiency losses. Furthermore, partners in the value chain often play
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