An analysis of injury/illness events among warehouse and transportation workers performing lifting tasks within the food distribution industry

The purpose of this study was to analyze the frequency of injury/illness events among workers who perform lifting tasks for a food distribution company located in the Southeast United States. The study was conducted to determine how the frequency of lifting, number of hours worked in one month, work shift, conditions such as temperature, different job categories, and body mechanics are associated with the development of injuries and illnesses. The study design was a retrospective study of those workers employed at a food distribution company utilizing data that were previously documented. The study population used included warehouse and transportation workers in the job categories of driver, picker, loader, and stocker. Following analysis of data with demographic information, it was concluded that no difference was found in injury/illness events reported during the three highest months of production and other months of the year for workers in a food distribution company located in the Southeast United States for the years 1996-1999. The food distribution company warehouse division studied had a significantly higher incidence rate and cost associated with the injury/illness events than the transportation division. The warehouse divisions' incidence rate was found to have 3.84 more injury/illness events for each 200,000 hours worked than the national average for food distribution companies, and cost associated with the injury/illness events was $453,744 higher than the national average. While there was a significant difference among workers in the normal, refrigerated, and frozen temperature conditions, the overriding factor for this study was job category and length of employment rather than temperature conditions. Stockers reporting an injury/illness event was found to have worked five times longer prior to experiencing an injury than loaders. Loaders experienced an injury after an average of only 9 months of employment, while stockers experienced an injury after an average of 48 months of employment. The rate of reported injury/illness events for loaders were 4.856 more injury/illness events reported than stockers. It was concluded that loaders and stockers lifted over three times the recommended weight per lift and pickers lifted over two times the recommended weight per lift using the NIOSH lifting equations.