An assessment of equipment service employees of back injuries at company XYZ

Abstract

Back injuries have become a major component in worker compensation costs within industry today. Company XYZ has felt this impact and recognize that the equipment service employees (ESEs) are at high risk of back injuries. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze contributing factors for the occurrence of back injuries in equipment service employees (ESEs) at Company XYZ. Past records have indicated that ESEs are at high risk of back injuries. Within one year, over 300 back injuries were reported. For this study, the anatomy of the back and intervention approaches were researched. Some of these approaches that can be implemented into the workplace are the use of back belts, a physical fitness program, engineering controls and different types of lifting techniques. To help identify and analyze the contributing factors, several data sources such as the loss tab analysis, worker compensation costs, and accident reports were evaluated as well as observing the daily tasks of the ESEs and customer service agents (CSAs). The results of the iii evaluation from the loss tab analysis and accident reports were that the activity of lifting caused the majority of back injuries. For one year, worker compensation costs reported over $200, 000 for back injuries for the ESEs. The observations of the ESEs and CSAs were evaluated to find out additional factors that affected back injuries. During the observations, several factors were recognized as contributing to back injuries during the unloading and loading of luggage from aircraft. Some of these indicators were poor use of lifting techniques and lifting luggage too heavy for one individual. Observations of the CSAs were made to analyze how ESEs were notified of the weight of the luggage. A “heavy bag” label was supposed to be placed on a piece of luggage that weighs between 45 to 100 pounds, however no accurate weight was placed on the tag or the luggage. Throughout this study, several factors were identified that contribute to the occurrence of back injuries for the ESEs.