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| Tying a bulk bag |
Background
Packaging products in bags of all sizes is a common way of transporting the product to the end user. Bags used in the mining industry, for the most part, fit in two categories: bulk bags and small bags. Bulk bags, also known as, flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBC) or super sacks, are used in many industries, including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, construction, and mining. Within the mining industry, there is a concern about injuries and exposures during bagging operations. One of our cooperating minesites recently had two employees sustain shoulder injuries during bagging tasks. The ergonomic risk factors in bulk bagging operations occur primarily when the operator opens and prepares the bag for filling and again when the bag is being closed. Both the opening and closing of the bag may introduce musculoskeletal injuries to the operator’s low back, shoulders, arms, neck, wrists, and hands. This task requires forceful work and awkward postures due to the size of the bag and the current design of the bags. Small bags (usually carrying 100 pounds or less) are also a common means of packaging and transporting mined industrial minerals. Depending on the level of automation and the work practices at a given site, a number of possible risk factors need to be addressed, such as manual lifting of the bags for weighing or manually stacking bags on a pallet. The most common risk factors associated with small bag operations will be identified and investigated to develop ergonomic interventions to reduce and/or eliminate these factors. The objective of this study is to identify the best design features for bagging tasks and thus reduce exposure of operators to ergonomic risk factors.
Potential Outcome
By 2008, the research on bagging will lead to the development of recommendations for purchasing bags and work practices for operators to reduce injury risk during bulk bagging operations. Improving this common work task will provide a safer work environment. Results from this task will be provided to industry in a guidance document and mining journal publications and will include an overview of bagging operations, descriptions of bulk bag design characteristics, work methods used in bagging, exposures to ergonomic risk factors, and appropriate control methods for reducing exposures. Because bulk and small bagging operations are part of several industries in addition to mining, the results of this project will be applicable to these industries as well.