Cooperative Agreement for the Demonstration of an Ergonomic Intervention in the Red Meat-Packing Industry at Farmland Foods, Inc., Denison, Iowa. Final Report.

Riley-MW; Cochran-DJ; May-DR; Schwoerer-CE; Stentz-TL

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 1994 May:161 pages

00224015

A job redesign effort was undertaken at Farmland Foods, Inc., Denison, Iowa, a major meat packing facility. Management/labor teams were formed with members from every department in the firm. These teams were trained in team building and ergonomic principles. One of the functions of the teams was to prioritize jobs for ergonomic redesign. The teams also developed and implemented solutions. Significant reductions were noted in the incidence and severity of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs), lost production days, restricted duty days, and personnel turnover. Team analysis of CTD related outcomes, survey data, and team performance data revealed that a majority of the teams functioned well. Internal work processes within the groups which did not function as well needed improvement, specifically in resolving conflicts based on differing viewpoints. Overall employee responses indicated that the workers were feeling less pain in their bodies overall and that the pain they were feeling was less severe. Recommendations were presented for the development and implementation of large scale ergonomics interventions.

NIOSH-Cooperative-Agreement; Human-factors-engineering; Meat-packing-industry; Food-processing-industry; Meat-handlers; Ergonomics; Cumulative-trauma-disorders; Lost-work-days;

19940501

Final Cooperative Agreement Report;

Cooperative Agreement;

1994

PB95-182424

A09

Cooperative-Agreement-Number-U60-CCU-708726

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

IA; NE;