Keg Tong Attachment Delivered

We recently designed, built and delivered a GL5 with Keg Tong attachment to McMenamins Brew Pub in Roseburg Oregon. The ergonomic lift fits into very tight spaces and lifts a full 150 pound beer keg with no human effort. The lift was retrofitted with 4 swivel casters so that it can maneuver around equipment and storage while carrying the keg. The full keg can easily be placed in a cooler, on a shelf or into a customer's vehicle.
Keg handling creates a injury risk to back, shoulder and neck because of the nature of lifting and reaching to place the heavy awkward load, sometimes overhead or below knees. With this new lift attachment, that risk is eliminated!

A second attachment was created to lift the brew kettle lid which is not heavy, but still awkward to manipulate off of the pot to clean between batches of beer brewing. See the photos to see how the attachment reaches in through the brew kettle port lid to easily lift and remove the lid.

Read the press release on the new Ergonomic Keg Handling Equipment

GoLift Gets Safer

A newly designed tiller will soon make the GoLift safer and even better!

Soon to be released is a new feature on the GoLift line of material lifts. A new tiller style control handle has been designed and added to the standard product line. Safety is a large part of ergonomics and goes hand in hand with convenience and comfort. Those three factors were the driving force in this new redesign.

The tiller control is a little more narrow than the frame of the machines. That means the operators hands are always inside the fall line of the widest point. This keeps the hands and knuckles out of harms way from narrow door ways and wall obstructions. The tiller features handles that are angled to a natural and comfortable hand grip posture. Rather than a traditional horizontal round bar the GoLift operator has a comfortable grip that is angle down 15 degrees and rearward 10 degrees. This posture allows the user to apply greater control force while maintaining neutral posture in the hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder.

Both the model Ul3 and UL4 are self propelled power lifts. A whole new list of safety considerations is necessary when you add self propulsion. While backing the machine the operator is between the machine and any obstructions. Compounding that risk the operator naturally faces forward. There is some hazard or injury risk when all these factors are applied. That’s why the newly designed tiller is on a pivot. To begin operation of the GoLift the operator must swing the tiller toward themselves to released the dynamic brake. The tiller weight is supported by gas springs to minimize pull force and it never locks in the go position. That’s important because should the operator become trapped between and obstruction and the machine while backing up the moment contact occurs the tiller is naturally pushed to the home position where the brake applied automatically. This feature is sometimes known as a “belly bar”. We just think it’s a great idea and another reason why GoLift is the number on light duty material lift available.

Check in from time to time to see what’s going on at ERGOdynamics as we develop better and safer ways of managing risks and work toward eliminating on the job injuries and down time for from time loss injury days.

Staying Busy

At ERGOdynamics we have been keeping busy with new product development. Customer needs for material handling has pushed our products in new directions and created exciting challenges for us to meet. In the next few days we will be discussing some of these new tools in depth.

New tools include: Beer Keg Handle, Keg Tong for the GoLift, Meat Dumping Attachment for GoLift, Creating a Food Safe GoLift, Table and Chair Train for GoLift and other misc tools.

2009 GOSH Conference Presentation Cut Short

On Wednesday March 11, 2009 the Governors Occupational Safety and Health conference in Portland, Oregon concluded. Myrlin Deveraux of ERGOdynamics was a guest speaker asked to conclude a 2-1/2 hour discussion of why employers should use the PWP or State of Oregon Preferred Workers Program. The conference as always was well attended and all guests seem invested in learning the benefits of the PWP. Lively and involved attendees menat some earlier presentations would run long. The closing presentation from Deveraux of ERGOdynamics needed to be shortened by several minutes.

Though disappointed with the limited time allowed for a presentation that was days in preparation Deveraux made the most of the time available. An abbreviated version of the original presentation was made. A good reaction and comments from attendees followed. The amount of interest generated proved the value of asking ERGOdynamics to be a part of this great conference. The entire Powerpoint presentation is available at the link below.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13268966/GOSH-Conference-Presentation-2009

An end to the pain of filing

Filing is no longer a pain in the neck. That is if you have a Heather File. For years we have spent hours bent over filing cabinets flipping through the tabs looking for the correct file. For some, especially those with neck or back problems it’s a real pain.

Recently we were presented with the challenge of finding a solution to this problem. Heather Grogan of the State of Oregon, Preferred Workers Program contacted us about a client with severe cervical mobility restrictions that resulted from an on the job injury. The client was ready to return to work in a new position but leaning over looking for files presented a real problem. The pain was excessive after a few minutes. This was not only a distraction from the job it was a posture that was restricted by their doctor. Heather asked if we could design a file cabinet that would allow the user to see file tabs without leaning forward. She was searching for a solution to this when she thought of a desk top file organizer and how the tabs were all in clear view. There were some features of a normal file cabinet that would not work for this application but a new and creative solution would result from that simple question; can you build a file cabinet that allows all the tabs to be seen from the front?

The first obstacle we needed to overcome was that the drawer faces on a regular drawer are large enough at when closed they create a smooth finished look for the cabinet. If we were to angle the sides of the drawers so that hanging file tabs could be seen a traditional file face would hide the front tabs. We resolved this by using a tambour door, like you have seen on role top desks. To close the file cabinet you simply roll the door closed.

There was one final concern; even though the tabs could be seen from straight on that only worked for a single drawer and this application required three drawers. The solution lied with one of our other products. We also manufacture several different types of adjustable height tables and workstations. By incorporating a Quadra-Lift Adjustable Table to the Heather File the user now had the ability to move the desired file drawer up or down as needed. Quadra-Lift tables are made adjustable by using small hydraulic systems that are contained within the legs of the table. The lift maneuver is done by pressing on a rocker switch.

You have probably guessed why we call it the Heather File. It was Heather Grogan’s idea to incorporate the functionality of a desk top organizer into a traditional office filing system. Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel; you just need to make some adjustments. If you have questions or just need some help with ergonomic issues ERGOdynamics is a great place to start. You can see some of the great ideas and solutions designed and manufactured by ERGOdynamics every day at http://www.ergodynamics.net/ .

Shoulder injury leads to innovative tool handler

Find a solution for handling heavy hammers while making repairs on large boat propellers was the request. First we needed to know what the upper limits of the tool weight might be. Then we needed to know the spatial parameters for using these tools and the number of cycles or uses within a given time. Factor in the number of different tools and the challenge became more in focus.

There are lots of devises that have been designed for handling heavy tools. Problem is, either they cost way too much or were too limited in their application. We needed a solution that performed at or near the same speed as a human arm, could easily lift the tools necessary and had adequate manipulation to work within a 3 dimensional space. In other words it needed to work up/down, in/out and forward and back. It had to accommodate various hand tools and must be easy to change from one tool to the next. Last but not least; it would be great if it could be used for other lifting operations.

We knew going in what the solution would look like. It would most likely resemble other more traditional tool handlers. A cable extending from overhead with a retractable reel that could lift a few hundred pounds and be very nimble. Most tool handlers just can’t meet those specs so a high speed overhead crane seemed the next best answer. But cranes tend to be big and bulky, certainly overkill for this application. What if we just sized everything down and designed some very precise pivots into the crane? That is exactly what we did. The next challenge was finding a way to minimize the amount of force needed to manipulate the lifting component around the work area. Most cranes use a trolley or bridge that roll along a rail of some sort. While minimal, the force required to move a trolley would be more than this application would tolerate. After all, we’re trying to replace the lift and carry action of a human arm and shoulder. The next step in resolving this challenge would be the one that made this modification successful.

While discussing this project with Bob Williams, a consultant for the Preferred Workers Program for the State of Oregon a solution was found. Williams asked if some kind of articulating arm could be used in place of the traditional crane boom. The answer was yes. There were some technical issues that had to be addressed to insure the concept would work properly. For example; how the lifting cable would be routed so as not to be in the way or create a self closing apparatus, where should the hoist be mounted and how the operator would activate the hoist. These questions were answered later in a staff meetings at ERGOdynamics.

A few weeks later a double knuckle overhead jib crane with single point lift wire had been designed and installed. The lift shadow of the crane included a 270 degree radius and the reach extended to nine feet. Lift capacity was 400 lbs. and the hoist was activated by a foot switch. Using a foot switch allowed the worker to keep both hands free for fine tool manipulation.

Bob Williams, working in concert with the employer, employee and the staff of ERGOdynamics found a great solution and helped keep a talented and loyal Oregon worker on the job.

ERGOdynamics has an extensive resume filled with unique and successful solutions for ergonomic issues facing America’s workers. For more information on this project or a concern of your own contact ERGOdynamics. From the front office to the loading dock you can count on ERGOdynamics to deliver. Check out our discussion forum at ERGOdynamics Discussion Forums or just give us a call at 541-683-0900.

Creating an ergonomic mulit user workstation with the Quadralift Workbench

A pressure washer sales and service center needed a solution for a multi-task, multi-user workstation.

The job was shared by people of all different heights so there was no single perfect height for the work surface. Compounding the problem was the multitask use of the table. At times the table is used to sort and prepare shipments of product. Other times it is a service bench. One task performed at the bench is changing the oil in the small gas engines. Draining the oil was always a problem and often messy. An oil drain sump was designed that fit into the top of the bench and an cover insert was provided that would cover the sump when not in use. At the bottom of the sump was a drain valve and a short hose was attached. When the waste oil was drained the QuadraLift Bench was raised all the way to the top to allow an oil pan to be moved under the sump and the oil drained and stored for recycling.

The other side of the QuadraLift table had a recess placed in the top that holds a shipping scale. Adjacent to the shipping scale were long plastic strips embedded into the surface to create a low resistance surface that full boxes could be easily slid along the top. This reduced the risk of injury and fatigue from using an extended arm to move the heavy boxes down the table with no assistance.

The workbench adjusts on-demand from 30” to 44” high. That feature is powered by hydraulic lifting cylinders in each leg. This company having workers of all different heights used the height adjustment to insure that no one had to work stooping over a bench that was too low or work with their shoulders hunched up trying to reach the top of the table. The adjustable height was utilized several times per day by the same worker depending on the task.

Our work benches come standard with adjustable height and in various sizes and table top materials. As illustrated by this particular project, further customization can create an ergonomic work space solution for a lot of tasks. Do you have any special work space needs that could be resolved with a similar solution?