When teaching your employees to analyze workplace accidents to determine causes and preventive measures, case studies are a great training tool.
As we said in yesterday’s Advisor, case studies are a highly effective way to teach critical safety information. Examining a case study like being part of a CSI team. Employees become safety detectives, tracking the evidence and discovering why it led to an accident.
Here’s another case study from BLR’s OSHA Accident Case Studies—this one about a materials handling incident that led to a severe back injury.
The Incident
An employee was moving boxes onto a pallet. The boxes weighed 110 pounds each. The boxes were long and skinny: 64 inches by 12 inches by 12 inches.
The employee, trained in proper lifting techniques, stood a box upright on its end in order to lift it. He then rotated the box on its bottom edges in order to move it closer to the pallet.
The box began to fall over as the employee moved it closer to the pallet. The employee attempted to restrain the box and prevent it from falling over. As a result of this move, he suffered a serious back injury.
Discussion Questions
- Is a 110-pound object too heavy for one person to lift?
- Was this box too big and bulky to lift alone?
- Did its shape (long and skinny) contribute to the accident?
- What should worker have done when he lost his grip on the box?
Try OSHA Accident Case Studies and give a boost to your safety training program with real-life case studies of actual industrial accidents from OSHA files. We have a great one on lifting. Get the details.
Analysis
- The employee was moving very heavy boxes by himself. Although he was not lifting them completely off the ground and carrying them through a warehouse, 110 pounds is still too much for one person to handle. Most ergonomic studies recommend a maximum lifting weight of 90 pounds or less, depending on a number of factors.
- These boxes were big and awkward. They are long and probably hard to balance. Big and awkward boxes require more than one person. They are difficult to grip and difficult to balance.
- Although we do not know if this worker was lifting with correct posture—keeping his back straight and not twisted, knees bent, feet shoulder width apart—we do know that the technique he used is improper because proper lifting technique requires a solid grip on the object being lifted. This worker could not have a solid grip because he was rotating or spinning the box on one end. This increased the chance that he would lose his grip on the object and drop it.
- The primary cause of this accident is that he attempted to prevent the box from falling. He made a quick adjustment. He lost good posture when he bent over or twisted suddenly to regain control of the box. This quick movement could have caused the accident alone. Then when he tried to stop the momentum of the box while in an awkward posture, he was more likely to be injured.
Even your most skeptical workers will see what can go wrong and become safety-minded employees with OSHA Accident Case Studies. They’ll learn valuable safety training lessons from real mistakes—but in classroom training meetings instead of on your shop floor. Get more info.
Get Workers to Think and Act Safely
In "Back Pain—The Case of the Heavy Boxes" employees will also learn:
- Causes of back injuries
- Safe lifting techniques
- Tips for lifting heavy or awkward loads
- Additional suggestions for avoiding accidents such as the one presented in the PowerPoint®
Case studies like this one are a great way to train employees about safe lifting. Trainers can easily work a safe lifting demonstration into the session and talk about specific types of materials trainees commonly lift and carry.
That’s what OSHA Accident Case Studies is all about.
Animated, customizable PowerPoint slides tell real-life case studies of actual industrial accidents from OSHA files, complete with accident photos to get workers’ attention and make your safety meetings come alive.
OSHA Accident Case Studies includes 25 meetings on all key safety topics.
Even your most skeptical workers will see what can go wrong and become safety-minded employees. They’ll learn valuable safety training lessons from real mistakes—but in classroom training meetings instead of on your shop floor.
In addition to confined spaces and back safety topics include:
- Power tools
- Hazard communication
- Lockout/tagout
- Fire safety
- Hearing protection
- Trenching and excavation
- HAZWOPER
- Ergonomics
- And more!
We’ll be happy to make OSHA Accident Case Studies available for a no-cost, no-obligation, 30-day evaluation in your office. Just let us know, and we’ll be pleased to arrange it.