Ergonomic Casters Education
IF YOU PUSH OR PULL ANYTHING, YOU ARE AT RISK OF A DEBILITATING INJURY
CASTER ERGONOMICS
When we say the word “ergonomics” in the context of manufacturing or industrial business, we are normally talking about pushing, pulling, or lifting. Plainly put, when you do work with pushing, pulling, or lifting, particularly with heavy weight, you are at risk of injury. When it comes to pushing or pulling, your back is the most likely part of your body to receive a debilitating injury. When you improve ergonomics, you lessen the likelihood of injuring your back, and that is the aim of this information hub.
UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING ERGONOMICS
SO, HOW SERIOUS, LIKELY, AND COSTLY ARE BACK INJURIES?
When we look at MSDs (Musculoskeletal Disorders), basically injuries to your bones, muscles, and joints, the total cost each year is estimated to be at least $50 billion, but this is only the dollar amount; the pain and effect on the lives of those who suffer from these injuries is much higher. Back injuries are a significant portion of these specific injuries.
UNDETECTED BACK INJURIES AND PUSH/PULL ISSUES
Back injuries affect every aspect of your business and life. In material handling, you’ll be transporting your product on carts of some sort. If you push or pull these carts at all by hand, you’ll be using your back in the same way thousands of times, and the worst part is that you won’t be able to recognize that you’re injuring your back until it’s too late. The amount of force required to push or pull (push/pull) can be changed with different types of equipment, but first you need to get an accurate reading, and second, you need to know exactly what guidelines to follow.
SEE THE MOST RECENT PUSH/PULL GUIDELINES HERE
BWC Push/Pull Guidelines →
IMPROVING ERGONOMICS WITH REDUCED PUSH/PULL: CASTERS
Once you know how serious and prevalent back injuries are, understand how to measure push/pull, and know what standards to follow, you can look for ways to improve your ergonomics, specifically in push/pull. Casters are the primary way to improve push/pull performance as they are the direct link to the ground and are inherently effective at allowing you to maintain your ergonomic changes because they are integrated easily and effortlessly.
ASSESSING ERGONOMIC INJURY RISK DURING TURNING
Turning has been noted to pose a higher risk for injury to the spine than straight-line pushing and pulling. This fact necessitates the need for accurate turning force measurements when quantifying risk for injury relative to biomechanically determined guidelines.
In 2022, Caster Connection collaborated with the NSF Center for Disruptive Musculoskeletal Innovations (CDMI) to fund The Ohio State University Spine Research Institute. Together, we discovered the importance of providing specific guidelines for injury prevention in turn testing.
HOW TO KNOW IF A CASTER IS AN ERGONOMIC CASTER
Casters vary tremendously in quality and in their ability to improve ergonomics. Just imagine taking off the casters from your BBQ at home and putting them on your industrial work cart. Needless to say, you can envision what would happen. Your ergonomics would not improve to say the least. Many qualities make up an ergonomic caster, but 3 are very important: durometer, rebound resilience, and swivel lead.
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RESHAPE YOUR FACILITY AND PROTECT YOUR EMPLOYEES
Over the past 30 years, we’ve worked closely with tens of thousands of clients. We spend hours inside of the facilities of our clients and see the direct affect of new casters on the lives of those people working hard each day. We tailor our products to the unique needs of our clients so that they can be safe, avoid downtime, and overall just have more joy at work. The products below offer you specific advantages.
CC Apex
OUR MOST VERSATILE ERGONOMIC CASTER
The CC Apex uses a doughnut tread, which means that the center is the most elevated part of the wheel. This allows you to navigate over debris with ease, achieve excellent push/pull thresholds, and use this caster in towlines as well as manual applications.
Qualities of CC Apex include:
Incredible versatility
Industry-leading push/pull
Excels in towlines
Excellent for debris & impediments
For moderate weights
CC NYLEX
OUR BEST ERGONOMIC CASTER FOR CLEAN FLOORS
The CC Nylex has a higher durometer (is a harder wheel), which means that this caster has extremely good push/pull. In fact, it’s our best ergonomic caster for clean floors. Harder casters with a flat tread do not perform as well with debris, so choose accordingly.
Qualities of CC Nylex include:
The best caster for push/pull with clean floors
NOT for use in towlines
NOT well-suited for debris & impediments
Heavy weights
CC STARK
OUR BEST CASTER FOR PUSH/PULL & TOWLINES
The CC Stark is THE premiere caster for towlines and push/pull applications. If you use casters in towlines, but you still need excellent ergonomics with heavy weights, this is your caster. The CC Stark also has the best warranty in the industry at 4 years.
Very good push/pull
Extremely good in towlines
Can handle some debris & impediments
Heavy Weights
The best total cost of ownership (4-year warranty)
CC PEAK
HIGHEST QUALITY MAINTENANCE-FREE CASTER RIG
The CC Peak is an incredibly smooth maintenance-free caster rig. This means that you get a caster that has extremely low push/pull force but also virtually no upkeep. So, you can attach the casters, and forget they’re there, except for the great daily performance.
Maintenance-free (means set it, and forget it)
Absurdly smooth and highly ergonomic
Suited for towlines as well as push/pull applications
Moderate & heavy weights
LET'S PREVENT LIFE-ALTERING BACK INJURIES TOGETHER
We've helped our clients transform their operations ergonomically for over 30 years, and because of this, we understand that each facility and situation is different
We create completely customized and comprehensive ergonomic plans to guarantee your immediate success.
Suited for towlines as well as push/pull applications
We'll do the work. You'll take all the credit! Work with your personal Regional Solutions Manager today.
REQUEST A PHONE CALL TO GET A COMPREHENSIVE AND CUSTOMIZED ERGONOMIC PLAN
Get Rolling with Caster Connection →