Georgia-Pacific's Wauna Mill Takes Top Honors in Fourth Annual Humantech Find It - Fix It Challenge(TM)
Ann Arbor, MICH - Humantech announced the winners of its fourth annual Find It - Fix It Challenge(TM), which recognizes and rewards simple and effective workplace solutions that result in increased productivity, improved worker morale, and fewer workplace injuries and illnesses. Organizations were encouraged to submit photos and videos of their best ergonomic improvements for judging by Humantech's board certified professional ergonomists and staff. Over 145 entries were received representing 16 companies.
This year's first place was awarded to Georgia-Pacific's Wauna Mill in Clatskanie, Oregon. The winning improvement focused on covering seven-foot-tall stacks of paper pulp. Before the fix, the operation required three to four employees to climb up on the stacks with 150lb tarps and nail the tarps to pallets. Often, wind would pull the tarps loose, exposing the pulp to weather. The company worked with a local manufacturer of a machine designed to bag hay and modified it to cover the pulp. The task now requires only one operator to load the bag onto the machine and the machine does the rest.
Explains Darrel Womack, Safety Coordinator for Georgia-Pacific's Wauna Mill, "Conceived and developed by operator Scott Green, this fix not only eliminates a myriad of ergonomic risk, it increases quality and reduces costs, while improving reliability. We are proud to receive this award that reinforces the value of empowering the workforce to be part of the solution."
Honorable mentions for the Challenge were given to the Kearny Mesa, California site of Solar Turbines for its solution to Mating Engine Compressor Cases and BP in Houston, Texas for its improved Solar Battery Changing Station. The 2011 Find It - Fix It Challenge is slated to kick off in early summer. For additional information about the winners or the 2011 kick-off, visit http://humantech.com/about/findit-fixit-challenge.
About Humantech
For over 30 years, global companies have relied on Humantech for workplace improvements. By combining the science of ergonomics and our unique 30-Inch View©-where people, work, and environment intersect-we deliver practical solutions that impact safety, quality, and productivity. At Humantech, we believe people make productivity happen. For more information about our portfolio of products and services or the 30-Inch View, visit www.humantech.com.
Lauren Caris
Marketing Manager
Humantech, Inc.
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