ABSTRACT
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as strains and sprains to the low back and other body joints
has historically occurred at a high rate in the food distribution centers compared with other indus-
tries. Published prospective epidemiological studies in retail warehouse settings with similar manual
materials handling activities to grocery distribution centers have suggested that the intensity of the
workload and lifting are positively associated with reporting of low back injuries (Kraus et al.,
1997; Gardner et al., 1999). However, other research suggests that the workloads in grocery distri-
bution centers may be greater than those found in the retail warehouse settings. Kuorinka et al.
(1994) estimated that torso twisting occurred in 77% of box transfers observed in a grocery ware-
house, whereas Drury et al. (1982) found that fewer than 20% of box handling tasks such as
pallet loading and order picking were free from torso twisting. The National Institute for Occu-
pational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that manual case handling rates in two grocery distri-
bution centers they investigated exceeded 200 cases per hour (NIOSH, 1993a,b), back injuries among
order selectors accounted for almost 60% of all lost workdays over a 5-yr period in one distribution
center (NIOSH, 1993a), and the back injury incident rates ranged between 16 and 25 per 100 workers
per year (NIOSH, 1993a,b). Furthermore, the National Association of Wholesale Grocers of America
(NAWGA) and the International Foodservice Distribution Association (IFDA) reported that 30% of
the injuries reported by food distribution warehouse workers were attributable to back sprains and
strains (Waters, 1993). Thus, MSDs, and in particular those occurring to the low back, are a
major source of lost time, and represent a significant occupational health concern to this industry.
Manual material handling is a major activity in grocery distribution centers, where many aspects
of the distribution centers contribute to the overall exposure to manual material handling, and,
thus, contribute to the risk of MSDs. While it is recognized that it will be virtually impossible
to eliminate all manual handling in distribution centers, strategies do exist that can reduce the fre-
quency of manual handling, as well as the situations that increase the risk of MSDs due to
manual handling. Thus, the objectives of this chapter are to identify and describe different grocery
distribution centers currently in use, the ergonomic concerns related to each type, identify
distribution center system attributes that increase the risk of MSD from material handling, and
identify potential intervention strategies that can reduce the exposure to high-risk manual material
handling tasks.
