Airport Baggage Handlers, Work Injuries, and Ergonomics
Airport baggage handlers are at risk of many different kinds of on-the-job injuries, including serious musculoskeletal injuries and disorders that can be prevented altogether or lessened through ergonomics, according to recent studies. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), when anyone lifts heavy baggage — whether it is into the cargo hold of an airplane, onto baggage tractors, or even onto conveyor belts to be loaded onto a baggage tractor, there is a high risk of sustaining a musculoskeletal injury. Other workers who regularly handle baggage, such as hotel porters and taxi drivers, are also at risk of similar injuries. Indeed, handling and lifting heavy baggage can lead to overexertion injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and even same-level falls.
How can ergonomics help, and when can baggage handlers seek compensation? Our Maryland airline injury and workers’ compensation attorneys can provide you with more information.
Understanding Ergonomics in Relation to Baggage Handling Risks
Ergonomics, generally speaking, is the practice of altering a work environment to fit the employees and their specific job-related needs. For baggage handling, and baggage lifting in particular, ergonomic practices typically involve the following:
- Moving your body to meet the bag instead of pulling the bag toward you to meet your body (i.e., moving your body rather than pulling the bag);
- Always lifting with your legs, which requires bending at your knees and squatting to lift a heavy bag (and no bending at the waist if possible)l
- Avoid any type of body twisting when you are lifting or carrying luggage or baggage;
- When lifting baggage, keep it as close as possible to your chest;
- Distribute the weight of any bags evenly across your body; and
- Work carefully and slow down when necessary.
Common Baggage Handling Injuries
Even with ergonomics, musculoskeletal disorders can result from baggage handling, and workers can sustain other types of injuries, too. The following are common types of injuries affecting baggage handlers at airports:
- Sprains;
- Strains;
- Muscle tears;
- Shoulder injuries;
- Back injuries;
- Crush injuries, including hands and feet;
- Bone fractures; and
- Traumatic brain injuries.
According to the National Library of Medicine, luggage-related lifting injuries most often impact the shoulders, and females tend to sustain a higher number of sprains, strains, and muscle tears than male employee counterparts.
Contact a Maryland Airline Worker Injury Attorney for Assistance with Your Workers’ Compensation Claim After a Baggage Handling Injury
Baggage handlers face a wide range of injury risks at work, and as we discussed above, ergonomics can often reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries such as sprains and strains that can lead to the need for medical care and a significant number of missed workdays. Regardless of whether your baggage handling injury resulted from a failure of ergonomics or involved another hazard altogether, you may be able to seek workers’ compensation benefits to cover the cost of your medical care and to provide you with wage replacement benefits for a portion of your income as you heal. One of the experienced Maryland airline employee injury lawyers at the Law Offices of Steinhardt, Siskind and Lieberman, LLC can discuss the details of your case with you today and can help you to seek the compensation you need.
Sources:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32623421/
osha.gov/ergonomics/identify-problems