I need some help. For years I have designed processes with the shortest amount of walking distance mostly because walking is waste. I have been using a vendor for years that has stated that it is a OSHA regulation that a process cannot have more that 7.2 miles of walking a shift. I have never been close to this number. Now one of our plants has an operator that claims his process is unsafe due to excessive walking. His total is about 2.7 miles a shift. I cannot find any reference to this anywhere. Does anyone know if a maximum is called out by a government agency? I have attached the file we use for calculating total walk.

1st Welcome to the Cove:bigwave:

I'll be just as blunt as a rock with this one..........Your employee is full of horse-fritters:horse:

I've got an Undergrad in Occupational Safety & Health and managed OHS in California (toughest in the US) and I'll tell you that OSHA does not have a limit on how far people can walk. I used to work on an aircraft flight line and probably walked double that in the 120+ weather of the Mojave Desert.

Tell the "expert" to show you the specific reference out of 29CFR 1910 because I'm really interested now.

Note: Watch out for a visit and get some Tartar Sauce because this smells fishy

I'm pretty certain that a right many of our folks log more miles than your employee is grousing about. I think Randy is right, be prepared for someone from OSHA to pay you a visit, your employee is probably gonna drop a dime on you. (oops, with inflation that would be what - 35 cents now?)

I used to work on an aircraft flight line and probably walked double that in the 120+ weather of the Mojave Desert.



Randy, did this happen to be George or Edwards AFB?

Wayne

Most of the time out by Ft. Irwin and towards Death Valley.

George and Edwards were much cooler.:lol:

Putting it bluntly:
The current operator may be the wrong person for the job. Some processes require certain skill/operator set that not all people have.
ie, no good using a colour blind person to sort M and M's.
Same with a physical job where reengineering is not feesible or practicle. May be time to reskill operator and move to another ie: office job.

Bazzle :whip:

Putting it bluntly:
The current operator may be the wrong person for the job. Some processes require certain skill/operator set that not all people have.
ie, no good using a colour blind person to sort M and M's.
Same with a physical job where reengineering is not feesible or practicle. May be time to reskill operator and move to another ie: office job.

Bazzle :whip:Appears to be either Chief Corporate Counsel or Chief Executive Officer material, don't you concur?

I need some help. For years I have designed processes with the shortest amount of walking distance mostly because walking is waist. I have been using a vendor for years that has stated that it is a OSHA regulation that a process cannot have more that 7.2 miles of walking a shift. I have never been close to this number. Now one of our plants has an operator that claims his process is unsafe due to excessive walking. His total is about 2.7 miles a shift. I cannot find any reference to this anywhere. Does anyone know if a maximum is called out by a government agency? I have attached the file we use for calculating total walk.

I'm pretty sure I walked more than that during my audit today.

Perhaps you could suggest that the person cut down their walking distance by eliminating frequent bathroom, drink, and/or smoke breaks. :notme:

I'm pretty sure I walked more than that during my audit today.

Perhaps you could suggest that the person cut down their walking distance by eliminating frequent bathroom, drink, and/or smoke breaks. :notme:If I did that, I would get no exercise at all!;)

I'm pretty sure I walked more than that during my audit today.

Perhaps you could suggest that the person cut down their walking distance by eliminating frequent bathroom, drink, and/or smoke breaks. :notme:


Ah, howste, there is an answer sure to inflame an already disgruntled employee! I love it.:lmao: You were going maybe for that spontaneous combustion thing so there would be no evidence?

I need some help. For years I have designed processes with the shortest amount of walking distance mostly because walking is waste. I have been using a vendor for years that has stated that it is a OSHA regulation that a process cannot have more that 7.2 miles of walking a shift. I have never been close to this number. Now one of our plants has an operator that claims his process is unsafe due to excessive walking. His total is about 2.7 miles a shift. I cannot find any reference to this anywhere. Does anyone know if a maximum is called out by a government agency? I have attached the file we use for calculating total walk.

Welcome to the Cove!:bigwave:

Like my other friends, not only have I not heard anything of the sort, I find it a little silly to have such a law. With rising insurance costs and increased Coronary Heart Disease, it would seem better to require that much walking. It would not surprise me if I walk that much everyday.

A quick Internet search yielded plenty for walking surface requirements, but no walking requirements. Not sure what to do about this employee, but in the future, I would put something in the job requirements stating that walking will be involved.:tg:

If you have an employee talking about this, I would consult a lawyer specializing in the area to see what is involved.

Your vendor is out to lunch. I would seriously question a vendor that makes such claims.
:2cents:

Your employee needs to describe exactly why walking makes the process unsafe: is it because this walking leaves a machine running without guards unattended? Is the employee disabled, or should be on limited duty? These possibilities are about different issues, of course, but sometimes get confused in poor communication. I'll elect to look at it that way versus the employee whining... :whip:

Employee consultation is a part of the OSHAS 18001 standard, which I know this isn't really about but will bring it up as a management system point. However, to do a good job of consulting the employee needs to have both awareness and willingness to focus on actual risks and the benefits of reducing them. If your employee is sincere and really wants to help, some OSHA training may be available for small or no charge through your state's Dept of Labor.

In short, I wouldn't want to dismiss the input until I understand if it wasn't sincere, just wrong.

I work in a big, roughly square building--approximately 300,000 sq. ft. In order to walk a mile in a day, I would have to go the length of the building roughly ten times, and I don't know of anyone who works here who does that or its equivalent. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it seems to me that if someone is walking > one mile on a regular basis in the course of a work day something has to be seriously wrong with the layout, or there's some sort of unusual circumstances involved.

I'll elect to look at it that way versus the employee whining... :whip:

In short, I wouldn't want to dismiss the input until I understand if it wasn't sincere, just wrong.

Jennifer, thanks for pulling us back to reality. I, myself, got tied up in a current issue at work where an employee was fired for misrepresenting his time on his timecard. He sicced OSHA on us as a revenge move. OSHA found no wrong doing on our part, but this whole investigation cost us a lot in man hours and needlessly brought a lot of people under scrutiny when they had done nothing wrong. And so, I was thinking emotionally, not logically. Of course it is always best to listen to the complainent and try to figure out his concerns....but still, be prepared for him to complain to OSHA if things do not go his way.

Jennifer, thanks for pulling us back to reality. I, myself, got tied up in a current issue at work where an employee was fired for misrepresenting his time on his timecard. He sicced OSHA on us as a revenge move. OSHA found no wrong doing on our part, but this whole investigation cost us a lot in man hours and needlessly brought a lot of people under scrutiny when they had done nothing wrong. And so, I was thinking emotionally, not logically. Of course it is always best to listen to the complainent and try to figure out his concerns....but still, be prepared for him to complain to OSHA if things do not go his way.I agree this sounds like it could be trouble. However, it could bring a benefit to be able to show an effort was made at consultation. I can't say for sure.

If I had an employee complaining about excessive walking, I would want to know enough detail to decide the issue is about walking, or the employee is disgruntled or what. If an employee is disgruntled enough to start making a fuss, other unhappy possibilities could be there too.

I would want to consider reassigning this person if a lot of walking really is an issue. I might consider other actions if it's being raised as an excuse.

The last time I walked that far on a regular basis I was a Cavalry Scout in an Armor unit of the California Army National Guard and before that an Infantryman in the Marines.............like I said, the guy is full of horse-bagels:horse:

If it ain't the OSHA law in California, it ain't the OSHA law nowhere:nope:

Horse bagels? that's a new one for this cow-girl. I've heard of road apples, and stud muffins. Even cow pies. Thank you for improving my scatological vocabulary.

I have searched the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website and can't find any reference to maximum walking distances.

That said, it may be prudent to consider a risk assessment of this particular operation. Does the amount of walking increase the likelyhood of tripping? Does the operator have to carry anything whilst walking? Is the floor surface even or are there any trip hazards? Do your operators have any medical condition which would prevent them from walking this distance?

Have you done all that is reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of your employees?

IMO 2.7 miles is certainly not unreasonable, and as several of the covers have already commented, many people walk much further than this in the course of a normal working day!
To give an extreme analogy, marathon running would have been banned on health and safety grounds if there were such a rule!

I have searched the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website and can't find any reference to maximum walking distances.

That said, it may be prudent to consider a risk assessment of this particular operation. Does the amount of walking increase the likelyhood of tripping? Does the operator have to carry anything whilst walking? Is the floor surface even or are there any trip hazards? Do your operators have any medical condition which would prevent them from walking this distance?

Have you done all that is reasonably practicable to ensure the health and safety of your employees?

IMO 2.7 miles is certainly not unreasonable, and as several of the covers have already commented, many people walk much further than this in the course of a normal working day!
To give an extreme analogy, marathon running would have been banned on health and safety grounds if there were such a rule!

On a little different note, to add: I have read in various magazines that 10,000 steps per day is a healthy goal for most people to strive toward. I'm not sure how far this would be in miles, but it doesn't sound unreasonable.

Horse bagels?

Attributed to Col. Sherman Potter (MASH):lol:

When I worked for General Dynamics I worked in the main assembly building for the F-16. It was a mile long. Just walking to my desk from the parking lot could be a good 1/4 mile walk. Bicycles and golf carts in the building were very common for people who had to move around quite a bit, but I guarantee there were a lot of people who walked miles every day as a normal part of their job. Think of it as an employee health & fitness benefit!

I agree with everyone else on this topic about the supposed OSHA reg of 7.2 miles is bogus. I work everyday in the safety world and I've never seen the reg and never even heard of it. I have had several people when I worked in the auto industry try and tell me walking from one side of the plant to the other was excessive and unsafe (4.2 million sq.ft.). My response to them was it was healthy for them as long as they stayed in the pedestrian aisles, and watched out for industrial truck traffic. Most agreed. I would find a new consultant, BTW.

If I may express a potential dissenting voice. Here in Michigan, we have our own version of OHSA (MIOSHA). Now, I can’t speak for the good folks in KY, but…. It would be wise to check out that part of your state that handles safety. There might be some state level requirement. For that matter, it could be a local regulation, or even a union contract requirement. You might want to check out all of your bases.

Ask the person (people) who are telling you there is a requirement to quote the “shall”.

If there is no way to improve the process ergonomics then if the employee does not like to walk tell them they could skip, saunter, jog or do a jig so long as the job is done safely, correctly and efficiently and if they do not like that tell them to run and find another job.
There are a great many jobs that require a fair amount of movement, in many places material handlers are very active. It is called work not only because it is a four letter word but because it involves effort.

But some questions for you are, if it was not within some guideline would you be able to fix it? If so then even if it is not against some guideline, can it be corrected without extravigant cost and if so would it bring benefit to the company and/or employee? Employee moral is a significant contributer to efficeincy, and efficeincy is a huge contributer to increased profits.

I have found that it is often helpful to either me or the employee if I spend a half shift doing jobs on the line to get an understanding of its difficulties and how to improve them. On a hand transfer stamping press I worked for a few days on the line to try to balance it with the automated preform. As a result we raised the Wip container 1' and moved both the WIP container and the Finished goods container 2" closer to the operator station and went from 200 per hour to 600 per hour on average. A fresh operator could do 800+ per hour. Oh, we also added a good ergo mat and a fan for the operator because it was easier on the muscles but got the heart rate up. Before the changes the slow down was motion and bending after the changes the slow down was tripping the light curtain if the operator was too motivated.

Just my thoughts,
Mark

After an overview of the KOSH standards, I have yet to find anything in relation to a max walking distance. If there is something in the local union contract or other collective agreement, it is NOT a standard outside of that agreement. The OP stated their source said it was an OSHA standard which it is not.

Just felt compelled to reply :D
In my previous job (was with that company for 7 years as Quality Manager) I walked an average of 14 Km a day.
And to quote a previous post there were unusual circumstances.