Maximum walking distance for assembly line worker

[FWD GUY]

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.

[Randy]

1st Welcome to the Cove

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

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

[SteelMaiden]

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?)

[wmarhel]

Originally Posted by Randy

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

[Randy]

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

George and Edwards were much cooler.

[bazzle]

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

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by bazzle

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

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

[howste]

Originally Posted by FWD GUY

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.