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In food processing plants, injuries from simple movements like twisting, overhead reaching, and leaning forward add up fast. These motions strain muscles day after day, leading to more injuries, more downtime, and higher costs than many managers realize.
If you’ve noticed workers wearing back supports, missing shifts, or just moving slower as the day goes on, you’re already seeing the problem. It often begins with small, repeated motions that quietly wear workers down shift after shift. One of the most common, and most overlooked, is twisting while handling products.
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Twisting while handling products may look like part of the job, but over time, it puts serious strain on the back and shoulders. In food processing, where these motions happen repeatedly across long shifts, that strain can build into costly injuries. What starts as minor discomfort can develop into chronic pain, forcing workers off the line and leaving production teams short-staffed.
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What It Looks Like:
You’ll often see this motion when workers stand at fixed stations and reach sideways to place products onto conveyors. It also happens when employees load boxes onto pallets, rotate to stack items, or turn while operating equipment. Workers might not even realize they're twisting since they perform these movements so frequently.
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Why It Costs You:
Each twist causes small amounts of stress on the spine and surrounding muscles. Over hundreds of repetitions, the stress accumulates into repetitive strain injuries. This not only slows down individual workers as pain increases, but also raises the likelihood of mistakes as employees unconsciously compensate for discomfort. For plant managers, this means slower line speeds, more errors, and higher workers’ compensation costs.
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Where It Happens Most:
Workers who spend their shifts reaching above shoulder height face serious risks of shoulder injuries. Unlike heavier lifting tasks, these overhead movements are often overlooked until injuries appear.
‍
What It Looks Like:
This movement shows up when workers lift large bags of ingredients into hoppers, stretch to retrieve tools or supplies from overhead shelves, or engage in repetitive sorting of lightweight items above shoulder height. Workers often perform these tasks without thinking, but the physical toll is significant.
‍
Why It Costs You:
Each overhead reach engages muscles not designed for prolonged strain. Over time, the shoulders and upper back fatigue and break down. Even light loads, when handled above shoulder height repeatedly, lead to overuse injuries like tendonitis or rotator cuff damage. Injured workers either miss shifts or are placed on light duty, which disrupts workflows and slows production output.
‍
Where It Happens Most:
Long periods of forward bending can drain workers’ energy and lead to long-term injuries. In food processing, where static tasks are common, this risk often goes unnoticed until productivity drops.
‍
What It Looks Like:
You’ll see forward bending when workers lean over conveyors to inspect or sort products. Holding static positions, like standing hunched over trimming stations, adds to the problem. In many cases, workers try to “push through” the discomfort, not realizing the damage being done.
‍
Why It Costs You:
Even small forward bends, repeated throughout a shift, place strain on the lower back and core muscles. Add long periods of holding static positions, and fatigue sets in quickly. Workers slow down, their accuracy drops, and they often require medical treatment for chronic soreness or more serious back injuries. As fatigue builds, mistakes increase, further slowing production.
‍
Where It Happens Most:
Relying on floor checks and supervisor walkarounds makes it easy to miss risky movements. Video-based ergonomic assessments give you a clearer, data-driven view of how work is actually performed.
‍
‍
With real data and clear visuals, ergonomic risks stop being hidden problems. But spotting risks is just the first step. Preventing injuries requires practical changes and the right tools to help teams act quickly and consistently.
‍
Preventing injuries doesn’t have to be complicated. TuMeke makes ergonomic improvement simple, scalable, and accessible for any food processing plant. With just a smartphone, your team can start capturing real task data, no sensors, no wearables, no disruption to work.
‍
Here’s how TuMeke helps you spot risks early and take action fast:
Small changes in movement lead to big gains in safety and productivity. Stop letting preventable injuries drain your resources. Schedule your TuMeke trial today. Find the risks. Fix them fast. Protect your people and your bottom line.
‍
‍
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.png)
In food processing plants, injuries from simple movements like twisting, overhead reaching, and leaning forward add up fast. These motions strain muscles day after day, leading to more injuries, more downtime, and higher costs than many managers realize.
If you’ve noticed workers wearing back supports, missing shifts, or just moving slower as the day goes on, you’re already seeing the problem. It often begins with small, repeated motions that quietly wear workers down shift after shift. One of the most common, and most overlooked, is twisting while handling products.
‍
Twisting while handling products may look like part of the job, but over time, it puts serious strain on the back and shoulders. In food processing, where these motions happen repeatedly across long shifts, that strain can build into costly injuries. What starts as minor discomfort can develop into chronic pain, forcing workers off the line and leaving production teams short-staffed.
‍
What It Looks Like:
You’ll often see this motion when workers stand at fixed stations and reach sideways to place products onto conveyors. It also happens when employees load boxes onto pallets, rotate to stack items, or turn while operating equipment. Workers might not even realize they're twisting since they perform these movements so frequently.
‍
Why It Costs You:
Each twist causes small amounts of stress on the spine and surrounding muscles. Over hundreds of repetitions, the stress accumulates into repetitive strain injuries. This not only slows down individual workers as pain increases, but also raises the likelihood of mistakes as employees unconsciously compensate for discomfort. For plant managers, this means slower line speeds, more errors, and higher workers’ compensation costs.
‍
Where It Happens Most:
Workers who spend their shifts reaching above shoulder height face serious risks of shoulder injuries. Unlike heavier lifting tasks, these overhead movements are often overlooked until injuries appear.
‍
What It Looks Like:
This movement shows up when workers lift large bags of ingredients into hoppers, stretch to retrieve tools or supplies from overhead shelves, or engage in repetitive sorting of lightweight items above shoulder height. Workers often perform these tasks without thinking, but the physical toll is significant.
‍
Why It Costs You:
Each overhead reach engages muscles not designed for prolonged strain. Over time, the shoulders and upper back fatigue and break down. Even light loads, when handled above shoulder height repeatedly, lead to overuse injuries like tendonitis or rotator cuff damage. Injured workers either miss shifts or are placed on light duty, which disrupts workflows and slows production output.
‍
Where It Happens Most:
Long periods of forward bending can drain workers’ energy and lead to long-term injuries. In food processing, where static tasks are common, this risk often goes unnoticed until productivity drops.
‍
What It Looks Like:
You’ll see forward bending when workers lean over conveyors to inspect or sort products. Holding static positions, like standing hunched over trimming stations, adds to the problem. In many cases, workers try to “push through” the discomfort, not realizing the damage being done.
‍
Why It Costs You:
Even small forward bends, repeated throughout a shift, place strain on the lower back and core muscles. Add long periods of holding static positions, and fatigue sets in quickly. Workers slow down, their accuracy drops, and they often require medical treatment for chronic soreness or more serious back injuries. As fatigue builds, mistakes increase, further slowing production.
‍
Where It Happens Most:
Relying on floor checks and supervisor walkarounds makes it easy to miss risky movements. Video-based ergonomic assessments give you a clearer, data-driven view of how work is actually performed.
‍
‍
With real data and clear visuals, ergonomic risks stop being hidden problems. But spotting risks is just the first step. Preventing injuries requires practical changes and the right tools to help teams act quickly and consistently.
‍
Preventing injuries doesn’t have to be complicated. TuMeke makes ergonomic improvement simple, scalable, and accessible for any food processing plant. With just a smartphone, your team can start capturing real task data, no sensors, no wearables, no disruption to work.
‍
Here’s how TuMeke helps you spot risks early and take action fast:
Small changes in movement lead to big gains in safety and productivity. Stop letting preventable injuries drain your resources. Schedule your TuMeke trial today. Find the risks. Fix them fast. Protect your people and your bottom line.
‍
‍