A smarter, safer way to move green tyres from one machine to another has not only made a positive difference to tyre builders in Goodyear’s Uitenhage manufacturing plant, it has also earned the facility top spot in the company’s global ergonomic challenge.
The addition of an automated tyre chute and lifting mechanism, which makes it quicker and less physically taxing for tyre builders to shift heavy Wrangler tyres between stages, scooped first prize in Goodyear’s regional Ergonomic ‘Find It-Fix It’ challenge. The project also went on to finish in third place globally – a fantastic achievement for both the plant and its dedicated Health and Safety team.
The challenge attracted 109 ergonomic improvement entries from 40 Goodyear factories around the world. The entrants were judged by Goodyear’s Global Health and Safety Group, whose ultimate goal is to make Goodyear’s workplaces so safe that ‘no one gets hurt’. Entries were reduced to a list of finalists from each region, based on the criteria of: risk reduction, creativity, sustainability, waste reduction, productivity improvement and return on investment.
The 2011 Ergonomic challenge was won globally by Goodyear Lux Mold for its Regrooving Depth Indicator Pin Drilling project. South Africa’s Green Tyre Lift Assist placed first in the Europe, Middle East and Europe (EMEA) region.
Simply put, ergonomics is the science of making work operations efficient and comfortable for the human body. Stoffel Williams, Health and Safety Officer at the Goodyear plant in Uitenhage, said it impacted on safety, production flow, operations and costs.
“Ergonomics is simply about taking the pain out of work. It is about doing the job better and smarter, preventing injuries, decreasing fatigue and errors, increase productivity and improving quality of work.”
Goodyear South Africa’s winning ergonomic improvement was made to a tyre building machine, which handles approximately 70 heavy tyres per shift.
“Previously, once the tyre builder finished working with a tyre at the machine, he then lifted it off and hauled it about five metres to the sling truck before dispatching it to the spray booth. This manual function has now been entirely mechanised. The builder now stays at the machine, rolls the tyre into a chute and feeds it to an overhead conveyor by means of an up-lifter.
“These are heavy duty Wrangler tyres, weighing approximately 20 kg. If you consider the daily requirements of approximately 70 tyres, coupled with the force required for lifting and carrying over a five metre distance for seven hours, it is easy to see how fatigue can accumulate and put him at risk of injury.”
As one of many tasks assessed for ergonomics risk, this particular machine was identified as high risk by Williams and his team, and earmarked as a priority for improvement.
“Goodyear’s global vision is that: “No One Gets Hurt”. There are four key pillars that drive this sustainable safety programme: behaviour, ergonomics, management support and compliance. Globally, workplace ergonomics experts Humantech run the ergonomic programme for Goodyear. They established core teams at each plant, of which I am local co-ordinator.
“Ultimately the ergonomic programme is about reducing injuries; however it also contributes to our Continuous Improvement programme. This Tyre Lift is a more efficient way to build tyres in that it has saved on the time spent carrying the tyres and helps our tyre builders to operate at their optimum for longer.
“We run an ongoing internal competition to encourage employees to come up with ideas and initiatives, no matter how simple or how small the change. All ideas are valuable and many improvements have been implemented as a result.
“Employee involvement is key to any successful programme. It is vital for the workers who will be affected by changes to be involved in discussions. They know their job better than anyone else.”
Goodyear tyre builders, from left, Simphiwe Mani, Xola Mgxashe and Siphiwo Adams, with Goodyear Health and Safety Officer Stoffel Williams, sitting in front.
