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US Airways Locals Expand Survey on Injuries at Work
A survey that showed a high rate of repetitive motion, strain and other job-related injuries among CWA members working in customer service at US Airways is being expanded to most domestic airlines reported Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, who has responsibility for safety and health issues.
Members of US Airways locals will distribute about 50,000 surveys nationwide this month to airline ticket and reservation agents. The results will be shared with the airlines, airport authorities, the U.S. Labor Department and congressional subcommittees, said Pam Terry, president of CWA Local 2000.
The original US Airways survey showed a startling number of injuries, largely due to poor computer workstation design at reservation centers and repeated heavy and awkward lifting among airport ticket agents, Terry said.
“A significant number of people, even from our relatively small sample, are working in pain,” she said. “People think of these as white-collar jobs but there’s a lot of blue-collar work involved, and it takes a toll after the years.”
The widespread survey is the first of its kind among airline agents in the United States, said Dave LeGrande, CWA’s occupational safety and health director. US Airways locals are conducting the study with the help of the CWA safety and health office and the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Industrial Engineering, which is noted for its research into workplace ergonomics.
About 25 percent of CWA’s 10,000 members at US Airways completed the survey, a strong rate of return for a poll. “The employees were thrilled,” Terry said. “No one had ever asked them these questions before. They eagerly filled them out.”
Terry and other leaders from US Airways locals met with company officials in February to discuss the survey results. “They’re showing interest in addressing our concerns,” she said.
Agents reported hand and wrist injuries and pain in arms, shoulders, necks, backs and legs. Lifting was a particular problem. The airline industry has a 70-pound weight restriction for bags, but LeGrande said that’s too heavy. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends a limit of 51 pounds.
“If you’re repeatedly lifting objects above 51 pounds, without assistance from equipment or other people, you’re going to have lower back problems, and probably shoulder and neck pain,” LeGrande said. “It’s not just the lifting. It’s the lifting, twisting and bending at the same time all through the day.”
Terry said it will be telling to see what differences are reported among agents who work at older airports and agents at some of the newer or remodeled airports that were designed with ergonomics in mind. “At Salt Lake City, for instance, the ticket agent is able to sit at the counter and the passenger does the lifting," to put bags on the conveyor belt, she said.
LeGrande said the survey will establish a baseline for health and safety issues among the industry’s customer service agents. "What we learn should help improve working conditions for all airline workers, as well as make a significant contribution to scientific research in this area,” he said.
Although the survey is a first for airline workers in the United States, he said airlines and unions in Europe have studied ergonomic problems for years. “Scandinavian countries, in particular, and Germany, are way ahead of us on ergonomics,” he said. “We’ll be working with unions in other counties to share information.”
CWA officials have likened the ergonomics effort to the campaign flight attendants successfully launched years ago to ban smoking on domestic flights. “There’s a certain amount of consciousness-raising with the public,” Terry said. “We’ve got to help them understand why this is an issue for us.”
Members of US Airways locals will distribute about 50,000 surveys nationwide this month to airline ticket and reservation agents. The results will be shared with the airlines, airport authorities, the U.S. Labor Department and congressional subcommittees, said Pam Terry, president of CWA Local 2000.
The original US Airways survey showed a startling number of injuries, largely due to poor computer workstation design at reservation centers and repeated heavy and awkward lifting among airport ticket agents, Terry said.
“A significant number of people, even from our relatively small sample, are working in pain,” she said. “People think of these as white-collar jobs but there’s a lot of blue-collar work involved, and it takes a toll after the years.”
The widespread survey is the first of its kind among airline agents in the United States, said Dave LeGrande, CWA’s occupational safety and health director. US Airways locals are conducting the study with the help of the CWA safety and health office and the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Industrial Engineering, which is noted for its research into workplace ergonomics.
About 25 percent of CWA’s 10,000 members at US Airways completed the survey, a strong rate of return for a poll. “The employees were thrilled,” Terry said. “No one had ever asked them these questions before. They eagerly filled them out.”
Terry and other leaders from US Airways locals met with company officials in February to discuss the survey results. “They’re showing interest in addressing our concerns,” she said.
Agents reported hand and wrist injuries and pain in arms, shoulders, necks, backs and legs. Lifting was a particular problem. The airline industry has a 70-pound weight restriction for bags, but LeGrande said that’s too heavy. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends a limit of 51 pounds.
“If you’re repeatedly lifting objects above 51 pounds, without assistance from equipment or other people, you’re going to have lower back problems, and probably shoulder and neck pain,” LeGrande said. “It’s not just the lifting. It’s the lifting, twisting and bending at the same time all through the day.”
Terry said it will be telling to see what differences are reported among agents who work at older airports and agents at some of the newer or remodeled airports that were designed with ergonomics in mind. “At Salt Lake City, for instance, the ticket agent is able to sit at the counter and the passenger does the lifting," to put bags on the conveyor belt, she said.
LeGrande said the survey will establish a baseline for health and safety issues among the industry’s customer service agents. "What we learn should help improve working conditions for all airline workers, as well as make a significant contribution to scientific research in this area,” he said.
Although the survey is a first for airline workers in the United States, he said airlines and unions in Europe have studied ergonomic problems for years. “Scandinavian countries, in particular, and Germany, are way ahead of us on ergonomics,” he said. “We’ll be working with unions in other counties to share information.”
CWA officials have likened the ergonomics effort to the campaign flight attendants successfully launched years ago to ban smoking on domestic flights. “There’s a certain amount of consciousness-raising with the public,” Terry said. “We’ve got to help them understand why this is an issue for us.”