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| Solution: Spring-Assisted Drywall Finishing Tools |
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| Description: |
If you use typical flat joint or corner joint “mudboxes” for drywall finishing, you need to use a lot of strength to push the compound out of the box. The forceful, repetitive pushing motions combined with reaching overhead can cause fatigue. Eventually this work can lead to serious wrist, arm, shoulder, and back injuries. With a flat joint mudbox, you often have to push hard while bending your wrist and back. When you bend like this while pushing forcefully, you increase your chance of developing a muscle or joint injury. Your risk is higher when you do the same job over and over. Finishers say that corner boxes require them to push even harder than flat boxes, because you have to squeeze the compound into a tighter space. The photo on the left shows the problem, while the photo on the right illustrates the solution. |
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| Risks Addressed: | Wrist, arm, shoulder, and back injuries associated with the repetitive motions involved in drywall finishing. |
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| How Risks are Reduced: |
Spring-powered finishing tools reduce or eliminate the pushing associated with manual drywall finishing mudboxes, thus reducing the likelihood of injury or illness due to bending while pushing forcefully. Quality of Evidence
Reducing the forces that need to be exerted to perform a task that involves awkward postures and overhead work will reduce the risk of injury. Spring loaded pans require less force to extrude joint compound or mud. |
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| Effects on Productivity: |
A spring-powered mudbox should reduce a worker’s chance of developing a muscle or joint injury. Quality of Evidence A spring-powered mudbox should reduce a worker’s chance of developing a muscle or joint injury. More than 80% of the workers involved in one study liked using the new spring loaded tools much better than the older ones. After using both new tools, all workers in the study said they were not as tired as when using the regular tools. Most said they had less pain. Spring-powered flat boxes gave the same results and were just as fast as regular boxes. However, they led to less worker fatigue and pain, and workers said they got more done because they were less tired. They also were able to use the new boxes for a longer time without becoming fatigued. In addition, most workers said that the new spring-powered corner tool was faster and easier to use, compared to the older corner boxes. |
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| Return on Investment: | No specific calculation ROI information exists for this particular solution, however, there are some general approaches that might be useful for a “Return On Investment” analysis. For a general discussion of these approaches, visit our “Return on Investment Calculation” page. | ||
| Availability: | Where to Get It
Approximate Cost You can rent or purchase these tools. Rentals cost about the same as for regular boxes. One manufacturer sells a set of three spring-powered flat boxes for about $1,300 and a spring-powered corner finisher for about $1,400. |
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| Additional Considerations: | Also consider pneumatic and other finishing tool options depending on the scale of your project. Spring loaded mudboxes are commonly available for rent in most regions of the US. |
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Sources: | Albers, James T., and Estill, Cheryl F. Simple Solutions: Ergonomics for Construction Workers. DHHS(NIOSH) Pub. No. 2007-122. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh. To see other solutions from this NIOSH document visit: http://www.cpwr.com/simple.html |
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