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Your production or research areas should be as professional as your office environment. Make one of our standard paint colors your corporate color or we will custom paint your existing corporate color for a professional look throughout your building.
Orders ship KD or "fully assembled" KD is the default. Also, we can quote installation at your facility if you prefer.
It would be hard to imagine a workbench accessory not available from Proline. However, any special product you may need is available from our "custom shop" (ten pieces minimum order) – send a request for quotation
O.E.M.'sIf you are an "Original Equipment Manufacturer" and the product(s) you manufacture incorporate (or could incorporate) some type of table, shelf or stand ….partner with Proline, buy them wholesale, and boost your sales! (We will color match to your product.)
Overall, the workplace has become safer, healthier, and more productive. What's more, it is a trend that has been ongoing for years and shows no signs of letting up. This is far from a subjective observation – this is what the statistics say.
Consider the recent history. The bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor reported that nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses among private industry employers in 2006 occurred at a rate of 4.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers, a decline from 4.6 cases in 2005. Similarly, the number of nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses reported in 2006 declined to 4.1 million cases, compared to 4.2 million cases in 2005. This is not a recent aberration: Workplace injuries and illnesses have dropped for the ninth consecutive year, reaching an all-time low. Even more impressive, the 2006 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) revealed that the total recordable case (TRC) injury and illness incidence rate among private industry employers in 2006 was the lowest since the SOII was first conducted in 1972.
A large percentage of this downward trend occurred in the area of Cumulative Trauma Disorders, or CTD's. This class of workplace injury is the result of small, repeated doses of damage rather than a single incident. In 1980, only 18% of work-related illness could be laid at the doorstep of ergonomic disorders; by 1990, that figure had risen to a staggering 55%, with injuries to the back and trunk leading the way.
How do we explain the almost decade-long drop in these incidents? While there are many reasons, health promotion experts and organizations such as the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are quick to credit ergonomics as a primary factor. Ergonomics is the application of scientific information concerning humans to the design of objects, systems and environment for human use. In more specific workplace terms, it is defined as how companies design tasks and work areas to maximize the efficiency and quality of employees' work, while reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.
A critical aspect of ergonomics is the equipment that workers use. And companies like Proline are at the forefront of the effort to bring ergonomic principles to the workplace and keep employees in a variety of industries healthier, safer – and happier.
Stop Injuries Before They StartOne of the overriding principles behind ergonomics is the prevention of injuries before they start. In the case of back injuries – the most disabling and costly injuries not only to industry but to the employees affected – primary prevention is complicated by our poor understanding of the etiology or chain of causation of back injury.
What can be done to improve your productivity as well as protect employees' health? There is an effective, threefold approach:1. Evaluate the injuries. When and how are injuries occurring? Are workers aging or out of shape? Are new employees predominately the ones getting hurt?
2. Redesign the job. Once the evaluation is done, redesigning the job to conform to sound ergonomic principles is probably the single most important factor in increasing productivity and reducing worker injuries.
3. Re-evaluate your equipment. Take a long, hard look at the equipment that employees are using to perform their jobs. Does the equipment, particularly the workbenches, feature a worker-friendly, ergonomic design that will reduce strain and fatigue?
This is What We DoWhether you are revamping an assembly line, or replacing a single piece of equipment, the idea is the same: try to make the job fit the worker; don't try to force-fit increasingly diverse workers to the job. The solutions can run the gamut, from high-priced mechanical lifting devices or robotics to simple, inexpensive ergonomic workbenches.
This is where Proline comes in. Since the 1978 debut of the first generation Model HD (still our most popular model) and our retractable ball transfer table, Proline has been the leader in ergonomic workstation design. Each year since then we have introduced new basic model workbenches, ergonomic accessories and ergonomic handling devices. Within this site you will find what we feel is the "Leading Edge in Modular Ergonomics."
Today, professional high-tech environments require more than strength, modularity and ergonomic design in their workbenches. They also require pleasing aesthetics. While manufacturing furniture can't be as plush as office furniture, management still wants manufacturing and personnel to feel they are working in a professional environment. Proline equipment not only provides the necessary functionality but the aesthetics to create a professional-looking workplace.
Please keep in mind that the field of industrial ergonomic design is still emerging. The products found here are those with broad applications. Many of our orders are designed for a customer's unique application. Start by calling or faxing a freehand sketch to your distributor or the factory. (Proline's complete product catalog can be easily downloaded from the website. We will return your idea as a drawing and with a quotation.
Sincerely,
Robert W. Hatfield Jr.
President & C.E.O.
