Funeral directors battle with obesity

A new report from the Royal College of Physicians shows that the rate of obesity in the UK is amongst the highest in the world with 25 per cent of adults now clinically obese – this is having a huge impact on the funeral and mortuary sector.
Funeral and mortuary workers’ biggest health risk comes from back injuries and muscular strain according to the British Institute of Embalmers.
The risk of injury through manual handling is growing as the UK’s funeral parlours struggle with a growing obese population.
It is a trend already recognised in the funeral parlours of the US where morticians are already changing their business model to accommodate larger ‘clients’. The standard US sized coffin or casket has already increased from 24 inches to 27 inches with one manufacturer, Goliath Caskets, building coffins of up to 52 inches wide that can hold a person between 800lbs (363kg) and 1000 lbs (454kg).
In the UK such is the concern about the consequences of workplace injuries that risk assessments must be routinely carried out where the combined weight of a corpse and coffin could be a problem. And some funeral directors now believe that the tradition of pallbearers carrying coffins at funeral services is under threat because of Britain's soaring obesity problem.
Known disasters have included the funeral firm who couldn't get a casket through the door, the coffin that buckled with the weight of the body while on a stand during the service and a coffin that wouldn't close.
Meanwhile, some families are being forced to buy two plots to accommodate a coffin and vans rather than cars are required to transport large coffins.
Last year a crematorium in Bath, Somerset, spent thousands of pounds installing large cremators to cater for the increasing number of oversized coffins and staff were regularly having to turn grieving families away because relatives were too big to be cremated at the site.
A new report from the Royal College of Physicians shows that the rate of obesity in the UK is amongst the highest in the world, exceeded only by the US. Approximately 25% of UK adults are obese and it is estimated that the majority of Britain’s population will be obese by 2050.
As our managing director Jon Ellis says: “An increased number of seriously overweight people has meant health and safety regulations have restricted usual practices at more and more funeral services.
“With the combined weight of a corpse and a coffin regularly exceeding 35 stone, funeral directors have to use trolleys and lifting equipment instead of professional pallbearers and family mourners.
“Moreover, funeral professionals are increasingly faced with making a ‘first call’ when they remove the deceased from their place of death to the funeral home. Quite often they are encountering a situation where they have to man handle a body from a house or care home with very little room for maneuver.”
As a result Ferno is witnessing an increasing demand among funeral professionals for equipment that both protects staff from injury while managing the deceased with dignity and decorum.
Jon says: “Funeral directors are more aware of their obligations to staff in terms of what they can carry.”
We recently launched the X Lifter - a new lightweight body lifting solution for the funeral and mortuary sector. The X Lifter makes it possible for anyone to single handedly easily load and unload a coffin rack.
The X Lifter is available with two attachments - a tilting embalming top and a coffin frame. The embalming top comes complete with six body rests while the coffin frame has four rubber rollers that can be manufactured to suit individual needs and requirements.
We have also developed a Coffin Buggy for funeral professionals who have long demanded a more compact and diverse answer to solve common issues associated with other lifting equipment. The coffin buggy features a ribbed rubber top to protect the coffin and prevent slippage, and swivel castors with double wheels for extra load bearing and to enable the buggy to run on all floor surfaces.
Meanwhile, the Ferno 24-MAXX trolley with its unique, independent-leg design and wide surface, allows funeral professionals to transport bodies weighing up to 450kg reducing the risk of back injuries. The trolley allows for easy maneuverability in tight areas and down stairs.
John Weir of the National Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors, says: “Even five years ago this was not a problem. It was rare to have a coffin that couldn't be physically carried. Now it's every single week. Health and safety regulations prevent us from legally carrying coffins in many cases.”
Jon Ellis says: “The overriding concern of funeral directors is that the funeral goes ahead with dignity. There's nothing less dignified than the sight of pall bearers struggling with excess weight.”
Working closely with a number of funeral companies, we expect to further expand our range of super-sized equipment as funeral directors and morticians struggle with the obesity problem.
As with all things it is also about managing the risk. Just as funeral directors will have rules for dealing with infection control, hazardous chemicals and vehicle safety so too should they have a strategy for manual handling.
Where possible avoid manual handling particularly for heavy or awkward loads. Instead, consider the use of stretchers, body scoops, roll-in multi-level cots, trolleys, church trucks and so on.
Other areas to consider include laying out funeral premises to aid the movement and storage of coffins, stretchers and trolleys; training staff in lifting techniques and practices such as how to use mechanical aids; and, as a general rule, insist on two people lifting an empty coffin rather than one person alone.