(MENAFN-EIN Presswire)
Load alone
David Murphy, inventor of LoadAlone
Why LoadAlone was invented
LoadAlone is an affordable automated mortuary loading and unloading system. A solution that prevents back injuries; The patented system offers additional personal protection.” – David MurphyNEW CITY, NY, USA, March 7, 2022 /EINPresswire.com / – They say that necessity is the mother of invention. In the case of the groundbreaking invention LoadAloneTM, this is very true.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Murphy to talk to him about how he came to invent LoadAloneTM.
What made you decide to become a funeral director?
Murphy: I grew up in a funeral home. I went to my first move when I was about 12 and helped my dad with a phone call. My father bought me a suit and I helped out at funerals, sometimes as a pallbearer. I studied environmental chemistry and moved away from home to sow my oats. After 2 years on the Bering Sea as a fisheries biologist, working 18 hour days and smelling like fish, my father’s job started to look a lot better.
How long have you been a funeral director?
Murphy: I graduated from Mortuary School at The Simmons School of Mortuary Science with a degree in Mortuary Science in Syracuse, NY and received my license in 1996. I did my residency with my father and then gained more experience working at a funeral home in Geneva, NY before joining my father full time.
How long has Paul L. Murphy & Sons Funeral Home been in business?
Murphy: My father bought the company in 1968. I did my residency in 1995 and joined permanently in 1997 and my brother joined in 1998.
What made you invent LoadAloneTM?
Murphy: I got hit by a driver and became paraplegic. I was told I would never leave again, but I was determined to prove them wrong. After a few years of rehabilitation, I knew if I could stand and push a shopping cart, I could push a stretcher. I went back to work moving, but had to pay someone to pick me up to help load the bodies into the moving truck. Paying someone who reduces profits. I had to find another way. During your work as a fisheries biologist, you used a winch to load a hundred tons of fish onto the boat. I used this knowledge and experience to develop a remote controlled system for loading and unloading bodies in and out of moving vehicles. I was successful and received a patent for LoadAloneTM.
How did you make Paul L. Murphy & Sons a funeral home with no elevator?
Murphy: Once again, profit was a motivator. My father is 85. My brother had hernia problems and I am paraplegic. If we couldn’t free ourselves from the lift, we had to hire extra help. We added an elevator to the embalming room. We have an elevator from the first to the second floor and we installed coffin casters so none of us have to lift. The final piece was LoadAloneTM so we didn’t have to hoist in and out of the mover.
What are the advantages and benefits of Lift-Free?
Murphy: There are many advantages. Obviously there is a profit advantage in not having to hire a second person for moves or to help with the funeral home lifts. There is a reduction in back injuries, shoulder injuries, strains and hernias. Fewer injuries mean longer careers. Here, too, higher profits, since with fewer injuries the professional association premiums are reduced in the long term.
You keep talking about injuries, how common are they at funeral homes?
Murphy: OSHA statistics aren’t kept for funeral homes because most homes are understaffed. They are kept for rescue workers. Rescue workers are three (3) times more likely to sustain lifting injuries than construction workers or other occupations. Ambulances are equipped with $55,000 Stryker lifting systems to reduce injuries and reduce insurance premiums. As a funeral home, we probably have a higher injury rate because most funeral homes before LoadAloneTM didn’t have an elevator system and we have less help with moves than ambulance workers. With an 80% injury rate, 75% of those injured will experience recurrence of the injury. This means that 60% of all FDs with recurring accidents at work retire.
Talking about OSHA, how familiar are you with OSHA and its regulations?
Murphy: In my work building LoadAlone™, I took courses and became an OSHA Certified Consultant in 2019. I have learned that LoadAloneTM meets OSHA regulations regarding lifting. OSHA regulations state that an employer, if available, MUST provide lifting equipment to assist in lifting weights over 60 pounds. There was no such device before LoadAloneTM, and now there is. Now that lifting equipment is available, an injured worker can sue their employer for not providing the lifting equipment.
What was the largest body you loaded unaided?
Murphy: There’s a truth to our business; The bodies keep getting bigger. I’ve loaded multiple bodies in excess of 500 pounds myself with LoadAloneTM. Haven’t had the 800-pounder yet, probably coming, but with LoadAloneTM it won’t be a problem
As a paraplegic, how do you deal with house moves where a body has to be carried down the stairs?
Murphy: Less than 10% of all moves are from houses where the body has to be brought downstairs. On those few occasions, I either get help from the police or I bring someone with me.
What is the response of other funeral homes to LoadAloneTM?
Murphy: Once a week I get calls from FDs who bought LoadAloneTM from us to thank us for a) saving their backs…because our industry isn’t about if you hurt yourself, it’s when… b) because you help increase profits; c) for extending her career and d) “I wish I had had this years ago before I got injured”.
What’s next for LoadAloneTM?
Murphy: We’re always looking to improve LoadAloneTM. We strive to keep LoadAloneTM affordable. We cover less than 10% of the cost of the Stryker lifting system used by ambulances. Currently, most funeral homes are eligible for a 50% tax credit when purchasing LoadAloneTM.
Bernie Slome
+1 845-598-1681
email us here
Load alone
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
LoadAlone Demo
MENAFN07032022003118003196ID1103808659
Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without any warranty of any kind. We assume no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality or reliability of any information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this item, please contact the above vendor.
Comments are closed.