Ergonomic injury can take 10 years to show up, and then last for life. Here are methods to stop its development long before symptoms appear. Plus—a valuable free ergonomics resource, yours for the asking.
Are you lucky enough to have a 2-year old at home?
If so, have you, like many parents, bought your youngster one of those cute little baby computers, so he or she can, even at that early age, begin learning to function in the “Technology Century’?
If so, beware, says Professor Alan Hedge, director of the Cornell University Human Factors and Ergonomics Research Group. Unless the computer is ergonomically designed, your youngster could be on the way to a lifelong musculoskeletal disorder by the time he or she reaches adulthood.
You won’t know about it right away, Hedge says. The effects of these injuries take 10 to 15 years to show up, but the damage is done right from the start. “This is very serious,” he adds. “An injury can become life-changing. Carpal tunnel, for example, is not curable. They’ll have to manage this chronic condition for the rest of their lives.”
Download our exclusive 8-page Special Report, Lighten the Load: Identify and Control Ergonomic Hazards in Your Workplace to Prevent Costly Injuries, Increase Productivity, and Keep Workers on the Job. Get it at no cost and no risk with a trial to the Cal/OSHA Compliance Advisor monthly newsletter. Click for info.
Of course, in the workplace, you’re managing adults. But you still have a responsibility to detect and fix the conditions that can lead to later ergonomic disorders.
We get some clues for doing so from Vince McLeod, CIH and Glenn Ketchum, CIH, known as “The Safety Guys,” writing on the alnmag.com website. Their advice includes:
- Look for documentary patterns of ergonomic problems in your operation. These can include higher than normal workers’ comp claims, high rates of turnover, and frequent employee complaints of bodily aches or soreness.
- Video suspect worksites and work in progress. You’re looking for ergonomically damaging ways of working. These include improper posture, constant twisting, turning and reaching, and having to remain in awkward positions for long periods of time. Pay attention to such factors as weight lifted or force applied to do a job, temperature extremes, and high levels of vibration, as well.
- Solutions to the above problems can include modifying the load on the body by reducing weight needed to be carried (Move two lighter boxes in place of one heavier, for example), repositioning the work or worker, mechanical aids such as pallet jacks and power tools, and job rotation, in which workers trade tasks periodically. Even alternating hands on a task can help.
“One should try to achieve a ‘neutral and balanced’ position” in any work process, explain the Safety Guys. “Neutral is typically thought of as the midpoint of motion for most joints …and balanced means whatever is being worked on or moved does not have to fight gravity to maintain a position.”
Lighten the Load
Do the aching backs in your workplace lead to a miserable aching in your head? Ergonomic injuries like back pain, often described by the term “musculoskeletal disorders” (MSDs), are a perennial leading cause of nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses.
Get your own copy of Lighten the Load: Identify and Control Ergonomic Hazards in Your Workplace to Prevent Costly Injuries, Increase Productivity, and Keep Workers on the Job at no cost and with no risk, with a trial to the Cal/OSHA Compliance Advisor monthly newsletter. Click for info.
More than 350,000 American workers suffered ergonomic injuries that resulted in lost work time in 2006, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Ergonomic injuries accounted for nearly 30 percent of total lost-time injuries, and injured workers were off the job for a median nine days—longer than the overall median of seven days for each lost-time injury. Repetitive motion injuries (counted separately from overexertion injuries) resulted in the longest absences from work—a median of 19 lost workdays.
The good news, though, is that when you address ergonomic issues in the workplace, the returns can be huge in terms of worker comfort, productivity, and bottom-line savings.
Download our exclusive Special Report, where we discuss ergonomic hazards and break down the steps involved in creating a program to reduce ergonomic injuries. We’ve included various resource links and provided a training plan you can adapt to implement an ergonomics program and prevent costly injuries.
Best of all, it’s yours absolutely free when you sign up for a free trial of the Cal/OSHA Compliance Advisor. Learn more here.