Ergonomics for Prevention
As part of Global Ergonomics Month we will be posting a blog each week in October dedicated to Ergonomics.
Have you ever experienced sore wrists after a long day spent typing on the keyboard? Or felt lower back pain while lifting a box from the floor? These symptoms can be related to Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). OSHA states that MSDs affect the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments and tendons. There are many different ways that workers can be exposed to risk factors, such as lifting, bending, pulling, pushing or performing repetitive tasks.1
Ergonomics helps assess the situation that your employee is in and mold the environment to best fit their needs. It is a form of prevention that, when used properly, can mitigate years of pain that MSDs can cause. Using ergonomics for prevention involves three steps.
- Recognizing the different types of MSDs.
- Being proactive instead of reactive.
- Making ergonomically-friendly decisions.
Types of MSDs
We have thrown around the term Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs), but what are some examples of MSDs?
A list of MSDs provided by OSHA includes2:
- Tendonitis: can affect any joint!
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: affects the wrist and forearm
- Rotator cuff injuries: affects the shoulder
- Epicondylitis: affects the elbow
- Trigger finger: affects the finger and hand
- Muscle strains and low back injuries
Have you heard of any of these MSDs before? You probably have, as MSDs account for 43% of all work-related injuries.3
“Between 2003 and 2007, MSD claims resulted in 2.5 billion days off work. During this same period, Ontario employers paid more than $1 billion in direct and indirect costs related to MSDs.”4
It is important to think about MSDs from both the employer and the employee perspectives. While the employer will experience initial financial cost, it is the employee who will suffer physical cost (i.e. MSDs) if they are not aware of what actions need to be taken to avoid them. The employer will not only have injured employees, but will also be spending more money being reactive to MSDs, compared to if they had developed a proactive approach.
Being Proactive vs Reactive
As an employer, these statistics have to make you think: what can you do to help prevent MSDs, boost employee morale, and save your organization money?
One answer is Ergonomics: fitting workstations to your employees rather than fitting employees to their workstation. Ergonomics is the proactive approach that you can implement to help prevent MSDs in the workplace. Every work environment is different, and ergonomics takes that into account. See below for an example:
Having a proactive approach means thinking about ergonomics before it becomes a problem. The reactive approach eventually helped the company, but in the process of two years they lost money through employee sick days and high turnover, and had a number of injured employees as a result.
What can you do ergonomically at work to prevent MSDs?
Provide ergonomic assessments to new employees or when creating new jobs. Ergonomic assessments can include workstation assessments or industrial assessments, which both help your organization understand the risks associated with certain tasks, and adjust those jobs or workstations to make them safer for your employees. This will lead to fewer injuries, better morale and greater productivity.
After a workstation assessment has been completed, ergonomic equipment may be recommended. Recommendations are made to tell you what equipment would best suit each employee, based on the tasks involved with their job. Ergonomic equipment recommendations can include anything from a monitor riser to a sit-stand desk in office settings, or anti-fatigue matting to chairs with fire-retardant fabric in industrial settings.
Provide stretches for your employees to do at their workstation. If they take a few breaks throughout the day to perform stretching it can really help their health! These can be provided through a link to a website, a PDF that they can keep at their desk or on-site stretch breaks provided by an ergonomics or wellness coordinator.
If you would like a copy of our Stretch Break PDF please sign-up for our newsletter below and we will send you a link!
When it comes to ergonomics we recommend taking the proactive approach and keeping your employees healthy from the moment they are hired!
For more information on what Apex Occupational Health and Wellness can do to help your organization with Ergonomics, visit our Ergonomics web page or our Ergonomic Equipment store.
Footnotes
[1] Ergonomics-OSHA
[2] Ergonomics-OSHA
[3] WSPS Musculoskeletal Disorders
[4] WSPS Musculoskeletal Disorders