June is National Safety Month and we are excited to join the National Safety Council in observing this important initiative.
Spread Awareness, Prevent Injuries
The goal of National Safety Month is to increase public awareness of the leading health risks and decrease the number of injuries and fatalities at the jobsite. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,764 occupational fatalities and 2.7 million work-related injuries occurred in 2020 alone. These findings emphasize how vital it is to promote workplace safety.
Each week in June will focus on a different topic. Week 1 focuses on the leading cause of injury in the workplace:
Musculoskeletal Disorders
These are defined as injuries of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints, cartilage, bones, or blood vessels in the arms, legs, head, neck, or back caused or aggravated by tasks such as lifting, pushing and pulling.
These types of injuries include:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Tendinitis
- Rotator cuff injuries (affects the shoulder)
- Epicondylitis
- Muscle strains and lower back injuries
Sprains and strains can affect employees’ quality of life and cost employers millions each year in workers’ compensation claims and lost productivity. These disorders account for nearly 70 million physician office visits in the United States annually. As such, it is important to try to prevent these soft tissue injuries from occurring through the implementation of employee safety training and administrative controls.
Training, evaluation, and focusing on ergonomics – as outlined in these tips from OSHA – will help reduce your risk of injury and keep your team safe.
A Process for Protecting Workers
Employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their workers. The number and severity of MSDs resulting from physical overexertion, and their associated costs, can be substantially reduced by applying ergonomic principles.
Implementing an ergonomic process is effective in reducing the risk of developing MSDs in high-risk industries as diverse as construction, food processing, firefighting, office jobs, healthcare, transportation and warehousing. The following are important elements of an ergonomic process:
- Provide Management Support – A strong commitment by management is critical to the overall success of an ergonomic process. Management should define clear goals and objectives for the ergonomic process, discuss them with their workers, assign responsibilities to designated staff members, and communicate clearly with the workforce.
- Involve Workers – A participatory ergonomic approach, where workers are directly involved in worksite assessments, solution development and implementation is the essence of a successful ergonomic process. Workers can:
- Identify and provide important information about hazards in their workplaces.
- Assist in the ergonomic process by voicing their concerns and suggestions for reducing exposure to risk factors and by evaluating the changes made as a result of an ergonomic assessment.
- Provide Training – Training is an important element in the ergonomic process. It ensures that workers are aware of ergonomics and its benefits, become informed about ergonomics related concerns in the workplace, and understand the importance of reporting early symptoms of MSDs.
- Identify Problems – An important step in the ergonomic process is to identify and assess ergonomic problems in the workplace before they result in MSDs.
- Encourage Early Reporting of MSD Symptoms – Early reporting can accelerate the job assessment and improvement process, helping to prevent or reduce the progression of symptoms, the development of serious injuries, and subsequent lost-time claims.
- Implement Solutions to Control Hazards – There are many possible solutions that can be implemented to reduce, control or eliminate workplace MSDs.
- Evaluate Progress – Established evaluation and corrective action procedures are required to periodically assess the effectiveness of the ergonomic process and to ensure its continuous improvement and long-term success. As an ergonomic process is first developing, assessments should include determining whether goals set for the ergonomic process have been met and determining the success of the implemented ergonomic solutions.
Additional Safety Resources for Your Team
The NSC offers access to a month’s worth of free resources to help keep workplaces safe. Sign up now for free Workplace Safety materials: https://nsc.org/nsm
For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov/ergonomics
