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September / October 2006

In our last newsletter, we discussed Management's critical role in injury prevention. And while it's an organization's responsibility to provide a safe workplace, employees also have a crucial role in the prevention of injuries. As an employee, you must take responsibility for using your body safely on the job .

Use Proper Body Mechanics and Safe Work Methods: Your employer must train you in the proper postures, lifting techniques, and safe work methods for your given job. Once trained, you must be responsible and accountable for complying with these safe methods.
Mix It Up: Many workplace injuries are contributed to by repetitive motions and sustained postures. Whenever possible, you should "mix things up" in order to improve blood flow to the working tissues. Some ways to "mix it up" include: job rotation, job task rotation, doing the same job a different way, taking micro-breaks to stretch out.
Stretch It Out: Improving blood flow to the working tissues can reduce fatigue, prevent injury, and facilitate repair to over-worked structures. Take 15-30-60 seconds to stretch every hour or so. However, not all stretches are appropriate for everyone. A physical therapist or medical ergonomist can design a stretching program that is job-specific and right for you.
Take Care of the Working Body: While you may not have the same job 20 years from now, you will have the same body . It will serve you well to take good care of it. This means eating well, exercising regularly, not smoking, and doing what you can to reduce stress. People who don't take care of the working body are at significantly more risk for suffering a work-related injury.
Speak Up: If you observe a safety problem or have an idea to improve safety in the workplace, let your supervisor know - and demand a prompt response. Additionally, if you experience a work-pain problem, report it early when it can be addressed quickly and effectively.

By following these simple guidelines, you'll have less fatigue, be more productive inside and outside of work, and will be far less likely to incur a debilitating injury.

Take responsibility for YOUR body today!

If you're an employer looking for quality employee education in injury prevention with a proven track record for sucess, visit the CISonsite website at www.cisonsite.com for more information.

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Job Analysis Tip #6: Grip and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Millions of workers spend much of their workday gripping hand tools, steering wheels, machine controls, etc. These forceful gripping activities can increase pressure within the carpal tunnel and lead to irritation of the tendons and the nerve within it. This can result in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS).

However, there are several things that you can do to minimize the negative effects of gripping.

Modify Tool Diameter: Put the tips of your thumb and your index finger together - this is the ideal grip diameter for your hand. For most adults, this diameter is 1.5 to 2 inches. If a tool has a diameter that is much smaller or larger than this, more grip force required to use the tool - potentially causing greater irritation in the carpal tunnel.

There are a variety of materials available to customize or modify the handle of most hand tools: Magic Wrap, Plastic Dip, My Grip, Thermoplastic, Heat Shrink Tubing, Tool Wrap, Plastazote, and pipe insulation .

Non-Slip Grip: Objects that are smooth or wet require more grip force to manipulate. Tools can be coated with a non-slip material or gloves with slip resistant material on the palm and fingers can also be purchased. In cases where tools are used by one individual only, some of the previously mentioned materials be applied to create custom molded finger grips.

Minimize Vibration: Many powered hand tools expose the user to large amounts of vibration in a localized area, especially the hand. Over a prolonged period of time, this vibration can increase the risk of chronic musculoskeletal disorders such as CTS.

Power tools designed with anti-vibration materials or anti-vibration mounts/handles have had limited success in reducing the amount of transmitted vibration. There are vibration dampening gloves on the market that attempt to dampen the vibration transmitted to the hands, wrists and upper extremities. Additionally, proper maintenance of power tools is important so as to prevent any added vibration due to a failing bearing, or worn, out-of-balance parts.

Minimize Aggravating Activities: Sustained and repetitive gripping activities further contribute to aggravation of the carpal tunnel. To minimize these stresses, consider redesigning the process, redistributing the work, or allowing for frequent breaks from these activities throughout the workday.

Additionally, avoid bending or extending of the wrist while gripping. These motions in and of themselves are irritating to the carpal tunnel. Combining them with grip is even more damaging.

If you would like more information on how to minimize injuries in the workplace, please visit www.cisonsite.com .

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Think Safe! Minimizing Complacency in the Workplace

Every day in the United States , hundreds of workers are injured - or even killed - as a result of complacency in the workplace. Complacency is that "it won't happen to me" attitude.

Too often individuals and companies become complacent when it comes to safety. Managers may be satisfied with mediocre safety performance and do not work to raise safety awareness or eliminate the potential for injury. Employees get in a hurry and take shortcuts on the job. Both management and employees are more focused on production and getting the job done than in getting the job done safely . .

When managers and supervisors do not make safety a top priority in the organization, it is easy for employees to make personal safety a low priority. Then incidents and injuries occur with increasing frequency. There are two things that must happen to avoid this dangerous situation:

Managers must renew their commitment to the safety process
Employees must get involved in meaningful safety activities.

Managers - Get Committed!

Managers can demonstrate their commitment to safety in a number of ways. First and foremost, managers must follow the company's safety rules. Then, regularly attend safety meetings. Also consider the following ideas.

Take time to walk around and talk to employees.
Visit employees in their workplaces. Talk about your personal concern for safety, and then listen to their concerns. Take personal action to correct unsafe situations and follow up to let employees know the outcomes.
Make it a point to personally review all reports of near misses and injuries.
When managers review reports of injuries and near misses, it demonstrates the information's importance. Follow up on the reports to ensure that appropriate actions are taken to eliminate the causes of incidents in your organization that could result in larger, bigger direct hits. Take care to ensure that your follow up is a positive action rather than a punitive one.
Integrate safety into all aspects of management planning.
During the organizational planning process include safety goals and objectives then ensure that the budget includes appropriate items for safety improvement. Communicate your organization's safety performance expectations goals, objectives to the management level and to your employees
Enable employees to get involved in the safety process.
Identify areas where employees can become actively involved in the safety process and encourage their participation by allowing work time for appropriate activities. Ask employees with specific skills or interests to participate in safety improvement projects. Then recognize their involvement and efforts.

Encourage Employee Involvement

Make employees aware of how they can get involved in the safety process. Involvement can come in many different forms. Encourage employees to get involved in the following activities and others:

Reporting all unsafe conditions
Attending safety meetings
Serving on employee safety committees
Planning and leading a safety meeting
Participating in incident investigations and facility walk-throughs
Engaging in conversations with supervisors and managers to share improvement ideas.

Employees whose ideas and involvement are valued will increase safety performance faster than employees who are just simply following the rules. Create opportunities for employees to contribute ideas and information that will lead to safety improvement.

Everyone in the workplace needs to be reminded that complacency is a dangerous thing. Show employees the relevance of working safe to their jobs, careers, paychecks, and, most importantly, their families. This will create an environment where everyone at every level in the organization will increase their commitment and their involvement in making the workplace injury-free. The result is that everyone can go home every day to their families without injury.

This article is excerpted from: http://www.sideroad.com/Workplace_Safety/workplace-safety-article.html

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