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July / August 2007

Table of Contents :

1. Minimizing Injuries - One Step at a Time
   Step 3: Management Training

2. Job Analysis Tip #7: Sustained Standing and Back Pain

3. Think Safe! The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

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Minimizing Injuries - One Step at a Time

Step 3: Management Training

In our past two newsletters we tackled the first steps in our “Minimizing Injuries” series:
Step 1: Make sense of your injury data
Step 2: Ergonomic analysis

We’re now ready to address the often overlooked, but critically important third step, Management Training. Without comprehensive management training, work injury reduction programs will suffer and, in many cases, fail.

Why is Management Training so critical to the success of a program? Upper management, middle management, supervisors and labor leaders all need to be on the same page when it comes to injury reduction and their roles and responsibilities. They must receive aggressive, expert education on injuries of the neck, arm and low back. They need to be fully educated on the causes of these types of injuries. Managers also need to know how to handle injury claims properly so as to minimize the costs of these claims.

Management Training should consist of the following components:

1. Instruction the anatomy and biomechanics of frequently injured areas (neck, back, arms).
2. Identification of activities that can lead to injury of these areas (ie: forward bending, overhead reaching, etc.).
3. Identification of other risk factors for injury (ie: new employees, an aging workforce, etc.)
4. Education in how to minimize the incidence of work injury through ergonomic changes, micro stretch breaks for employees, job rotation, etc.
5. Instruction in the necessity of early identification and reporting of work-pain problems.
6. Education in the importance of management’s role in enforcement of proper work practices and employee compliance to these practices.

Comprehensive management training will virtually guarantee the success of your organization’s injury reduction program. For help finding qualified management trainers and proven management training programs, contact CISonsite at (866) 298-1312.

Stay tuned to our next newsletter to learn more in our series of Minimizing Injuries – One Step at a Time. If you've missed any of our previous newsletters, visit www.cisonsite.com and click on Newsletter then Archives.

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Job Analysis Tip #7:

Sustained Standing and Back Pain

If you think work-related back injuries are only for those who lift a lot, think again. Employees who are in a sustained standing position for a significant portion of their day are also at risk for developing a back injury.

Sustained standing can lead to fatigue of the low back muscles – and fatigued muscles are more easily injured.

There are several ways to minimize low back fatigue associated with sustained standing:

1. Sit-Stand Option: In many situations, it is possible for an employee to perform the job in a standing or sitting position. There are a number of “sit-stand” stools available on the market for this purpose.
2. Foot Rest: Provide the employee with a foot rest to prop one foot up on when standing. This helps to minimize the stresses on the muscles of the low back. Encourage them to alternate feet throughout the day.
3. Anti-Fatigue Mats/Insoles: Using quality anti-fatigue mats or shock-absorbing insoles can significantly reduce the amount of muscle fatigue an employee experiences.
4. Stretch Breaks: Employees should be encouraged to take a 15-30 second break hourly to get out of the standing position. In most cases, performing one of the stretches pictured below can be very helpful in relieving fatigue in the low back muscles. Hold these positions for 15 seconds and repeat hourly when working in a sustained standing position.
   
   
   
5. Variety: Our bodies love variety - even perfect posture can be irritating to our bodies if it's maintained for an extended period of time. Break up sustained standing time as much as possible throughout the day by walking or even marching in place. This variety of posture and activity will result in improved blood flow and less fatigue at the end of the day.

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Think Safe!

The Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

(Adopted from the American Lung Association, June 2007 and the AAOHN Journal, Jan. 2007)

Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. It is involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers, lingers in the air hours after cigarettes have been extinguished and can cause or exacerbate a wide range of adverse health effects, including cancer, respiratory infections, and asthma.

 

• Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen).
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. It causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.
• Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to young children. It is responsible for 430 sudden infant death syndrome cases in the U.S. annually. Additionally, it causes acute respiratory infections, ear problems and severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms in children and slows lung growth.
• Among adults, secondhand smoke exposure has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.
• No risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke exists.
• Only complete elimination of smoking indoors will fully protect nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke.

For more information on secondhand smoke or on how to quit smoking, please visit the American Lung Association website at www.lungusa.org.

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