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Ergonomics: When Work Really Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
July 14, 2015
Workers are oftentimes injured by performing the same physical tasks over and over again. It’s up to employers to address such safety hazards and work to eliminate them.
NIOSH suggests following these seven steps to create your own program to address ergonomics-related hazards:
- Look for signs of potential musculoskeletal-related problems in the workplace. Signs include worker reports of aches and pains or more or more job tasks that require repetitive, forceful exertions.
- As a manager, you must show a commitment to addressing these problems and also encourage employees to become involved in the problem-solving aspect.
- Provide training to help managers and employees better evaluate potential workplace hazards.
- Gather enough data to identify jobs or work conditions that are most problematic. Data can be found in injury and illness logs, medical records and job analyses.
- Identify the most effective controls for jobs or tasks that pose a risk for musculoskeletal injuries. Evaluate the controls once they are in place to determine if they have reduced or eliminated the problem.
- Establish a healthcare management system that emphasizes the importance of early detection and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders to prevent impairment and disability.
- Minimize risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders when planning new work processes and operations.
Start working on your ergonomics program today and reduce this type of worker injury. It’s also a good idea to encourage and help your workers find remedies to injuries they may suffer from performing repetitive tasks. Don’t let these injuries jeopardize their safety.
Company: Seton
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