Train to Reduce Pain

Encourage open communication between yourself and workers so that they feel free to report to you any physical problems that might affect their work.

1. Encourage open communication between yourself and workers so that they feel free to report to you any physical problems that might affect their work.
2. Examine work processes and workstation arrangements to see if they might be causing aches and pains.

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Whatever safety meeting you need, chances are you’ll find it prewritten and ready to use in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library on CD. Try it at no cost or risk. Here’s how.

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Because one of the leading causes of aches and pains on the job is musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), use ergonomics to protect your workers. MSDs are disorders of the nervous system or soft tissue brought on by five workplace-related risk factors:

1. Repetition
2. Force
3. Awkward postures
4. Contact stress
5. Vibration

 

Do your workers encounter any of these factors in their daily jobs?

Train your workers to recognize the symptoms and signs of possible MSDs. Instruct workers to tell you if they experience:

• Shooting pain or stiffness in back or neck
• Pain, stiffness, or loss of mobility in shoulders
• Shooting or stabbing pains or numbness in arms or legs
• Pain, swelling, stiffness, or soreness in elbow or knee joints
• General pain, swelling, tingling, numbness, coldness, burning sensation, or loss of strength or coordination in hands or wrists
• Loss of mobility, snapping or jerking movements, loss of strength, loss of feeling, or severe pain in fingers
• Pain at the base of the thumb
• Tingling, numbness, coldness, stiffness, or a burning sensation in feet or toes

Even if workers don’t report aches and pains to you, if you see them displaying the following signs, they may have an MSD-related injury:

• Vigorously shaking their hands as if trying to get the circulation back
• Massaging hands, wrists, or arms
• Cradling arms
• Limping
• Walking stiffly—may indicate a sore back

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We challenge you to NOT find a safety meeting you need, already prewritten, in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library. Take up our challenge at no cost or risk. Get the details.

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Help workers prevent MSDs by using ergonomic principles in your work area. These include:

• Training workers to maintain a neutral stance as they do their job
• Adjusting work spaces to workers so that MSD risk factors are minimized or eliminated
• Providing workers with ergonomically designed tools
• Arranging work tasks so that workers engage in a variety of positions and actions throughout their shift

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Why It Matters …

• Approximately 1.8 million workers in the United States report work-related MSDs each year.
• About one-third of those injuries, or 600,000 injuries, cause workers to take time off from work.
• MSDs cost American businesses an estimated $7.4 billion a year in workers’ compensation costs and additional billions in medical treatment and hidden costs.

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