Tag Archive for: healthy workplace

October is Global Ergonomics Month!  As Occupational Therapists, a large part of what we do involves ensuring proper ergonomics for our clients at work or school, at home and at play.  The following from the Public Services Health and Safety Association provides you with some great information and resources for Ergo Month.

For more information check out some of our articles on ergonomics and download our free E-book “Cost Effective Ergonomic Solutions.”

Happy Ergo Month!

The Public Services Health and Safety Association:  Ergo Month

With the change in routine through the summer months, it is time to rethink about how we are sitting and working all day to make sure our body can adjust to the new routines that are devoid of summer vacation and summer activities.

In our previous posts, we have discussed using proper ergonomics to help support your back, neck and shoulders.  Today, we look at how to reduce wrist pain and related injuries.

Wrist injuries and corresponding pain are common work-related musculoskeletal disorders that can have detrimental consequences. Repetitive hand movements completed on the job is often a key culprit, however, improper positioning of the wrists, forearm and shoulder can also be a factor. Keyboarding, use of a mouse and extended periods of sitting at a computer in one position can lead to symptoms like wrist and forearm pain, weakness, numbness or tingling in the fingers and in some cases, development of cysts or nodules around the wrist joint and tendons.

Injuries to the wrist are particularly troublesome as we heavily require use of our hands throughout the work day. Barr, Barbe and Clark (2004) reported that work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the wrist and hand cause the longest absences from work and as such, are associated with greater losses in productivity and wages than injuries in other body areas. This research was also supported by a more recent study, which found that lost productivity costs related to hand and wrist injuries was roughly $411 million dollars per year and this was the highest among any other injury type studied (de Putter, Selles, Polinder et al., 2012). There are some strategies that can be used to prevent and address wrist pain, but it is essential to keep in mind that as with any other potential for injury at work, the worker, work station and job demands must all be considered.  Some great strategies to address wrist pain at work include:

• Take regular breaks to stretch and allow your wrists to rest. If needed, use a timer on your computer to tell you when it is time to take a break. There are several free timers you can download and use such as Focus Booster (available for download at https://www.focusboosterapp.com/download) or Orzeszek Timer (available for download at http://www.orzeszek.org/dev/timer/)
• Alter your job demands between typing, using the phone, filing or other duties that reduce strain on the wrist.
• Ensure you are positioned so that your wrists remain in a neutral position during typing. This may require adjusting your keyboard, mouse or chair.

Many other great solutions to address wrist pain at work can be recommended by an Occupational Therapist, with solutions ranging from low to high cost. For more information, check out Entwistle Power’s FREE Office Ergonomic E-Book or contact an Occupational Therapist to help meet the ergonomic needs of your organization.

Resources

Barr, A., Barbe, M. & Clark, B. (2004). Work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the hand and wrist: epidemiology, pathophysiology and sensorimotor changes. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. Oct 2004, 34 (10), 610-627.

de Putter, C., Selles, R., Polinder, S., Panneman, M., Hovius, S. & van Beeck, E. (2012). Economic impact of hand and wrist injuries: health-care costs and productivity costs in a population-based study. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2012, 94:e56 (1-7).

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/office/mouse/mouse_problems.html

With the change in routine through the summer months, it is time to rethink about how we are sitting and working all day to make sure our body can adjust to the new routines that are devoid of summer vacation and summer activities.

In our previous posts, we have discussed using proper ergonomics to help support your back and neck.  Today, we look at how to reduce shoulder pain and related injuries.

Sloppy shoulders – are you guilty? Take a second to freeze at your desk and notice how your body is positioned. If you are like most people, your shoulders are slumped or rounded and you are bending over your desk. Many people’s work stations consist of their computer or laptop, keyboards, phone and mobile devices, requiring them to switch back and forth between devices while still spending extended periods of time in a seated, slumped position.

Being in this position for an extended period causes strain to the upper body, particularly the shoulders and upper back. At first, you may feel achy or tired in these areas, but this goes away at night or during days off work so it doesn’t impact your work performance. However, over time you may start to notice that your aches and pains begin earlier in the day, your muscles feel tight, and this starts to hamper you even when you aren’t at work. This impacts your productivity, quality of life and can lead to more serious and long-lasting injuries.

Here are some great tips to help address these issues before they start to impact your daily function, or if they do exist, to stop them from worsening:

• Lower your keyboard so your shoulders are not elevated when typing.

• Adjust your posture so you are sitting up straight in your chair, with your shoulders pulled away from your ears and your feet are flat on the floor with your knees directly over them.

• Alter your position so that you are not reaching forward to your keyboard or mouse.

• Adjust your chair so that your arms reach your desk at a 90 degree angle.

• Take regular breaks to stretch or stand up to relieve tension in your upper body.

• Stick out your chest to bring your shoulders back and down. Do this several times per day and hold this position.

Want more strategies to address pain at work? Check out our free e-book “Cost Effective Ergonomic Solutions” to learn additional strategies for addressing shoulder and upper back pain, among others, while you are sitting at your desk.

With the change in routine through the summer months, it is time to rethink about how we are sitting and working all day to make sure our body can adjust to the new routines that are devoid of summer vacation and summer activities.

In our previous post, we discussed using proper ergonomics to help support your back.  Today, we look at how to reduce neck pain and injuries.

Text Neck—are you guilty? A recent article in the two way by Laura Sullivan discusses the posture adopted by many people when leaning over a cellphone while reading and texting. This bad posture can put up to 60 pounds of pressure on the upper spine — sometimes for several hours a day, depending on how often people look at their devices.

And it isn’t just texting. Believe it or not, holding the upper body still and sitting in an upright position, as is required when spending time sitting at a desk for long times such as working at a computer, requires a lot of effort from our muscular systems. There is an invisible but constant battle against gravity to maintain the head in an upright position, at the optimum distance from the screen, combined with maintaining one’s arms in the proper typing position increases the static load on our body, especially the neck and shoulders.

The Institute of Work and Health reported that neck pain related to work is one of the most common complaints of working aged adults and in 2006 it was reported that injuries to the upper extremity account for 30% of lost-time claims in Ontario.

There are often some commonly occurring culprits in the office that lead to poor postures and over time, fatigued bodies and resulting neck pain. Some of these culprits include:

• Non-adjustable workstations

• Workstations that are not properly designed or not well suited to the individual

• Lack of knowledge and experience on how to set up and adjustable workstation properly according to the worker’s needs (being sure to consider the worker’s body and their job tasks)

• Unsuitable job design that requires workers to sit uninterrupted for longer than an hour at a time

The good news is that many of these issues can be addressed through prevention. Some great tips for adjusting work stations to prevent neck pain include:

• Making sure that your monitor is directly in front of you and does not require you to look to the side

• If your monitor is too low, raise it with a book or another solid object

• Use split screen to read two documents at once while reducing neck rotation

For more great suggestions on how you can address neck pain in the workplace, download our E-Book:  “Cost Effective Ergonomic Solutions” and check out past posts on Wellness in the Workplace.

With the change in routine through the summer months, it is time to rethink about how we are sitting and working all day to make sure our body can adjust to the new routines that are devoid of summer vacation and summer activities.

Today we focus on proper ergonomics to support your back.

In 2010, back pain was found to be the single leading cause of disability world-wide according to the Global Burden of Disease.   It has been estimated that 186 million work days are lost each year to back pain alone which greatly impacts workplace productivity and costs. The Mayo Clinic has found that a number of factors can contribute to back pain and back injuries at work. The four most common factors include:

1.       Force:  Job demands that require lifting or moving heavy objects exerts force on our back which can lead to injury.

2.       Repetition:  Repetitive movements leads to muscle fatigue and in turn can lead to injury, particularly if these movements involve stretching our back near the limits of our range of motion or using awkward body positions.

3.       Posture:  Posture is a critical component in preventing fatigue and injury. Slouching or sitting in awkward positions alters the natural curves in our back, increasing fatigue and can lead to pain and injury.

4.       Stress:  While we often think of the negative impacts stress can have on our mental well-being, it also impacts our physical well-being. High levels of pressure at work or increased stress leads to muscle tension and tightness, which can contribute to or worsen back pain.

If back pain is something you or someone in your workplace experience, there are some strategies you can use to help minimize existing problems and even prevent issues before they arise:

·         Ensure that your feet are flat on the floor, as this helps stabilize our pelvis and lower back

·         If you have an adjustable chair, alter the settings so that your lower back has increased support

·         Get a colleague to take a photo of you sitting at your desk or workstation and examine your posture. Can this be adjusted?

·         Take regular breaks to stretch, stand up and walk around the office to complete other tasks

For more information, take a look at our FREE downloadable resource on office ergonomics and stay tuned for more Workplace Wednesday blog postings highlighting stretches and exercises to help address common work-related concerns such as back pain.

Resources

http://www.inthefaceofpain.com/content/uploads/2011/09/factsheet_Workplace.pdf

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/inj_prev.html