Are your employees breaking their backs at work?
Workplace injuries don’t only happen to manual labourers and construction workers. In reality, office workers and people working from home are very likely to develop a wide range of health problems, including neck pains, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strains, and even nerve damage.
These workplace injuries also cause psychological symptoms such as a lack of focus, decreased productivity, and reduced motivation. If your employees suffer from ergonomic injuries, your company’s revenue, productivity, and overall performance will decline significantly.
These common workplace health complications are classified as Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) and Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs). They are caused by repetitive movements, postures, and habits that put pressure on the body and wear it down over time.
What Causes RSIs and MSDs?
RSIs and MSDs are ergonomic injuries. They are injuries to your musculoskeletal system – your body’s network of muscles, tendons, nerves, and bones, among other things. Three main ergonomic risk factors cause ergonomic injuries:
Repetition: Doing the same movement repetitively for a long amount of time.
Sustained Awkward Poses: Any posture that takes the body out of a comfortable spine-neutral position for long, sustained periods.
Static Forces: Pressure exerted on the body from prolonged time in the same position, such as sitting at a desk or standing at a work station.
If these ergonomic risk factors go unchecked in the work environment, your organization risks injury claims, loss of staff due to injuries, and permanent damage to workers.
Why Are RSIs and MSDs Dangerous?
RSIs and MSDs are dangerous because they usually aren’t immediately noticeable. A worker could be experiencing ergonomic injury symptoms for months or years before they link the pain to their work environment. By the time that a worker identifies the injury as work-related, their body could have irreparable damage.
Despite musculoskeletal injuries being challenging to notice and getting little attention from most organizations, Statistics Canada estimates that around 2 million Canadians suffer from ergonomic injuries. With these numbers, there’s a good chance that your company’s productivity is suffering due to workers having RSIs and MSDs!
How Can My Organization Prevent Ergonomic Injuries?
Although musculoskeletal injures can be a hidden threat in the workplace, there are several ways to reduce ergonomic risk factors! Investing in workplace ergonomics not only prevents future injuries from developing but can also decrease the severity of existing RSIs and MSDs.
Methods for increasing your workplace ergonomics can range from simple and inexpensive to more complex and involved:
Method 1: The Minimalist Approach
If you run a small business or organization, you might not need a highly involved process to boost your workplace ergonomics! Sometimes, even small changes can yield exceptional results in making your organization more ergonomically friendly.
Are your workers standing or sitting for long periods? Encouraging them to move around and change their body positions often can yield significant ergonomic benefits.
Creating a company culture around physical and mental wellness goes a long way in reducing workplace injuries and improving your organization’s productivity!
Method 2: Making Changes
The next step up from the previous method is to start making some physical changes in your workplace. Look around and see if you can identify places where RSIs and MSDs could be a risk.
Are your employees standing for long periods? Investing in padded standing mats will help relieve the stress on your workers’ bodies.
If you have an office where workers sit for long periods, look into getting ergonomic office
chairs, desks, and keyboards. These products are specifically made for reducing workplace injuries and will make an instant difference in your office ergonomics!
Method 3: Optimized Work Environment
Getting ergonomic office equipment is a big step in the right direction. But you can’t unlock the full benefits of your new hardware unless you optimize your work environment!
While there are online resources and guides for workplace ergonomics, the best, fastest, and most efficient way to optimize your office ergonomics is through consulting with an ergonomist.
A professional ergonomist can consult in person or virtually to tailor your work environment to your specific needs. Using measurements and scientific methods to optimize the workplace, the ergonomist will assess, test, and design the ideal work environment for you. This is the most proactive and effective way to eliminate RSIs and MSDs, whether you work from home or in a shared workspace.
Every person’s body is slightly different. A one-on-one consultation with an ergonomist will take these differences into account and create an ergonomic workspace tailored to the individual!
Ready to boost your workers’ morale and drive productivity? Book a virtual or in-person consultation with us today! Our professional ergonomists will work with you to assess your workspace, recommend equipment, provide advice on setting up your workstation, and create a custom ergonomic enhancement plan for your organization.
Without ergonomic optimization, your company risks decreased productivity, increased injury claims, and high employee turnover. An ergonomist consultation provides a hands-on solution to improving your workplace and boosting your employees’ focus, efficiency, and well-being. Not to mention, your company will instantly experience a boost in output, worker attendance, and revenues!
Ready to make a change in your organization? Contact us to book your ergonomic consultation today!