Too many organizations still approach workplace injuries from a reactive standpoint, focusing on managing incidents after they occur rather than addressing the root causes behind them. While this may resolve the immediate situation, it rarely prevents similar issues from happening again.
To truly reduce injuries, protect their workforce, and drive meaningful long-term results, companies must shift their mindset and adopt a proactive approach to injury prevention. Here’s where to start:
Engineered Ergonomic Risk Elimination
Eliminating ergonomic risk through engineering interventions is the gold standard and your first line of defense. These solutions don’t necessarily have to be time-intensive or costly to implement; one example is through our work with a global manufacturer who’d been experiencing high recordables in their Chassis department.
Although large-scale engineering revisions were not possible, we identified and aided in the implementation of engineering solutions on a smaller scale with great success, developing a tool for jig operators to flip chassis beams in a way that eliminated pinch points and allowed for optimal body positioning.
Pre-Shift Physical Preparation
Implementing a tailored workplace exercise program is an extremely effective mode of prevention against musculoskeletal injuries. The goal is to condition the body for the physical demands of the job. An active warmup—not to be confused with static stretching—engages the muscles through movement, establishing and reinforcing motor recruitment patterns that are critical to the type of work employees perform on a daily basis. Programs like the 3-Minute Warm-Up are a great way to integrate physical preparation into daily operations.
New Hire Training & Work Simulation
New hires are a particularly vulnerable group of employees when it comes to soft tissue injuries. They are not accustomed to the work, nor do they have the subject-matter expertise or knowledge of best practices. There’s also a conditioning component that’s often never taught or explained explicitly. This is where the concept of primacy really comes into play: what you learn first, you learn best. We help close that gap by meeting people where they’re at, then building up their physical skillsets at the very same time they’re learning the ins and outs of their job tasks. This includes coaching on principles like hip mobility, engaging the core, or protecting the rotator cuff.
Body mechanics coaching is ultimately the most valuable element of new hire training. It starts with work task simulation: observing and addressing movement deficiencies and reinforcing proper body mechanics in real time while employees are actually performing job tasks. By teaching new hires best practices, transitioning it into their work tasks, then following up with them on the floor throughout the early days of their tenure, we’re in the best position to catch any improper movements that would lead to an injury over the long term.
Early Intervention
The goal of early intervention is to address early signs of soreness and discomfort before they culminate into a more significant soft-tissue injury. This could range from acute pain that started within the last day or two to more gradual discomfort experienced for months on end. Studies clearly show that the sooner you intervene and start addressing the underlying root causes of soreness and discomfort, the more likely it is that an individual sees more favorable long-term outcomes with a lower risk of recurrent injuries.
While early intervention is necessary and valuable, it should never be your first line of defense. If multiple early intervention programs are being opened related to a single job task and you never get to the root of it, this can keep you trapped in a viciously reactive cycle where as soon as you’ve addressed one person’s soreness and discomfort, someone comes in the next week with soreness caused by that very same job task. Instead, use early intervention as an opportunity to identify patterns and implement more proactive longer-term solutions that will prevent injuries from happening in the future.
