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All Posts in Category: Injury Prevention

Comments Off on How Effective Is Your Pre-Shift Stretching Program?

How Effective Is Your Pre-Shift Stretching Program?

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Stretching programs are often thought of as a “quick fix” to address increased rates of soft-tissue injuries. While pre-shift preparation continues to be an important component of a comprehensive safety program, there are better ways to make those few minutes more valuable to the employee and to the company.  Based on our 15 years of helping companies develop best practices, here are four key principles we’d suggest considering—whether you’re looking to implement a pre-shift stretching program, or enhance an existing one:

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Comments Off on Why Exercise Belongs in the Workplace

Why Exercise Belongs in the Workplace

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Although the physical benefits of exercise are already familiar to most, new evidence suggests that combining exercise and the workplace has the greatest potential to maximize employee performance. The strongest support for this approach can be found in a recent study comparing the effects of work-based versus home-based exercise on work ability. Both programs incorporated […]

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Comments Off on Proactive Intervention, Part II: Stop the Injury Cycle

Proactive Intervention, Part II: Stop the Injury Cycle

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A three-part series on proactive intervention by BIOKINETIX

In Part I, we addressed why it’s important to help injured employees recover without interrupting the healing process.

The traditional return-to-work approach has often failed American workers, and the problem of recurrent injuries is just one example. After analyzing workers’ compensation data over a 3-year period, Liberty Mutual researchers found that a disproportionate amount of low back injuries were recurrent. Compared to those who had only been injured once, employees with recurrent injuries took longer to recover, accumulated significantly higher medical and indemnity costs, and were considered by study authors to be “an especially important target for secondary prevention efforts” [4]. Recurrent injuries can be prevented entirely by making sure employees recover properly the first time—so why are they still so common?

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Comments Off on Proactive Intervention, Part I: Rethink Recovery

Proactive Intervention, Part I: Rethink Recovery

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A three-part series on proactive intervention by BIOKINETIX

The aftermath of an occupational injury can be predictably arduous and time-consuming for all parties involved. Regardless of severity level, it is in the interest of both employer and employee to ensure they recover properly and resume their job tasks. But many return-to-work programs are stuck in a reactive cycle of poor recovery, recurrent injuries, and accumulating workers’ compensation costs.

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Comments Off on Podcast: BIOKINETIX CEO Jon Kabance Discusses Injury Prevention on US Foods Radio

Podcast: BIOKINETIX CEO Jon Kabance Discusses Injury Prevention on US Foods Radio

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Jon discusses the modern, effective methods of reducing workplace injuries with Susan Anderson from US Foods Radio. In an industrial work environment, the rigors and repetitive stress of physical tasks can cause significant wear and tear on the body. The best way to prevent this stress from turning into injury or illness is with a preventative health approach: […]

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Comments Off on Prevent Occupational Hearing Loss

Prevent Occupational Hearing Loss

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In an industrial work environment, at-risk behaviors such as poor posture and improper eye protection can be observed and corrected almost immediately. But another critical aspect of workplace safety often goes undetected– until the damage is already done. In the U.S., 22 million workers per year are at risk of occupational hearing loss [5]. Hearing damage typically occurs painlessly and progressively, but frequent and repeated exposure to high noise levels in the workplace can result in permanent hearing loss. Due to numerous sources of noise hazards such as heavy machinery and power tools, the mining, manufacturing, and construction industries experience the most incidences of work-induced hearing damage [1]. Although completely preventable, it has remained one of the most prevalent occupational health concerns for nearly three decades.

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Comments Off on The Value of Prioritizing Shift Work Safety

The Value of Prioritizing Shift Work Safety

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Demanding schedules are certainly no new phenomenon in the modern workplace. Shift work, particularly at night or in rotation, presents a set of occupational hazards that are often perceived as unavoidable. However, recognizing the risks of shift work and implementing solutions to mitigate these risks is an important part of maintaining a safe work environment that facilitates productivity and long-term health.

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Comments Off on Safety Report: The Food Industry

Safety Report: The Food Industry

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When enjoying a meal, few take the time to consider all the steps it took to bring each of the ingredients from farm to dining table. Whether or not the food was prepared in your kitchen, at a restaurant, or in a retail setting, the main components of the dish were either harvested or raised from somewhere.

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Comments Off on Practice Safe Lifting by Tightening Your Gut

Practice Safe Lifting by Tightening Your Gut

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For workers who spend much of their day lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying materials—especially in a repetitive manner—it’s incredibly important to perform these movements properly in order to protect the back from discomfort or injury. Safe lifting techniques, such as getting close to the object you’re lifting or bending at the knees instead of from the back, are great examples of ergonomic principles that help workers protect themselves when moving materials.

The problem is that no one works in a vacuum; in real-world situations, you can’t always avoid working in awkward, ergonomically-incorrect positions. When certain job tasks do require getting in awkward positions, tightening the gut is the best way to stabilize the spine and safely engage in a variety of movements.

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Comments Off on Prevent Workplace Eye Injuries in 3 Steps

Prevent Workplace Eye Injuries in 3 Steps

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In the context of modern labor, workplace eye injuries have become nearly as common as slips and falls. According to the CDC, about 231,100 emergency room visits per year are due to work-related injuries to the eyes or face. Eye injuries alone cost businesses over $300 million per year in worker’s compensation payments, medical expenses, and lost productivity; in addition, around 20% of work-related eye injuries result in temporary or permanent vision loss.

In order to avoid these consequences, employers must do their best to prevent workplace eye injuries from occurring in the first place: by 1) assessing hazards, 2) using proper eye protection, and 3) encouraging worker compliance.

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