Maintain proper posture at your desk to reduce risk of injury.
Feeling comfortable on the job isn't simply a nicety; it's a necessity to stay healthy. Unfortunately, it's easy to engage in your daily professional activities without even thinking about your posture or the damage lifting a heavy item can do to your bones or muscles if you don't do it properly. Governmental organizations offer ergonomics safety training to help foster a healthy and hopefully injury-free office.
Purpose
The purpose of ergonomics safety training is to minimize the risk of workplace injuries, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration website. OSHA requires all employers in the United States to provide a workplace free of serious ergonomic hazards, which includes equipment and job procedures that can cause injury. Examples include desks and chairs that do not foster correct seating posture, or picking up airline baggage in an unsafe manner.
Types of Training
OSHA offers training courses for both government and private-sector employees through the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OTI Education Centers throughout the United States. OSHA offers ergonomics safety training for office, construction, shipping and receiving, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation and telecommunications personnel.
Courses
OSHA offers both in-person courses and online training tools. Course topics include safety procedures for using computers and video terminals, proper lifting and handling of supplies and equipment, environmental controls, laboratory procedures, repeated manual lifting, lifting items off a conveyor belt or pallet, processing freshly killed foods, safely operating a printing press and using a sewing machine.
Possible Injuries
Employees in any industry may develop musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) as a result of strenuous body posturing, such as reaching across a table to cut a piece of fabric, bending over to lift something heavy or lifting something overhead to store on a shelf. Symptoms of MSDs include pain, numbness, and a lack of mobility in the hands, shoulders, and back, according to OSHA. Employees also commonly develop headaches as well as eye strain as a result of leaning in to look at a computer monitor, according to the December 1995 issue of the Signature Service newsletter.
Conferences and Publications
Printed materials are available at the OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites. The CDC website also lists proceedings from specialty conferences that focus on ergonomics for farmers, electricians and the industries listed above. In addition, Continental Exhibitions Inc. sponsors an ErgoExpo each year to educate workers of all industries about ergonomics issues, such as ergonomics for an aging workforce, redesigning workstations and designing health and welfare plans for employees. Conference speakers range from CEOs to patent holders of ergonomic products to physical therapists.
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