Avoiding MSDs: How Ergonomics Can Reduce Injuries in Your Workplace

One of the most important ways ergonomics can make a difference in your workplace is by limiting the development of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). These types of injuries are hard to see, as they happen beneath the surface of the skin. MSDs are also often difficult to assign to a specific event or action, since they frequently are the result of cumulative trauma.

As an employer, you can help yourself and your employees by understanding the risk of ignoring ergonomic principles. Specifically, if your employees work with their bodies in awkward postures or perform tasks that require excessive force, this can lead to injury of the soft tissues such as tendons, ligaments, or muscles.

Warning Signs: Things to Avoid

Try to avoid or minimize exposing your employees to certain postures and actions, including:

• Forceful exertions such as lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, holding, and gripping. Even when an employee is not working near maximum capability, forceful exertions serve to wear down soft tissues.
• Static loading and sustained exertions such as holding on to a part while working on it. Even with relatively light weights or applied forces, the body will begin to fatigue in a matter of minutes or even seconds.
• Awkward postures such as bending forward at the waist or working with arms extended. Try to use neutral postures where the body is at its most relaxed and has the greatest strength.
• Repetitive activities. Performing the same movements at a rapid rate or for an extended period of time can cause tendons and ligaments to stretch, leading to sprains and strains.

Apply Ergonomics Principles

Fortunately, you can take simple steps to address and control these risk factors and protect your employees:

• Arrange the workspace so the most frequently used items are within a16-inch reach and other items are within a 24-inch reach.
• Avoid placing frequently lifted or heavy items below knee height or above shoulder height.
• When heavier objects must be lifted, have more than one employee help out.
  
• Use jigs and fixtures to hold parts that must be worked on.
• Eliminate multiple handling and non-value-added motion.
• Mix in other job-related tasks and provide micro-breaks for stretching to allow different portions of the body to recover.
• Discuss ideas for improving the workplace with managers, supervisors, and employees.

The information herein is for reference only and State Fund does not warranty its accuracy or fitness for a particular purpose. Any products, references, or links to Web sites are not an endorsement by State Fund or its employees, but serve only as examples to assist you with your workplace design changes. State Fund cannot be held liable or accountable for content on linked Web sites.