What is an Ergonomic Injury and How Can it be Prevented?

The most common work-related injuries are a critical threat to the livelihood of Industrial Athletes, and they are easier to prevent than you may think.

In industrial environments, physiological and ergonomic injuries are one of the most common work-related injuries that require time off. They can happen gradually or in an instant, are detrimental to the productivity of warehouses and send good people home injured. 

We’ve witnessed this firsthand more times than we can count. And we’re here to help.

‍Our Flex safety wearables and SafeWork System proactively recognize where and how these injuries occur, giving you the tools you need to prevent them and keep your Industrial Athletes™ safe on the job and happier and healthier at home.

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How injuries happen at work

Industrial facilities such as warehouses, factories, construction sites and more are inherently fast-paced and unpredictable in nature. There’s a lot going on and a lot that needs to be done, and far too often this results in employees being more incentivized to get something done fast than to get something done right. 

‍Swamped by personnel objectives, deadlines, quotas and everything daily duties entail, worker safety can fall to the wayside. From there, risk of injury skyrockets. Something as simple as awkwardly lifting a heavy object, twisting the spine, lifting from the ground or holding an item overhead can cause an ergonomic injury. 

‍“Due to the changing nature of these environments and high capital investment required to modify them when compared to offices, job tasks frequently require the use of stressful body positions – which are a key contributing factor,” says Mike Spinelli, StrongArm’s Chief Innovation Officer.

‍These injuries, created by a one-time damage to a muscle, tendon, or ligament, can be career-ending for workers with physically demanding jobs if neglected or left unchecked for too long.

‍Additionally, chronic strains, caused by repetitive movements that gradually overstretch or tear a muscle, are common physiological injuries in industrial workplaces. They may seem insignificant at first, but something as simple as uncomfortable repetitive movements, high-intensity activities for long periods of time without rest, and/or poor posture or activities that involve working in an awkward position can lead to the overuse of muscles and tendons most commonly in the upper body.

‍This overuse creates repetitive strain injuries, which can be hard to notice at first, but can develop severely, causing swelling in the affected area or creating constant, longer periods of pain if they remain untreated. These should always be taken seriously.

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‍How they can be avoided

Warmups and stretching can be effective ways to minimize ergonomic injuries, but their effectiveness only goes so far. More than anything, it’s essential that Industrial Athletes use the correct form of lifting and moving in order to keep their bodies healthy and safe.

‍Nevertheless, when working for long periods of time, fatigue, a common cause of poor technique, typically sets in, leading to these strains, shoulder problems and back injuries, the most common ways warehouse workers are injured on the job. 

‍At StrongArm, our objective is to keep Industrial Athletes safe and productive. The way that we achieve this is through our SafeWork System. Our wearable technology monitors the bodily movements of each associate, providing immediate feedback to alert them of dangerous and potentially harmful actions.

‍Our safety wearables are calibrated to detect bad bends and twists. The Flex sensor ensures Industrial Athletes are using their bodies in a safe way so they don’t have to think about it, recording these data points while they work to be used to help create a safer work environment.

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The impact of the SafeWork System

The SafeWork System is your key to complete workplace or warehouse safety. It incorporates real-time, actionable safety data collection into your employee’s workday. Our safety wearables collect only the most essential information such as movement, proximity, temperature, and more, monitoring and recording to determine if a worker makes a dangerous movement so it can alert them.

‍Using the Smart Dock, the collected data is uploaded to our centralized risk management software where we analyze and generate comprehensive reporting that safety managers can use to determine the areas that need improvement. This information makes it simple to create a safe warehouse or working environment, and it is all accessible through our easy-to-use SafeWork Dashboard.

‍With our wearable devices and safety technology, some of the largest names in manufacturing, distribution, retail and more have seen a 52% or more reduction in workplace injuries and an average ROI of 250% or more. 

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Request a Trial of the SafeWork System

At StrongArm Tech, we work closely with you to tailor our safety program to the needs of your workers and managers. We’ll help you determine which safety wearable package is best for you and how your safety reports should appear, giving you a scalable safety solution that perfectly fits your facility’s daily routine.

If you’re ready to see how SafeWork can help keep your Industrial Athletes™ safer, request a trial today!

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