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written by ErgoRisk

MSI Pillar 2: Right Tools for the Job

• The second pillar of protecting yourself is looking around to make sure that you have the right tools to do your job safely and to make sure your tools are fit to you. Without the right tools, it can be impossible to put yourself in a position to work without adding unnecessary stress to the body.

• Based on what you know, take a second and score yourself using the scale at the bottom of the page.
• Take a look around. What is stopping you from working in a ‘neutral’ or relaxed working posture? 

• Are you handling and re-handling things because you don’t have enough workspace?

• Are you overloading your body because you don’t have mechanical assists or carts to make life easier?

• Do you find yourself always working at floor level because you don’t have something to set your work on? Or do you find your self working overhead because you don’t have a ladder or steps?

• Does the layout of your work or your tools force you to work in awkward posture?

• Some solutions are simple (e.g. lifting items off of the floor, getting a ladder/steps) and others are more difficult (e.g. changing complex tools or machines). What do you need to do now to make sure your work fits you rather than making you change your shape to fit your work? Aim high.

This article was
written by ErgoRisk

MSI Pillar 4: Work Habits

Pillar #4 - Work Habits

• The fourth and final pillar is work habits.
• “First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.” - Dr. Rob Gilbert.

• When you look back, how did your habits form you in the past?
• Take a second to score yourself using the scale on the bottom of the page.

• What do your work habits say about you and how much you value your health?
• Do you work as long and as hard as you can until you are physically and mentally spent?
• Or do you pace yourself to make sure that you finish your day with no discomfort?
• Do you know what the best practices are for your job to reduce stress and strain on the body?
• Do you know any exercises to strengthen your body and help prevent injury? Or do you know any stretches can help to counter the stresses and postures that you work in all day?
• Are you aware of ‘core stability’ principles and how they apply to your daily work?
• Reflect back and look forward. What’s your plan to make this year a ‘10’?
• If your job in the past reminded you of a hamster on a wheel, your body probably feels like it has been worked over like a punching bag.

This article was
written by ErgoRisk

MSI Pillar 1: Early Intervention

• In business, we do performance reviews, business reviews, project reviews. They help us identify strengths and weaknesses and help us understand what we need to do to improve.

• Take minute to do a 4 Pillar Ergonomic Review.

• Each pillar is a founding principle of Musculoskeletal Injury (MSI) Prevention. Score yourself and try to figure out what you need to do this year to end it better than it started.

• The first pillar of preventing MSI is identifying and managing discomfort EARLY – before symptoms become constant.

• Take a second and score yourself on the scale at the bottom of the page. 

  • If you have symptoms, do you know what do you need to do make them go away? 

• Do you want to end this year in less pain than you are in now?
• Do you know what to do and who to contact? Within your company, start with your supervisor, HR, or a safety representative.
• If you have had symptoms for a while, have you discussed it with your health care professionals? When do you plan to?
• Have you ever put your hand up to see what resources your company will provide to help you?

• Take action to end this year better than you started. Use the scale below to take a baseline rating for where you are at, and set your goal for improvement.

This article was
written by ErgoRisk

MSI Pillar 3: Posture - Rate Yourself

• Good posture is a good habit that contributes to the well-being of the individual…Conversely, bad posture is a bad habit.” “The ideal alignment of the body may not be attainable in every respect, but it is the standard toward which efforts to attain it are directed” - Kendall, McCreary and Provance, 1993.

• The third pillar, and one of the most important pillars, is posture.
• The greatest thing about posture is that we have the ability to control our posture and our postural habits.
• Do you use good or bad posture?
• Do you focus as much on your posture at work as you do when you golf or play other sports?
• Do you try to maintain a good low back curve in most working situations?
• Do you avoid twisting by keeping your hips and chest facing the same direction when turning?
• Do you take the time to set up your work to allow you to work in good posture?
• When you must work low to the ground, do you wear a kneepad(s) to kneel on one knee for a stable, more neutral working position?
• Do you bend properly from your hips? Or do you collapse your low back into a slouch (see picture above).

• When you look back on the past few months or year, how do you rate yourself? Do you choose to do better?