Reducing work injuries
How to reduce work injuries:
Staying in shape is an excellent way to reduce injury from bending and lifting in construction. Many of my friends in the industry have sciatic nerve pain, back injuries, and other related spinal problems from heavy lifting. I have as well, especially when I do something I shouldn’t because I tell myself I’m always willing to do what it takes. Be careful not to bend and or twist in awkward positions when holding heavy objects is number one!
The key for me is to make a ritual of the most natural movement exercises. A ritual is different from a routine because it is something you enjoy doing ritualistically.
The natural movements are as follows:
1. We all need to be able to bend down and lift heavy objects from the floor, this first exercise taps into something primal. It works more muscles than any other exercise and is, therefore, the most important. It works the glutes, quads, hamstrings, the entire core, shoulders, traps, forearms, and the back muscles as well. (DEADLIFTS)
2. We all need to pull ourselves up from a lower level. Evolutionarily speaking this is a critical movement, Traversing over rocky terrain and if you can’t do it you can’t flee from a wild beast or get to an important food source. (PULLUPS)
3. We all need to be able to squat down to pick things up and furthermore we need to be able to release our body’s waste. Please use your body weight only to develop good form first. This movement is the source of many work injuries. (SQUATS)
4. We all need to push ourselves up from the ground. This is the idea of mastering our own body weight. (PUSHUPS)
5. We all need to have a successful moving/walking gate. This is one-third of the body’s movement pattern and trains both the flexion and extension of the legs at the same time. (LUNGES)
Staying in Shape Reduces Injuries by:
• Reducing the effect that adverse weather has on your body.
• Reducing the effect of minor injuries when lifting. A body in good condition will usually repair itself much
faster.
• Substantially reducing exposure to minor sprains, strains and muscle pulls. Most people in good shape rarely strain or pull muscles.
• Cutting down the exposure to normal illnesses. The percentages of those people who are in good shape getting colds and the flu are lower. A person in good shape can better fight the germs causing the illnesses. Better immune response and metabolic activity.
Be more alert to job site conditions:
How To Stay In Shape:
Exercise regularly.
Eat right.
Get plenty of rest.
These are the three pillars of health.
Avoid overindulging in sweets, alcohol or food.
Diet when needed to maintain recommended body weight.
Avoid smoking. Smoking cuts down circulation making cold colder, hot hotter, and injury
recovery longer.
Check Concentra’s 10 tips for further info.
http://www.hometechs.org/category/blog-posts/safety-tips/
https://www.concentra.com/resource-center/articles/10-tips-to-prevent-workplace-injuries/
