This is a handout for you to print for your management team, to examine and consider SmartWork Solutions, Inc
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Manager-supervisor Training:No Lost Time is a class on the Neck-Arm MSD School and/or the Low Back School: on what causes the injuries-claims-costs and how to reduce them... ergonomics, medical issues, attitudes & policy issues, return to work strategies, stretching, job rotation, posture control, and many other tactics. The
number one indicator of cost per claim: Supervisors' immediate attitude. Builds commitment among supervisors to implement your ergonomics plan with cooperation, motivation, skill. No prevention program can succeed without that!! And employee training will not work unless supervisors-managers are trained first. Our effective
90-second Micro-stretching program is instructed in this class as well.
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Employee WorkSmart Training: Work Smart Employee Neck-Arm School or Back School for workers on reducing work fatigue-pain-injury... self-care and protection of the working aging body. Rather than focus on disease and symptoms, our tactic is fatigue-avoidance training! Employees must be trained to accept responsibility for the working body, and care for themselves 24/7. Our
INDUSTRIAL ATHLETE WORK SMART program motivates employees to avoid work fatigue and discomfort. We make them experts on their working (aging) bodies, and teach them the
90-second Micro-stretching program that will help them prevent pain.
For stretches to be effective, they must be done correctly. For stretches to be done correctly, they must be professionally taught with a practice check. SmartWork Solutions' expert therapists can provide this service.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT DOES NO-LOST-TIME COST?A complete SmartWork Solutions, Inc program costs about $35-45 per employee. But your costs are fully recovered if NO-LOST-TIME prevents only 2 or 3 MSD claims for a typical workplace; thereafter, the investment turns a profit. We average 70% reduction in MSD lost days. See the
NLT TRACK RECORD.
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DO BACK SCHOOLS WORK??... Some studies say no... other studies say yes. So, what is the answer? The reason we see conflicting study findings is one study uses one type of Back School approach, while another uses a different approach. We have provided 3000 Back School classes for about 300 workplaces. We have learned what works and what does not. Back Schools work very well IF certain rules are followed... 1. It is taught by a valid qualified expert in the eyes of the workers... 2. Training goes beyond lifting to address other often more important factors... 3. Up-to-date techniques are taught (some schools teach ineffective methods)... 3. Training is customized to match the specific demands of the workers being trained... 4. There is actual practice of techniques as a part of training... 5. Supervisors are trained first to address attitudes and workplace politics (this perhaps most important). When these rules are followed, results are good. Back School training typically costs about $30-40 per employee and typically reduces lost days and costs about 70%, for about a 10 to 1 return on investment in one year. Yes, Back Schools do work.
WHAT ABOUT NECK-ARM MSD SCHOOLS?? ..We have provided Neck-Arm Schools to reduce carpal tunnel and tendinitis for about 500 companies and have seen EXCELLENT results. This not simply an "ergonomics" training process. Ergonomics is not that effective when applied alone. This School goes beyond ergonomics to also address work behaviors, posture habits, flexibility, self-care, job rotation, seating tactics, and even stretching exercises. We see an average 75% reduction in lost work days and injury costs. And with improved productivity.
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WHAT DETERMINES THE COST OF A CLAIM?? The number one factor determining the cost of a claim is... supervisor attitudes and company policies toward injury claims (aggressively denying claims & hassling workers about reporting). These have a far greater effect on costs than do injury severity or poor medical care! This is the root of the Worker Comp costs problem! If you want to reduce Comp costs, you MUST address supervisor attitudes and company policies (before attempting ergonomics or employee training programs). THIS IS THE SECRET TO A SUCCESSFUL PREVENTION PROGRAM.
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IS NO-LOST-TIME JUST ANOTHER "ERGONOMICS" PROGRAM??... No, NO-LOST-TIME is not another ergonomics program. The problem is much more than ergonomics. Effective prevention must go beyond ergonomics. You may not need to invest in expensive re-tooling of the workplace. Job re-design has had only limited success. Ergonomics seeks to reduce external demands on the body due to work design. But most injuries are not the result of faulty job design. Rather, they are caused more by faulty worker behaviors and poor fitness-for work. Ergonomic design has little effect on worker behaviors, posture habits, improper lifting, poor flexibility, fitness for work. Ergonomics is one important contributor to injuries, but it is not the entire definition of the problem! It is the responsibility of management to provide a safe workplace (ergonomics). BUT it is the responsibility of workers to properly use and care for the working body!!
And jobs with poor ergonomics may have no re-design alternatives. So what to do?.. job rotation reduces workers' time exposure to critical work stresses by providing variety of posture and movements. Rotate jobs every 1-2-4 hours, depending on severity of risks. It costs nothing. Production often increases due to reduced fatigue. A version of this is sit-stand option: switch frequently between sitting and standing at the job. Another alternative is stretching programs.
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IS THE PHYSICAL/OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST QUALIFIED AS AN ERGONOMICS CONSULTANT ?? .... Absolutely yes. No one in our society is more highly trained on musculo-skeletal structure, work, function, injury, disease, treatment, and prevention than the physical/ occupational therapist. No one.
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THE STRATEGIES OF MSD ELIMINATION...
Ergonomics-Engineering ..Re-design work to reduce the required stresses of work. This works if design is faulty and if alternative design is available and it is affordable. Seeks to dilute stresses to a less toxic level. (Lifting example: reduce weight or frequency or lowest height or highest height or horizontal distance or arc twisted or cumbersomeness of load, all to dilute severity of lifting requirements) We look for 5-10% improvements in areas where possible to add up to real savings.
Time Exposure Reduction... Reduce time exposure to work stress that cannot otherwise be re-designed: job rotation, job enlargement to increase task variety, sit-stand option to switch between standing and sitting, switching between alternative methods or movement patterns doing the job. (Lifting example: lifting work limited to 1-2 hours, then switch to non-lifting tasks for 1-2 hrs)
Micro-Stretching.. Specific stretches that restore perfusion to overworked tissues; politically difficult but very effective if done right and enforced by mgt. Great protection on jobs that are stressful but no redesign available. See our essay on this. (Lifting example: Hourly standing back-bends and hamstring stretches) Our program takes less than 2 minutes to complete, and actually increases productivity when done at the start of every quarter. This is because the Micro-stretches fight fatigue that sets in fourth quarter and workers remain more productive.
Training & Education.. None of these work unless all parties are educated, not on what to do, but on why to do it. That is our Back School and Upper Extremity MSD School. (Lifting example: teach workers proper lifting techniques to correct work behaviors, not just proper lifting, but why it matters)
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Do Workplace Stretching Programs really work??..Yes, they do work!!!.... if you follow certain rules. Over 500 workplaces have implemented our stretching program...with consistently great success. But only if certain criteria are met. Studies showing poor results with stretching programs that violated these criteria. The right stretches must address the neck to reduce wrist-hand problems (tight neck muscles squeezing blood supply to wrist-arm tendons). Stretches must be designed by a professional therapist and be customized to the workplace. Workers must be educated as to how and why, and checked on their accuracy of doing them. Management must have the courage to ENFORCE exercises (supervisors must be trained in this and REQUIRED to cooperate). Our program requires only two minutes of total stretch time, done every hour or two. And productivity does NOT go down... it INCREASES according to our client workplaces that track piecework productivity, due to reduced fatigue. Stretching is especially valuable for stressful jobs but have no ergo re-design alternatives.
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THIS IS A FINANCIALLY & POLITICALLY CHALLENGING ISSUE... EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE ARE CRITICAL!!
The SmartWork Solutions, Inc specialized therapists have a combined 37 years of industry experience. They have worked with all types of work and political environments and have trained under the best in the industry of workplace consulting.
Contact us today and start with a cost-effective Work Risk Analysis.
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