Improving workplace health & safety through collaboration

Articles How to Prevent Sprains and Strains in the Workplace

How to Prevent Sprains and Strains in the Workplace

Principal Author / Publisher:SAFETYHOW ADMIN

Last Edited: Mar 30, 2020 By: SAFETYHOW ADMIN

Article Rating:
Body

What are Sprains?

A sprain is an injury to a ligament (tissue that connects two or more bones at a joint). In a sprain, one or more ligaments is stretched or torn.

What are Strains?

A strain is an injury to a muscle or a tendon (tissue that connects muscle to bone). In a strain, a muscle or tendon is stretched or torn.

The Causes of Sprains and Strains

Sprains and strains can happen suddenly or develop over the course of days, weeks or months. When a worker is exposed to causative risk factors, they are more likely to develop a sprain / strain.

There are two general categories of risk factors; ergonomic (workplace) risk factors and individual risk factors.

Ergonomic (Workplace) Risk Factors:

  • Excessive Force: Many work tasks require high force loads on the human body. Muscle effort increases in response to high force requirements, increasing associated fatigue which can lead to MSD.
  • Excessive Repetition: Many work tasks and cycles are repetitive in nature, and are frequently controlled by hourly or daily production targets and work processes. High task repetition, when combined with other risks factors such high force and/or awkward postures, can contribute to the formation of MSD. A job is considered highly repetitive if the cycle time is 30 seconds or less.
  • Awkward Posture: Awkward postures place excessive force on joints and overload the muscles and tendons around the effected joint. Joints of the body are most efficient when they operate closest to the mid-range motion of the joint. Risk of MSD is increased when joints are worked outside of this mid-range repetitively or for sustained periods of time without adequate recovery time.
  • Other environmental factors: Slip, trip and fall hazards increase risk of a sudden / acute soft tissue injury.



body of edited article


Article Rating

This article has been read 204 times.

DISCLAIMER: All contents published on this website is for informational purposes only. In as much as we encourage write-ups to be originally written by the claimed authors, we might not be able to control those who will try to copy articles from other authors/writers. In view of the above, the owner and management of Safetyhow.com will not be liable for any loses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of the contents herein. Likewise, the owner and management will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information stated. Furthermore, we highly recommend that any form of plagiarism or libel committed as a result or implication of the articles written by any specific author in this platform be reported to us immediately so that appropriate action will be given.

BROWSE ARTICLE BY CATEGORY

BROWSE ARTICLE BY INDUSTRY