This is the third in a five-part series of blog posts recapping our webinar, Preventing strains and sprains.

The third portion of SFM’s webinar focused on identifying ergonomic risk factors in the workplace.

Sara Cooper, Senior Loss Prevention Representative, examined how employers can make their jobsites safer and mitigate the potential for musculoskeletal disorders. The three primary ergonomic risks in the workplace come from:

• Force
• Repetition
• Awkward postures

At the same time, there are individual risk factors that can exacerbate ergonomic risk factors, such as poor health, not recognizing early warning signs, not resting and recovering correctly, etc.

Safety leaders should also keep an eye out for other ergonomic risk factors, Cooper said, including compression or contact stress, cold temperatures and vibration.

Lastly, she wrapped up her portion of the presentation by discussing the hierarchy of controls, a system of addressing workplace hazards from most to least effective:

• Eliminating the hazard
• Substituting the hazard (replacing it)
• Engineering controls (isolating people from the hazard)
• Administrative controls – changing how people work
• Personal protective equipment

Check out the complete recording of the webinar and view other posts in our blog series highlighting the presentation.

• Part I: Understanding strain and sprain injuries
• Part II: Strain and sprain injury effects on work comp claims
• Part IV: Implementing solutions for workplace strain and sprain risks
• Part V: Legal aspects to strain and sprain injuries