Men and women who work construction in Oklahoma and other places in the world too often are victims of extreme workplace accidents. Someone might fall from a significant height. Maybe a roof caves in and a worker falls to suffer a back injury or even death.
Those types of worker accidents are serious and undoubtedly a real risk that workers face, but they are not the only type of health risk among employees. Warehouse workers make up a great deal of the working population. It is the everyday laborious tasks that they complete that can result in injury and painful conditions.
Ergonomics is a science that, simply put, is about positioning workers and their tools in ways that reduce physical stress and the potential of injury. An ergonomics professional offers several warehouse worker safety tips to try to reduce the common injuries that they suffer:
Try to work in a neutral posture position as much as possible. This means positioning oneself in a way that requires less bending of the neck, bending of the back and turning.
Workers should understand and utilize proper bending and lifting techniques. Improper bending and lifting is particularly hard on people’s backs. Employers shouldn’t assume that workers know the proper techniques. Workers should be trained in this safety matter.
Technology can be a great help for workers but also a danger. Of course, all machinery, carts and other tools in warehouse work should be properly maintained. If the push of a cart or a button can reduce the physical labor that a warehouse worker puts in every day, he or she could avoid repetitive stress injuries.
Within the warehouse industry there are many different roles, roles with their own everyday tasks. Packing, picking and shipping work can be very physical and, therefore, workers get injured. Some will be injured and in enough pain to be unable to work. A workers’ compensation lawyer can evaluate a worker’s case and help him or her do what is in the best interest of their health, future and overall justice.
Source: EHS Today, “Ergonomics: Warehouse Ergonomics/Tips And Techniques To Decrease Injury Risk,” Brandy Farris Ware and Jeffrey E. Fernandez, March 7, 2014