March 27, 2009
Did you know...?
Ergonomic Best Practices for Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries
Ergonomic best practices refers to the most effective techniques, methods or processes for preventing risks and injuries and controlling costs related to injuries. While best practices are often based on standards related to the best available scientific evidence, the evidence can change over time. Successful ergonomic practices evolve, requiring practitioners to keep up to date on the available scientific evidence.
How do we separate scientific evidence from marketing methods? For example, back belts were the rage in the 1980's and 1990's until research studies showed that the effectiveness of back belts in reducing back injuries was not clear. Safety professionals don't necessarily have the time to sift through multiple (often hundreds of) studies in order to make decisions on what best practices are applicable in their safety environment. In healthcare, systematic reviews have become the language of scientific consensus. Systemic reviews answer the question: what drug, medical device or medical treatment works without the safety or health care professional having to sift through hundreds of studies.
Systematic reviews provide an objective literature review on a specific topic and have the following advantages:
1) A systematic review assesses individual study quality and only provides a synopsis of the evidence from studies of sufficient quality.
2) Because a systematic review is based on the convergence of multiple research studies, the likelihood of being misled by research (or marketing efforts not based on research) is lower.
3) Efficiency is increased by utilizing a systematic review as a decision making tool because the research literature has already been identified, selected, appraised and synthesized in a systematic and transparent process by experts in the field.
4) Discussions about using a product are more productive because the focus can be on quality appraisal and evidence synthesis rather than why one study's evidence was used over another.
A challenge to safety and health professionals is keeping up with the sheer number of studies. Systematic reviews provide one opportunity to link practitioners to the science in an approach that allows the safety and health professional to make their own decisions about the current state of evidence.
Getting back to evidence based best ergonomic practices - findings from various systematic reviews suggest ergonomic best practices are not always about specific ergonomic tools or procedures but are more about integrated approaches to hazard control. Research indicates that no strong evidence suggests that any one specific intervention is effective. A combination of interventions may prove to be more effective in preventing musculoskeletal injuries.
Key characteristics of successful ergonomic programs include: it must be supported by an organizational policy (management and employee support); it must be implemented with broad-based ergonomics training (not just how to use the tool correctly); it must make available to the worker the appropriate technology with which to perform the work safely; it must include sufficient resources committed to the program and it must include good communication between team members and between the team and management.
Systematic reviews are an important element in the synthesis of the scientific evidence on how occupational safety and health programs work. For more information about systematic reviews and preventing work related injury or disease point your browser to: http://www.iwh.on.ca/systematic-reviews.
For more information on how Rehabilitation Specialists (a division of OHS-COMPCARE) can help your company with ergonomic safety please contact our client services team at 816-561-2105 or customerservice@ohscompcare.com.
*Please feel free to forward this information to any member of management in your company who would benefit from it.*
To view the Tip of the Week in Spanish please visit our Tip of the Week library at http://www.ohscompcare.com/totw/. Please allow a few days for the current Tip of the Week to be translated and placed in to the library.
To learn more about
services OHS-COMPCARE has to offer, contact our Client Services
Team at (816) 561-2105 option 1 or by e-mail at customerservice@ohscompcare.com. You can also visit us at www.ohscompcare.com.
Why choose us? Because OHS-COMPCARE has a physician on call 24/7/365 days a year to respond to our client's needs.
OHS-COMPCARE has seven (7) area clinical facilities:
|
Independence Clinical Facility |
Johnson County Clinical Facility |
St. Joseph Clinical Facility |
Grandview Clinical Facility |
|
19000 E. Eastland Center Crt, St. 200 |
10415 Lackman Road |
904 Edmond Street |
13830 S Us Highway 71 |
|
Independence, MO 64055 |
Lenexa, KS 66219 |
St. Joseph, MO 64501 |
Grandview, MO 64030 |
|
816-478-9299 |
913-495-9905 |
816-233-7702 |
816-761-4664 |
|
After Hours Available |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KCMO/Broadway Clinical Facility |
KCMO/Front Street Clinical Facility |
Wyandotte County Clinical Facility |
|
|
1650 Broadway |
6501 East Commerce, Suite 110 |
1333 Meadowlark Lane, Suite 200 |
|
|
Kansas City, MO 64108 |
Kansas City, MO 64120 |
Kansas City, KS 66102 |
|
|
816-842-2020 |
816-483-5550 |
913-596-2774 |
|