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(soft music and beeping) First and foremost, let's not forget that the primary statement from OSHA related to moving and handling people is that manual lifting of residents should be minimized in all cases and eliminated when feasible. We do this by eliminating any conditions that would require manual movement or lifting of persons and by implementing proper lifting devices. Secondly, employers implement an effective ergonomic process that one, provides management support, two, involves the employees, three, identifies problems, four, implements solutions, five, addresses reports of injuries, six, provides training, and finally, it evaluates the ergonomic efforts that that company is making. So how do we recognize conditions that may lead to a musculoskeletal disorder? Well, there's several approaches that may be used to determine whether conditions in the workplace might be contributing to employees developing musculoskeletal disorders, or otherwise known as MSDs. First, review and analyze injury and illness records. In doing this we're looking for patterns of ergonomically related injuries. These could be certain jobs or work tasks that are specific. And keep an eye on injury reporting. A couple logs include the 300 and the 301 but don't forget to look at your workers compensation claims. It's always important to analyze the jobs or work tasks to identify potential future ergonomic problems before actual injuries, especially reportable injuries, occur. Determine if jobs present ergonomic risks that may contribute to musculoskeletal disorders. Several ways to do this include analysis tools. They may help in analyzing the jobs before an injury takes place. While there's no one size fits all approach there are numerous non-OSHA voluntary analysis tools that may be used to learn more about potential ergonomic risks associated with the jobs. Two, seek employee input about the existence of ergonomic problems related to particular jobs or work tasks. Some ideas on how this may be accomplished include, speaking with your employees, conducting symptom surveys, and also giving employee questionnaires. Be aware of common contributing conditions and check if other companies in your same industry have ergonomic related problems. If so, then it may be likely that these potential problems are also going to affect your industry or company. Obtain information from others in your industry to see what problems others have experienced in their job operations and to gain a better understanding of potential problems that may even exist in your workplace, and ways they've prevented or fixed problem work tasks that have produced musculoskeletal disorders.
It is important for every employer to analyze the jobs and work tasks of employees to identify potential future ergonomic problems before actual injuries, especially reportable injuries occur. This can be accomplished by using ergonomic risk analysis tools, reviewing injury logs, seeking employee input, and examining similar industries. For example, manual lifting of people should be minimized in all cases and eliminated when feasible. We do this by eliminating any conditions that would require manual movement or lifting of persons and by implementing proper lifting devices.