Safe Practises To Prevent Injuries at Work

Safe Practises To Prevent Injuries at Work

This World Day for Safety at Work we are going to give you tips on how to protect yourself at work in order to prevent injury and promote health.

On the 28th of April, we acknowledged the World Day for Safety at Work. This day, organised by the International Labour Organisation, aims to raise awareness about how we can prevent accidents at work and promote health. This day educates us on how we can take measures to make our workplaces a safer environment and consequently reduce the number of work-related injuries.

Safety at work does not only relate to minimising injury, it is also referring to preventing the spread of disease and promoting good emotional and mental wellbeing.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act in Victoria is the main legislation that holds workplaces accountable to ensure workplace safety. Worksafe helps to reinforce this by ensuring that workplaces are implementing the regulations outlined in the Act and monitoring workplaces. Additionally, Worksafe works to increase awareness about safety at work and make recommendations about appropriate changes to the Occupational Health and Safety legislation.

Even though workplaces are obliged to follow this legislation and ensure safe practices are in place, workplace injuries unfortunately still happen. When these incidents occur seeing a Physiotherapist or an Osteopath is a fantastic way to treat the injury and put a plan in, to prevent reoccurrence. There are also a number of steps every one of us can implement to keep ourselves as safe as possible whilst working.

Good Desk Set Up:

Do you ever find yourself getting a sore neck looking at your computer screen? Do you get a sore back after a long day of sitting at your desk?

If so you may need to adjust your desk set-up. Having good workplace ergonomics is important, especially if your job is desk-based. Here are a few tips to improve your desk set-up to prevent any soreness from developing:

  • Have your desktop or laptop at eye level. This will help prevent your neck from having to be bent down or up to look at your screen.
  • Forearms should be supported by the desk.
  • Have your chair adjusted so your knees are in line with your hips.
  • Have your feet flat on the floor, or on a footstool (so knees are in line with hips).

Stretching:

Many people find that they may get stiff or tight muscles after a long day at work. Stretching frequently throughout the day can help to reduce this. If your work involves sitting at a desk it is a good idea every hour to get up and move your body and neck around. Moving your head side to side and stretching through your shoulders can help to relieve any tension from sitting at a desk.

Alternatively, if you are on your feet a lot for work, stretching your legs can also be beneficial.

Safe lifting techniques:

Many workplaces have safe lifting or no lifting policies in an effort to prevent or reduce workplace injuries. The best way to prevent lifting-related injuries is to minimise lifting where possible. This can be done by using assistive equipment as much as possible, i.e. hoists, and forklifts. When required to lift items, such as boxes, it is important to adopt a good technique to reduce the risk of injury.

When lifting something off the floor:

  • Be close to the load you are lifting.
  • Start off with feet shoulder-width apart and move into a low squat position, bending at the hips and knees, not the back.
  • Grip the item and activate it through your core.
  • Push up through your legs.
  • When placing the load down again, if on a low surface bend at the hips and knees to lower, not through the back.

Good footwear:

Many workplaces have uniform requirements, and this extends to footwear. Even with these requirements, it is important that you have supportive shoes. Anyone working in trades needs to ensure that they have appropriate shoes, such as steel-capped boots, which work to protect against workplace hazards such as metals and nails. It is important that those working on different surfaces have slip-resistant shoes to prevent falls. Shoes that are well supported, have good grip and are comfortable are going to be the most beneficial.

Working takes up a great portion of our everyday life. It is important that we take steps such as those outlined above to protect ourselves from injury as much as possible, so we can continue to work in a safe and productive environment.

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