InjuryFree would like to extend congratulations to one of our Employee Maintenance Center (EMC) clients for the accomplishment of 2 amazing milestones: on June 3rd, 2009 the Kimberly-Clark Conway facility achieved ONE SAFE YEAR, and then on June 29th, the same facility reached 1 MILLION SAFE MAN HOURS.

This was no easy feat for Conway: in just a few years they went from having an incident rating higher than the industry standard to now being labeled a "world class facility." We are very proud to have assisted Kimberly-Clark Conway to reach these amazing milestones.  GREAT JOB CONWAY!!!

On August 10, Gray's Harbor Paper in Hoquiam, WA opened its doors to the newest InjuryFree Employee Maintenance Center (EMC). An EMC is a center designed specifically to help employees better understand their biophysical health, as well as provide them with the tools to increase their overall well-being. Past clients have seen as much as an 80% decrease in work-related injuries within the first three years after the addition of this program. 

InjuryFree is excited about this new addition and is looking forward to sharing outstanding results with Grays Harbor Paper.

Return to Top

Biophysics pertains to the individual employee's physical capabilities; strength, flexibility and joint range of motion. Understanding the biophysics of each employee is crucial in determining what solutions should be in place to help to prevent injury, especially in facilities where overexertion and reptitive stress injuries are common.  

This is a significant departure from the safety program that focuses on machinery and environmental issues alone. Because overexertion and repetitive stress injuries occur to individual employees, oftentimes irrespective of the implementation of traditional safety procedures, new remedial programs must be developed based on the needs of the individual employees. Biophysical measurement enables that process. Without data, you're only guessing.  

Creating a Biophysics baseline for each employee becomes even more critical as your workforce ages. Workers are not static organisms. They are, and in doing so, their physical capabilities age. 

Do you have a Biophysics related question related to your workplace? 
E-Mail us at newsletter@injuryfree.com

Ergonomics is the science of finding a good fit between the worker and his/her environment. The goal of ergonomics is to make the work environment both safe and comfortable to occupy during work hours.

Understanding the workplace environment is critically important, whether in an office setting or in a manufacturing plant or warehouse. Neck pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strain and headaches are all too common results of poor posture due to inadequate work environments, or the lack of training in how to use ergonomically designed chairs and workstations. While most office injuries aren't "catastrophic" in nature, they are expensive. The most common treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome requires that employees stop using their hands for typing and other tasks for 6 to 8 weeks. The average carpal tunnel claim from 2004-2005 was $17,971 (Cited from the National Safety Council InjuryFacts 2008 Edition).  

Do you work in a factory? 
In the factory setting, understanding the workplace environment is no less important. Tools, machinery, working angles, rapid changes in temperature, and the nature of products being handled all contribute to potential stresses on workers. A thorough understanding in biomechanics is required in order to identify areas of ergonomic risk.  

Do you have an ergonomics related question related to your workplace? 
E-Mail us at newsletter@injuryfree.com   

If You Work in a Factory:
Education refers to transferring the specific knowledge required to do a particular job task in a safe manner. The BEEA+ approach stipulates that education must occur on an individual basis, as each worker is physiologically unique. Observing the manufacturing floor in many factories will quickly convince you that a cookie-cutter approach to job task education simply won't work for everybody involved.

If You Work in an Office:
In addition to customized education programs, educational content must be broadly and instantly available in order to prevent repetitive stress injuries in office settings. Resources and tools must be available to all employees to inform them of correct policies and procedures.

Do you have a question regarding the role of Education in your workplace?
E-Mail us at newsletter@injuryfree.com

Awareness speaks to an effort to identify and highlight known areas of risk by reaching out to employees with specific information. Awareness can be accomplished through training classes or even by posting notices in risk areas. 

Awareness is also accomplished by defining the limits of each individual worker and helping them become aware of their limitations and how those limitations impact the areas of Bio-Physics, Ergonomics and Education. A critically important aspect of awareness resolves around symptom recognition. Although not all injuries are preceded by pain indicators, pain is often a symptom of an impending problem of more serious magnitude. Employees need to be made aware that pain may be an indicator of a problem that needs to be addressed, not stoically ignored. While there may be a culture of "tough" in some facilities, today's workers are too intelligent to ignore the potential costs associated with unattended pain. A focused awareness program helps all employees understand the economic benefits of prevention, as opposed to the costly treatment alternative.  

Do you have a question that relates to the role of Awareness in your workplace? 
E-Mail us at newsletter@injuryfree.com