By SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Mike Fetting, CSP, CIEE, CSPHA

The potential for injury from repetitive motion and awkward positions in jobs is widespread across many industries and businesses.

You can greatly reduce the likelihood of these injuries by implementing best practices in workplace ergonomics.

Epicondylitis, tenosynovitis, trigger finger, tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome are all common repetitive motion injuries that can develop over time without correct workplace ergonomics. While these types of injuries can occur in the lower body, they are much more common in the upper body — shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands and fingers.

Force, frequency and awkward position are the three main ergonomic hazards. Repetitive motion (frequency) alone is unlikely to cause an injury. The risk elevates when frequency is accompanied by excessive force, awkward position, or both. Vibration, static postures, contact stress and cold temperatures can also play a role in increasing risk.

There are a variety of benchmarks you can use to determine basic injury potential, but a professional ergonomic evaluation is the most accurate way to assess the risk of injury. Even without a professional evaluation, you can perform you own basic risk evaluation.

Consider the following:

• Force/intensity of exertion – Is the effort obvious? Is there a change of facial expression? Does a task using the hands require shoulder or trunk involvement?
• Speed of work – Is the worker visibly rushed or just keeping up?
• Duration of the cycle – Does the specific body part ever get a break while performing this task?
• Hours per day – Does the worker perform this same task all day?
• Awkward position – A neutral position is one in which the upper body is in the handshake position with the elbow at the side. The further away a worker’s body is from that neutral state, the more awkward the position will be, and the higher the propensity for a variety of repetitive motion injuries.

Preventing repetitive motion injury

There are three main tools for reducing the risk of repetitive motion injury: engineering, job rotation and stretching.

Engineering is easily the most powerful intervention. Changes should focus on the main risk factors: force, frequency and awkward position. Examples include changing from pistol grip to inline drivers, tilting the work, adding fixtures to hold the work, adding automation or mechanical assist to the job (or some portion of the process). It is important to work closely with employees and supervisors since changes may cause unforeseen problems. Ask employees to have an open mind and test changes for at least several days.

Once engineering is exhausted, the next most useful tool is reducing exposure through job rotation. Ideally the tasks use very different muscles, but even moderate differences can be helpful. Reducing a specific joint’s use from eight hours per day to two hours per day can cut the risk in half, according to some ergonomic models. One popular method is to change tasks at each break, including lunch. In most places, this means each employee will have three different jobs during the day. Changing tasks every two hours is even better. Some workplaces have high-demand tasks that are rotated after just one half-hour!

Lastly, stretching and flexing to warm up the muscles and get them ready for work can be a valuable addition to a complete ergonomic program. Check out sfmic.com for stretching exercises and workplace ergonomics tips.

The best solutions preserve employee health, increase production, and can even increase your job-candidate pool. Over the long term, fewer injuries often translate into lower workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

Equipment designed to help health care workers lift and move patients safely doesn’t just benefit the workers.

It can also improve patients’ quality of life.

Wisconsin group home owner Steve Campbell learned this firsthand when he introduced a resident to his new Handicare QuickMove, a device that makes it easy to help patients stand up and move around safely.

“When we first took it out of the box he was laughing and smiling,” Campbell said. “He was just ecstatic.”

The resident previously needed a staff member on each side supporting him anytime he wanted to walk. Now the QuickMove provides support, and he just needs one staff member alongside him as he uses it to stand up and move around. As a result he’s walking more and using more of his own muscles, which is making him stronger, Campbell said.

“It’s basically walking on his own,” Campbell said.

Campbell learned about the equipment from SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Carl Gruber, who explained that the equipment could serve two purposes — provide his resident with more independence and protect his staff from injuries caused by manually lifting and supporting the resident.

“It’s kind of a two-for-one,” Gruber said. “It was rewarding to see this patient’s life improve significantly while also protecting the staff from the threat of a serious injury.”

Gruber, who is certified in safe patient handling, trained the staff on how to use the equipment. Campbell said staff members are already seeing the benefits, and he has added peace of mind about the safety of his resident and employees.

Health care workers at significant risk

Statistically, working in health care is more dangerous than both construction and logging. More than half of the health care worker injuries reported to SFM are strains and sprains, and lifting and transferring patients is a common cause.

For more information on safe patient handling, browse our website or talk with your loss prevention representative. SFM has loss prevention representatives certified in safe patient handling working in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.

This article was adapted from our Loss Prevention 101 webinar. The full recording is available on our webinar page.

Preventing work injuries can save you money, time and stress, but those aren’t the most important reasons to establish a strong workplace safety program.

“Always remember that at the center of every workers’ compensation claim is a person and an injury can interrupt their life, their family, their hobbies, and more,” said SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Mike Fetting. “It’s important not to lose sight of that fact.”

In addition to the impact to the employee, work injuries can lower morale among coworkers and increase workers’ compensation premiums.

The only controllable item in an organization’s workers’ compensation premium cost is its experience modifier (e-mod) which is directly impacted by claim costs and severity. When a claim happens, it affects the company’s e-mod for 3 years.

If your claim history is about average among similar businesses, your e-mod will be 1.0. Each claim that results in a cost has the potential to increase your e-mod above 1.0, meaning worse than your peers, which directly increases the premium amount you pay. The lower your e-mod is, the less you pay in premium.

Hazard assessments and developing controls

Every safety program should include an ongoing process to identify workplace hazards, including anything within the scope of a job duty that could cause physical or mental harm to employees. For example, loud noise levels, wet floors or cracks in the parking lot could all be workplace hazards.

Depending on where employees are working, hazards could exist inside, outside, on a jobsite or even over the road, said SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Dana Mickelson.

Hazards can arise from materials, equipment, tools, or machines used by employees or within the workplace. They can even arise from people such as outside contractors, employees who create unsafe conditions for others, or supervisors who do not correct unsafe issues.

There are several assessment methods that safety and loss prevention leaders can use to identify hazards:

• Identify loss history trends. For example, if an organization had 10 injuries last quarter and five are slips and falls from a wet floor, that should be a good indication to focus on slips and falls. Even if there aren’t any trends, employers can still use loss history to determine which jobs or areas to focus on.
• Use other records to find risks and hazards to focus on. Examples include inspection reports, data safety sheets and job hazard analysis.
• Complete inspections. Inspections can be done by a member of your safety committee, an employee, a supervisor or other leader, or a third party. They should also be completed after incidents occur as part of the investigation process. We recommend performing inspections periodically at different intervals, such as daily, monthly, or annually, depending on the hazard.
• Conduct investigations. Injuries and near misses should always be investigated. The steps of an investigation include collecting facts – who, what, when, where and how – and then analyzing the facts to determine the root causes. Once the root causes are identified, decide what corrective actions to take for each root cause.
• Have discussions. Ask employees about their safety concerns because they know and understand their job the best. Consider developing a safety committee consisting of different disciplines and departments to discuss hazards. During the discussions, think about potential emergency situations, and routine and non-routine tasks, such as those completed only once a year.

Prioritize the hazards identified

Some hazards will have easy fixes or can be corrected on-the-spot, but if there are several hazards without quick fixes, use a risk matrix to help you prioritize. A risk matrix is a grid where you plot likelihood of occurrence on one axis, and severity on the other.

First, determine the likelihood that an incident or event will occur based on a numeric scale – for example, one represents the lowest likelihood and four is the highest. Then, determine the severity if an incident or event were to occur, with one being low severity and four being catastrophic. For example, if you determine a hazard has a likelihood of three, and a severity of two, that is a medium-high risk hazard and should be given higher priority than the low-risk and medium-risk hazards.

Hierarchy of controls

After prioritizing hazards, determine what controls (i.e., corrections) to put in place. There are several options, and some are more effective than others. These options, ranked from most effective to least effective are:

• Elimination: Physically remove the hazard
• Substitution: Replace the hazard
• Engineering controls: Isolate people from the hazard
• Administrative controls: Change the way people work
• PPE: Protect the worker with personal protective equipment

There will most likely be several controls for each hazard. Some controls will be an immediate fix, and in most cases, you need to determine controls that will result in improved and sustainable corrections.

Finally, implement the controls. Develop a plan to document progress and set accountability. The plan should include the hazard, controls, target due dates, who is responsible for implementation, and a completion date.

Keep in mind that performing assessments and determining and implementing controls is a continual, repeated process.

To learn more about building and maintaining your safety and loss prevention program visit the safety tab on our website. You can also reach out to your SFM contacts.

Are you ready for winter?

Even if you’d rather not think about winter just yet, now is really the perfect time to figure out how you’ll mitigate the safety risks that come along with snowy and icy weather.

Winter slips and falls are one of the most common causes of workplace injuries. They can happen at any workplace, to any employee, and they can lead to serious injuries — concussions, broken bones, herniated discs and more avoidable injuries.

Every year, we see employers suffer due to employee injuries caused by winter slips and falls. The impact can include:

• Lost productivity
• Costs to injured workers and their families
• Replacement employee costs
• Overtime for existing employees
• Increased workers’ compensation costs
• Facility damages from conditions caused by varying temperature fluctuations

That doesn’t even include the negative impact on injured employees’ lives.

“To avoid these costs, we recommend employers do everything they can to eliminate hazards and generate winter safety awareness among employees,” said Steve Sandilla, SFM senior vice president, strategic business operations. “Getting a jumpstart before the snow flies and providing simple reminders to employees can make a big difference.”

The cold facts

Nationwide, there were 20,000+ workplace injuries due to falls from ice, sleet and snow that resulted in a day or more away from work in 2017, and 28% of those resulted in more than a month off work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average number of days to recover from these types of injuries varied in the Midwest.

According to OSHA, slips and falls contribute to 20% of all workplace injuries, costing companies billions in insurance claims, lost hours in liability lawsuits, and 15% of all accidental deaths (second only to motor vehicle accidents).

Moreover, the CDC indicated that the medical costs for winter slips and falls topped out at $50 billion, and more than 800,000 have been hospitalized due to slip and fall injuries (mainly hip and head injuries).

Bureau of Labor Statistics data also show that thousands more winter slip-and-fall-related injuries were minor and did not result in lost work time.

SFM estimates the average winter slip-and-fall lost-time claim costs range from $40,000 to $45,000. The costs — direct and indirect — mount quickly and can’t be ignored.

It pays to start early

The good news is that slip-and-fall injuries don’t have to “just happen.” You as an employer can do a lot to prevent these injuries at your workplace, and autumn is a great time to start preparing your workplace and your employees for the winter season.

Prepare your workplace

Follow these steps to prepare for winter weather both inside and outside:

• Discuss expectations with your maintenance staff or snow removal vendor.
  Make it clear you expect snow and ice accumulation to be removed quickly and salt or other surface treatments applied to melt icy spots. Discuss which entrances should be cleared first, how often snow removal should occur, and who is responsible for what. Ensure snow is piled in a low area of the lot to prevent hazards from melting and refreeze. Develop an accountability plan with the vendor to deal with staffing problems and poor workmanship. Request that your vendor supply you with a copy of the checklist given to staff which outlines the most important aspects of the services provided.
• Spot check for hazards.
  Identify potholes and cracks that may cause issues in inclement weather. Arrange for repairs before it snows. Check that drain pipes, grate covers and catch basins are not clogged with debris. Once the snow comes, ice dams can form, causing water from melting snow and ice to back up onto sidewalks and refreeze. Make sure lighting systems covering parking lots and sidewalks are checked regularly to verify they are working properly. Poor lighting makes it more difficult for employees to see patches of snow and ice. Check entrance steps and handrails for damage. Employees need a sturdy handrail to grip when conditions are slick. Eliminate unauthorized walkways using hazard tape or barriers to keep people from taking shortcuts across unshoveled areas.
• Use previous injury records to set your priorities.
  Review the previous year’s reports to determine where there has been a history of slip-and-fall incidents. Find solutions to eliminate those problem areas.
• Make plans to prevent indoor slips.
  When snow is tracked indoors, interior walking surfaces in entrances, reception areas, hallways, and stairwells can be dangerous. To keep employees safe, use a floor fan to help keep walkways dry. Strategically place “wet floor” signs to slow people down as they enter the building. Use beveled floor mats to catch excess water. Keep extra mats on hand in case they become saturated with water and need to be changed.
• Clean up spills or puddles immediately.
  Create a procedure for taking the appropriate action when someone causes or comes across a spill.

Winter safety tips to give employees

Your employees play a key role in preventing slips and falls by being aware of their surroundings and making good decisions. Get your employees ready for the change in weather conditions by reminding them:

• Focus on your footing. Watch where you walk. Concentrate on getting from point A to point B safely.
• Walk like a penguin. Use short, slow steps.
• Don’t use your cell phone while walking from the parking lot or on stairs.
• Use handrails on stairways and don’t rush.
• Be aware of changes in walking surfaces. Many falls are caused when people don’t realize they’re leaving non-slippery surfaces for slippery ones.
• Free up your hands. Use a carrying case with a shoulder strap for laptops and files.
• Wear appropriate footwear — no high heels or smooth-soled shoes.
• Step down and not out when getting out of a vehicle. Swing both legs out. Place both feet on the ground and use hands for support.
• Step down off curbs, not out. Landing on your heel first instead of flat footed can cause a fall.
• Use authorized paths. If it’s not clear of snow, don’t use it. No shortcuts.
• Report unsafe conditions to a supervisor or maintenance person.

Depending on your business, you may also consider implementing a traction footwear policy that requires employees who work outside in the elements to wear traction footwear to keep them safe. A number of SFM policyholders have implemented mandatory footwear programs for employees who work outdoors and have seen significant reductions in incidents as a result.

Use SFM’s winter slip-and-fall prevention tools

SFM provides many resources to keep your employees aware of winter slip-and-fall risks throughout the season, including posters, handouts, safety talk outlines and videos.

“It’s important to keep reminding employees of the risks of winter slips and falls, and how to avoid them, throughout the season,” said Loss Prevention Technical Leader Lee Wendel. “We’ve tried to make that easy for employers by offering a variety of different resources.”

There is great truth to the adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” With a little prevention, costly injuries that greatly affect both employers and employees can be easily avoided!

You can find links to these resources and more information to help you have a slip-free winter on SFM’s winter slips and falls page.

This is not intended to serve as legal advice for individual fact-specific legal cases or as a legal basis for your employment practices.

A strong safety culture starts with a high level of safety awareness among your employees. Getting there requires consistent, effective communication between leadership and front-line workers.

When leaders communicate to employees about safety, start by explaining why it’s important to your organization — that leadership cares about its employees, and your culture is one where coworkers care about each other.

“The employees don’t care what you know until they know that you care about them personally,” said SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Steve Lichtenberg. “Lead with passion and build a rapport with the employees.”

Tips for high-impact safety training

Newer employees are at the highest risk for injuries, so it’s important to start providing safety training right away with new employee orientation. After that, plan on regular check-ins and recurring training throughout that first year and continuing throughout employment.

For ongoing safety training, it can be helpful to create a training topic checklist to follow throughout the year. To get a complete picture of the hazard exposures employees have, the training schedule should include compliance, high hazards, loss trends and near miss and incident-only reporting.

If possible, try to offer training frequently in smaller segments, as employees tend to lose focus over long sessions.

Variety is key with recurring training to keep staff engaged and help boost understanding, and that the educational method used to train can have an impact on the effectiveness of each training session, according to SFM Senior Loss Prevention Representative Sara Cooper.

Safety training methods from most to least effective

Our safety professionals ranked common safety training methods from most to least effective in terms of employee understanding and retention. It’s important to note that everyone learns differently, and so it’s best to use a variety of the listed methods.

1. On the job training: Employees first hear, then see, then do
2. Train the trainer: Being trained to teach someone else
3. Job shadowing: Learning from a fellow employee
4. Toolbox talks: Leading short safety talks regularly
5. Computer-based training: While efficient, employee can’t ask questions
6. Lecture: Good for relaying a small amount of information to a large group

Techniques for safety conversations

Formal safety training is important, but it’s also important to try to work conversations about safety in throughout the workday. It may take some practice at first, so it pays to be intentional.

SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Mike Fetting recommends a few types of safety conversations to have on a regular basis:

• The walk around conversation – In this conversation an employee and supervisor might talk about the employee’s goals and plans for safety. The supervisor could also ask the employee what safety measures the organization does well and what needs improving.
• The safety feedback conversation – These can be quick compliments to an employee on a job well done with a follow up question about how the employee made it happen.
• The why I care about safety conversation – This tends to be very personal. Some examples include an employee’s past work experience, a family member’s safety experience, or simply that the individual cares about their coworkers.
• Modified Gemba Walk – Drawing on a Lean management philosophy technique, this conversation starts by visiting an employee at their workstation and trying to learn a task. That can be done by watching them do the work, asking questions about how the task is done, and if a potential hazard is identified, asking the individual why they do the task that way. The idea here is that a safety manager or supervisor can better understand the job and process if they interact with the employee and try to see things from their perspective.

During your conversations, be sure to take the opportunity to learn from your employee.

“When it comes to safety conversations with employees, listening more and talking less can sometimes be the best approach,” Fetting said.

Encourage employee feedback

Communication is a two-way street and getting feedback from employees at all levels of the company is an important part of an effective safety program. Encouraging safety feedback starts with trust. Employees need to be able to trust leadership to act on feedback they provide, and they need to trust their coworkers to speak up when they observe safety concerns.

Safety leaders can encourage employee feedback by:

• Promoting hazard reporting
• Implementing near miss reporting
• Adding a suggestion box for indirect feedback
• Making it safe to speak up (no negative repercussions for reporting hazards or unsafe behaviors)

Once an employee provides feedback, follow up in several ways:

• Thank the employee for their feedback and acknowledge their concern
• Work to understand the situation better by going back to the employee and getting more information
• Investigate quickly
• Provide timely assessments or answers for every report or suggestion, regardless of whether you were able to make changes
• Share any safety changes made with the company by email or newsletter and celebrate the successful use of the reporting process
• Reward the employee for their effort

Safety training and communication play a fundamental role in a successful loss prevention program. To get safety resources and learn more about building a loss prevention program visit the safety page on sfmic.com or reach out to your SFM loss prevention representative.

You can also learn more by viewing the full Loss Prevention 101 webinar at sfmic.com/webinars.

Dozens of workers die each year, and thousands more become sick while working in extreme heat or humidity, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration .

If your employees must work in hot environments, it’s important to know the risks and symptoms of heat-related illnesses, and how you can prevent them. Many factors have an impact on workplace risk for heat stress, ranging from the environment to physical condition of the employees. Workers at highest risk tend to be those who are over 65 years old, are overweight, have heart disease, have high blood pressure or take medications that may be affected by extreme heat.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors to consider in evaluating employees’ risk of working in hot conditions include:

• Temperature, clothing and exertion requirements.
• Humidity – high humidity impacts the effectiveness of perspiration.
• Wind – it can assist the body in cooling, but in high temperatures with high humidity it may actually increase heating of the body.

Know the types of heat stress

There are a number of different types of heat-related illnesses, which range in severity. They include:

• Heat cramps
  Painful muscle spasms most likely in the arms, legs and abdominal area. Heat cramps are caused by sweating during strenuous activity and failing to replace the fluids and salt lost from sweating.
• Heat exhaustion
  Symptoms include profuse sweating, headaches, extreme weakness or fatigue, dizziness, fast pulse, rapid breathing and nausea or vomiting.
• Heat or sun stroke
  Symptoms include a very high body temperature (104 degrees F or higher); mental confusion, delirium or hallucinations; rapid breathing and pulse; hot, dry, red or mottled skin; convulsions; and loss of consciousness. Seek medical help immediately and keep the person cool with fans, ice and water until help arrives.

Prevent heat-related illness among your employees

OSHA recommends that employers with workers exposed to high temperatures:

• Monitor conditions regularly and follow consistent work practices.
• Train your employees about signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion, as well as the importance of hydration – See our 5-Minute Solution on heat stress which is also available in Spanish .
• Provide breaks as needed by the conditions.
• Consider completing outdoor tasks either early in the morning or in the evening whenever possible.

Educate employees on how to prevent heat-related illness

Employees have a role to play in protecting themselves from heat-related illness. Educate your employees on prevention by telling them to:

• Adjust themselves to the heat through short exposure periods followed by longer exposure until their body is acclimated to the heat. It may take 14 days or longer.
• Drink lots of liquid to replenish the fluid that their body is losing through sweating. Drink water to stay hydrated (about 1 cup every 15 minutes), and electrolyte drinks (sports drinks) to replace salt. A 3:1 ratio of sports drinks to water is commonly recommended. Don’t wait to drink until you’re thirsty, and avoid alcohol and caffeinated beverages.
• Do not ignore possible symptoms of heat stress. If their muscles cramp or if they feel very hot, dizzy or nauseous, then they should stop, hydrate, rest and cool off in the shade or air-conditioned area.
• Wear light-colored and loose-fitting clothes. Cotton breathes better than synthetic fabrics.
• Schedule work activities during the coolest parts of the day.
• Take the time to rest and cool down before they feel symptoms of heat stress.
• Report symptoms of heat-related illness in themselves or coworkers to their supervisor immediately.

You or your supervisors can use SFM’s 5-minute solutions training talk on heat stress as a guide to talk with employees.

Use heat safety app to identify dangerous conditions

OSHA and the National Institute for Safety and Health have created a free heat safety mobile app to make employers and workers aware of whether the heat index in their area creates a risk for heat-related illness.

The app also provides recommendations for preventing heat stress based on the risk level.

Learn more about preventing heat-related illness among employees

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration offer a number of resources that can help you protect your employees from heat stress, including:

• OSHA’s Occupational heat exposure page
• CDC’s Heat and outdoor workers page
• CDC’s Heat-related illness page
• CDC’s Tips for preventing heat-related illness page
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health booklet, Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments

Maintaining neutral posture can go a long way in preventing injuries before they happen at work. Over the past couple of years many employees have shifted in how and where they work. Some are working more from home. Some are returning to a workplace after a long hiatus. Whether your employees are adapting to new workplace arrangements or haven’t seen much change at all, it’s a good time for a refresher on how to set up workstations ergonomically to prevent pain and strain.

How to maintain a neutral posture while sitting at work

No matter whether you’re working from a standing or seated position, the goal is to achieve a neutral body position.

Follow these six ergonomic tips for maintaining proper posture:

• Keep your feet resting comfortably on the floor or on a footrest.
• Your thighs should be fully supported by the chair seat, with your hips at a 90 to 110 degree angle.
• The backrest of your chair should support the natural curve of the back.
• Your upper arms should be resting comfortably at your side, with elbows at a 90 to 100 degree angle.
• Your head should be centered over your neck and shoulders.
• Don’t lean forward in your chair to avoid putting strain on the neck and back.

How to maintain a neutral posture while standing

Increasing numbers of desk workers are turning to sit-stand workstations, or standing desks.

Follow these seven tips to maintain an ergonomic posture while working at a standing desk:

• Feet should be resting comfortably on an even surface.
• Wear shoes with insoles.
• Stand on an anti-fatigue mat with beveled edges that sits flat on the floor.
• Keep your knees unlocked.
• Your upper arms should rest comfortably at your side, with elbows at a 90-100 degree angle.
• Wrists should be held straight, not pressing into the edge of a counter or table.
• Your head should be centered over your neck and shoulders.

Add movement: The 20-8-2 rule

Even after your workstation setup is optimized for your comfort, you shouldn’t sit there all day. If your job is predominantly sedentary, try to build in at least two hours of movement throughout the day.

The 20-8-2 rule offers a quick rule of thumb to remind you to change positions and get up and move. This “ideal work pattern” was pioneered by Dr. Alan Hedge, a professor of ergonomics at Cornell University.

For every half-hour of work:

• Sit for 20
• Stand for 8
• Stretch or move for 2

The frequency of position changes may be more important than the length of the break. Changing positions often will help you maintain focus and energy throughout your workday.

Workplace ergonomics tools that can help

There are a number of products available that you can purchase to help you and your employees work with a neutral posture. Many are inexpensive.

These include:

• Headsets
  Cradling a phone between your shoulder and neck can cause strain. If you need your hands free while using the phone, try using a headset instead.
• Mouse bridges / keyboard cushions
  Keyboards should be set flat, and your wrists should be raised and level, resting on a cushion. Avoid placing your wrists on the edge of the table or desk. This also applies when using a mouse. Your keyboard and your mouse should both be in easy reach.
• Adjustable monitor stands
  Use adjustable monitor stands to keep the screen of your monitor at eye level, or slightly below eye level for those who use bifocals. They are usually inexpensive and easy to use. Center the monitor in front of your keyboard.
• Document holders
  Instead of looking at a piece of paper lying flat on the table, use a document holder to keep the page in line with your computer, keeping everything at eye level. This will prevent excessively bending your neck, and it’s easier to read.
• Risers
  A riser is a wedge-shaped product that can be placed on the floor under the desk. If the height adjustment on your chair leaves your feet unable to touch the ground, use a riser to give yourself a footrest. They are adjustable and inexpensive, and they take the weight off your upper thighs and reduce pressure from the chair edge.
• Adjustable chairs
  Making sure your chair is the right size is one of the easiest ways to improve comfort. Make sure the height, seat, arms and recline are all adjustable. If the table or counter you work at isn’t adjustable, be sure to set the height of your chair so that your arms rest comfortably at your sides and don’t press into the edge of the table or counter. Adjust your chair so that you maintain neutral positions.
• Sit-stand workstations
  Sit-stand workstations can help keep you from sitting all day long, but it’s important to shift between sitting and standing. Switching to standing all day won’t prevent strains and pains — it just moves them to different areas. Going back and forth between the two throughout the day is the best way to utilize sit-stand workstations. When choosing a sit-stand workstation, ensure the desk goes low enough to reach your ideal height when seated, which is the measurement from your elbows to the floor when sitting with feet flat to the floor and shoulders relaxed.

Alternative workstations and laptop ergonomics

Using a laptop or mobile device can make it harder to achieve a neutral posture, so here are some additional tips for laptop and tablet ergonomics. If you’re have a treadmill desk or standing desk, consider the risks and benefits of alternative workstations.

Download and print a PDF of these workplace ergonomics tips and keep them handy so you remember how to maintain a neutral posture and keep active at work.

As a workers’ compensation insurer serving 250 school districts, we’ve learned a lot about school employee injuries and how to prevent them.

Common injuries among school employees

According to SFM claim data, here are a few school employee injury statistics:

• 40% of workers’ compensation claims among school employees involve students
• The most common student-related injuries are due to students acting out (64% of injuries related to student interaction)
• The most common causes of injuries to school employees are due to being struck (34%), slips/trips/falls (27%) or strains (23%)
• The most common injuries to school employees are fractures/contusions (59%), sprains/strains (23%), and punctures/lacerations (11%)

For more statistics, see our fact sheet on occupational injuries in schools.

Ways to avoid work injuries among school employees

There are a number of things school districts can do to prevent common employee injuries including:

• Encourage staff to “Facilitate, don’t participate“
  Participating in physical activities puts teachers, paraprofessionals and coaches at risk for serious injuries. Instruct staff to focus on demonstrating and teaching skills versus actively participating in play. Remind them that they are responsible for their own safety. Download our Facilitate, don’t participate 3-Minute Solution for more details. 
• Promote a hands-off approach to dealing with students who are acting out
  For more details, download our de-escalation team training talks for schools and alternative intervention and de-escalation tactics training talk.
• Prevent winter slips and falls
  Snow- and ice-related slips and falls are a leading cause of school employee injuries. Remind your employees about the increased risk of slips and falls in winter, and how to prevent them with an educational campaign throughout the season. SFM offers a number of free winter slip-and-fall prevention resources.
• Provide supervisor initiated training
  SFM offers free downloadable safety training talks for schools, broken down by job category (such as buildings and grounds, food service, etc.). These talks are simple and quick to present, and help keep the staff focused on safety.
• Tell staff to get up and move
  Employees who stay in a static position all day long put themselves at greater risk for strain and sprain injuries. Encourage them to take short breaks throughout the day to move around. They can use this warm up and stretching poster for ideas of movements that will help them avoid strains.
• Get fit and exercise
  Employees who work with their arms in front of them all day, such as food service workers, are at risk for shoulder injuries. SFM developed a program called Get Fit and Exercise, which focuses on shoulder strengthening to prevent injuries. Anyone can benefit from the program, but it’s especially good for building and grounds crews and food service staff.