Without proper footwear and appropriate support for the job, employees can be subject to more than just discomfort. Workers are often faced with back, ankle, knee and hip pain, bad posture and foot problems like plantar fasciitis, sprains, bunions and corns.
As of 2015, 80% of active surface mining operations were extracting stone, sand, and gravel. A majority of job-related tasks in surface mining require workers to maintain awkward postures, perform repetitive movements, and operate vibrating machinery.
Pankaj Singh is a recent Ph.D. graduate in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. He is also a co-founder of OrthoFit Inc, a new company developing smart wearables and software. ISHN interviewed Pankaj by email to discuss smart glove wearables.
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) may not make the headlines like more dramatic injuries do, but they nonetheless have a considerable –and negative – impact on companies’ bottom lines. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports in 2013, MSD cases accounted for 33% of all worker injury and illness cases. Work related MSDs are among the most frequently reported causes of lost or restricted work time.
Have you ever wondered if your job involves more standing, bending, or lifting than other jobs? Or if there are ways you could avoid injuries from these movements while on the job?
Last week, NIOSH published an article on frequent exertion and frequent standing among US workers by industry and occupation group.
Lock in 2017 pricing by registering before January 1st
December 4, 2017
As a leading authority on machine safeguarding, Rockford Systems, LLC returns in 2018 with a comprehensive seminar schedule for professionals in the EH&S, plant management, insurance and metal fabrication industries.
T. Renee Anthony, PhD, CIH, CSP, FAIHA has been selected as the new editor in chief of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene (JOEH). Dr. Anthony, an associate professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, will take the reins January 1, 2018.
The New York Times has an article about failure of most hotel guests to give low-paid, hard-working housekeepers a much appreciated tip. Aside from the hard work they do, the Times also notes the hazards of the job.
Angela Lemus, a housekeeper at the Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill who makes $19.91 per hour, said through a translator that in addition to scrubbing tubs and taking out trash, she sometimes has to clean blood or other medical waste from rooms.
Before the end of World War II, there was little interest in fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the capabilities of the working population—a scientific practice known as ergonomics. By the 1970s, NIOSH researchers were pioneering the study of musculoskeletal health as professional ergonomists, examining physical and social components of work environments (such as conveyer belt height and lunch break routines, respectively) to mitigate musculoskeletal injury risks.
