Who would ever think that the heros such as EMS professionals and firefighter are being injured everyday protecting us from harm. the saddening fact is that back pain is the most common complaint in EMS professionals under the age of 45. 47% of employees in EMS report having had a back injury during their career, most of these happen during their first few years on the job because theyfeel they are young and feel invincible.
now that you know some of injury rates what does that mean? If you put this all together it means that there are 93 million lost workdays each year that these heros are not able to perform their jobs costing an estimated 30-50 billion dollars annualy! the beurea of labor statistics states that each back injury directly costs between 40k - 80k and the indirect costs are estimated to be 4 -7 times higher. so lets put this all together figuring on the minimum cost for a work related back injury, The total cost would be an estimated 200k. What could you or your organization do with an extra 200k?
The good news is you dont just have to accept these costs, there are a few things you can do to prevent from incurring these costs.
1. Develop a safety and ergonomics program at your facility
2. Involve your emplyees by having a safety committee to find and resolve safety and ergonomic issues.
3. Develop a training program for all new employees and hold refresher trainings annually
4.Invest in powered equipment such as powered evacuation stair chairs that remove the stress of lifting.
5. Develop a no fault accident investigation program that drills down to the root cause of the injury and as a team come up with a plan of action to remove the hazard.
These are all suggestions to developing a safer workplace that I have implimented in large facilities and have seen significant gains like a reduction in injuries by nearly 75% in just a couple of years. One of the key items is to train your employees on proper health and lifting techniques, below are some suggestions.
1. Maintain healthy habits such as exercise programs and good nutrition
2. Size up the lift and ask for assistance if possible
3. stretch before performing a lift
4.Maintain good body posture:
A. place your feet hip width apart
B. Bend at your knees
C. Keep your back at a normal curvature
D. Keep the load as close to your body as possible
E. Breath normally through the lift
F. Use the muscles in your legs to lift not your back!
G. Once you have lifted the object or patient never twist! follow your feet withyour upper body
All Injuries are preventable! HOT BOX LLC has all the latest technology in powered EMS equipment at the lowest prices Guranteed to help you in preventing work place back injuries.