One of Michael Holmes\u2019 favourite expressions is: \u201cWork shouldn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preventing workplace injuries is the focus of the Brock University Associate Professor of Kinesiology\u2019s research and a key message during October\u2019s Global Ergonomics Month<\/a>,<\/u> which raises awareness about the way humans interact with objects and systems to protect their well-being.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single industry, profession and job can benefit from ergonomic principles,\u201d says the Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Mechanics and Ergonomics<\/a>. \u201cIn addition to healthy workers, ergonomics is good for business and can have a positive impact on a company\u2019s bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes says musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) \u2014 injuries or pain to muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and nerves \u2014 account for a large percentage of all workplace injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cIn physical ergonomics, we often consider how much effort is required to do the job, how repetitive it is and what postures workers adopt while performing the job,\u201d says Holmes. \u201cOnce we have a grasp of these physical demands, we can better understand fatigue, injury risk and solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n He encourages companies and employees to:<\/p>\n Associate Professor of Kinesiology Shawn Beaudette says, \u201croughly 84 per cent of us will experience lower back pain at least once in our lifetimes\u201d and that \u201clower back pain is one of the most burdensome disorders people struggle with chronically.\u201d<\/p>\n Along with his team, the lead of Brock\u2019s Spine Biomechanics and Neuromuscular Control Laboratory<\/a> uses a variety of technologies to screen for different types of lower-back disorders and reduce the burden on those suffering with them.<\/p>\n The lab\u2019s recent study<\/a> found an increase in lower-back, neck and wrist pain in employees during COVID-19, when many of them switched to using laptops placed on home furniture, rather than desks and adjustable chairs.<\/p>\n With support from the CSA Group<\/a>, Beaudette\u2019s team also recently explored the use of a passive back support exoskeleton<\/a> to offset demand on the spine during repetitive lifting manoeuvres, \u201cdemonstrating that exoskeletons can reduce fatigue and improve productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n Assistant Professor of Engineering Ryan Schroeder researches rehabilitation strategies and equipment that helps people to walk more efficiently.<\/p>\n He is working to refine a specialized backpack first developed two decades ago by researchers looking to generate an energy source from the carrier\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you walk, your body moves up and down with every step,\u201d says Schroeder. \u201cThe researchers thought that by de-coupling the load from the carrier\u2019s back, they could capture some energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Not only could the device recharge batteries for electronic devices, but surprisingly, it also made it easier to walk, he says.<\/p>\n Schroeder recommends taking smaller steps when carrying a heavy backpack to avoid high impact forces at the knees and leg joints.<\/p>\n Never underestimate how extreme temperatures in the workplace impact the body\u2019s ability to function at its best, either, says Professor of Kinesiology Stephen Cheung.<\/p>\n He says hot environments add heat stress to bodies that are already generating a lot of heat.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch has also shown that productivity decreases and errors such as risky behaviour, inattention and difficulty in decision making increase over multiple days of heat exposure, such as what may occur during a heat wave,\u201d says Cheung.<\/p>\n A similar dynamic of decreased productivity and risk of accidents occurs in cold environments, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cMuscles have a harder time functioning, and the risks for musculoskeletal injuries may increase due to muscles being stiffer,\u201d says Cheung. \u201cFurthermore, cold hands reduce dexterity in performing fine movements, inhibiting the ability to perform simple manufacturing tasks through to performing critical tasks in an emergency situation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of Michael Holmes\u2019 favourite expressions is: \u201cWork shouldn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":96880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,4767,1],"tags":[13975,423,10339,8791,996,5828,13974,7488,13970,4317,11566,13973,4702,8562,13971,13972,3325,13969,10077,13976,2998,15140,10549],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96879"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96889,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96879\/revisions\/96889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n