Individuals and departments can reduce work-related injury

Just a short time ago, Patient Food & Nutrition Services (PFNS) employees in the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers (UMHHC) were averaging about three injuries per month from hauling around the tall carts filled with food trays for patients. Today, the average for the group of more than 100 employees is less than one a month, says Deborah Anderson, Nutrition Services safety liaison.

Posters, postcards and other materials like these soon will be sent around campus to remind community members of small changes they can make that could add up to large improvements in workplace safety and well-being.

At nearly the same time, PFNS clinical dietary staff members began having increased numbers of on-the-job injuries, but since last fall no such incidents have been reported, Anderson says.

What has made the difference in these situations? A few changes of behavior based on sound ergonomic principles.

Through an evaluation of their work habits by staff from UMHHC Safety Management Services, the PFNS employees learned, among other things, that pushing, not pulling, a food cart is safer. The clinical dietary folks, it turns out, were experiencing injuries related to the change from a largely paper charting process to one that is electronic. Computer chairs and desks at the wrong height, and monitors and keyboards too far from the front of the desk were among the problems that were causing their injuries.

"Little things like that—they all added up. We were surprised by how simple the things were to change," Anderson says. "It's nice to see injuries go down the way they have."

Small changes in behavior for the entire campus community are at the heart of a new campaign to encourage ergonomic awareness. During the next few weeks, members of all three campuses will receive materials that, among other things, show the right and wrong way to move, lift and sit. The campaign also will point to a number of resources for self-help and unit-based initiatives to improve safety, including two Web-based tutorials.

"The purpose of the Enhanced Ergonomic Awareness Program is to increase faculty and staff awareness of ergonomic principles and practices as well as the resources available within the U-M community," says LaVaughn Palma-Davis, senior director of University health and well-being initiatives. "We are very fortunate to have the ergonomic resources that exist at the U-M. A team of ergo experts from all of our campuses collaborated on this program to 'raise the bar' on the prevention of injuries. Building on our continued commitment to improve workplace health and safety, the focus will be on education and training, and design of work environments and processes."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor, 4.3 million nonfatal injuries and illnesses were reported in private industry workplaces during 2004—a rate of 4.8 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. At U-M, as with the nation, musculoskeletal problems lead the list of work-related injuries—comprising 30 percent of long-term disability claims. Even among non-occupational health conditions, back and upper extremity problems lead the way, followed by other connective tissue disease and musculoskeletal disorders (including arthritis), Palma-Davis says.

Risk factors leading to these injuries include awkward postures, repetitive motions or sustained postures, excessive force, contact stress, vibration and temperature extremes.

The Enhanced Ergonomic Awareness Program is the second program launched under the Michigan Healthy Community initiative, a University-wide effort to encourage healthier living through increased activity, attention to physical safety in the workplace and a number of other means. The University is nearly halfway through an eight-week Active U program, designed to encourage faculty and staff to move more for their health. The ergonomics focus will begin this month.

President Mary Sue Coleman says the two programs are part of a broader initiative that will utilize U-M resources to employ the latest thinking and creative ideas to address short- and long-term health and well-being in the University community and beyond.

"The University of Michigan, with its outstanding research base, exceptional hospitals and health centers, and its excellent affiliated M-CARE health plans is uniquely positioned to emerge as a leader in the area of prevention of disease and injury through lifestyle changes," Coleman says. "Our current efforts to improve campus safety and well-being not only stand to benefit us in the areas of employee retention, job satisfaction, and reduced health care costs, they will establish U-M as a model for others to follow."

Anderson says her unit is a perfect case-in-point as small changes in ergonomic behavior made a world of difference for the 130-plus employees—and not just in the bottom line number of reduced injuries.

"People have been very receptive to the information they've gotten," she says. "Our focus is on a good, healthy workforce. It helps morale, and the happier and healthier the employees, the more productive they are."

The Enhanced Ergonomic Awareness team combines the efforts of ergonomic consultants from the following programs:

• Campus Programs for Injury Prevention and Departmental Interventions
Ann Arbor: Occupational Safety and Environmental Health, www.oseh.umich.edu/ergonomics.html
Dearborn: Environment, Health and Safety, www.umd.umich.edu/dept/safety
Flint: Environment, Health and Safety, www.umflint.edu/ehs/index.php

• UMHHC Injury Prevention and Departmental Interventions
Safety Management Services, www.med.umich.edu/i/safety/Ergonomics/index.htm. (Online availability restricted to employees of UMHS.)

• Faculty & Staff Under a Physician's Care for Ergonomic-Related Discomfort
MWorks Occupational Therapy Services, www.med.umich.edu/mworks/ergo_um.htm