Walking in this winter weather is hazardous to one’s health. Last week, a friend of mine slipped on a patch of ice, fell and broke her arm while on the way to work. She wound up with a cast from her shoulder to her wrist and missed a day of work. She’s a legal assistant and a lot of her work is computer based so it’s possible she will miss more days.
Slips and falls have become a hot topic of late among many of our clients. Recently, we developed a training course specifically addressing slips and falls in the workplace. The course was developed to teach employees to be wary of the hazards at work, teach prevention of the hazards, and what to do when a slip or fall does happen to reduce the level of injury. This last part was what I found most interesting. There are many courses in WHIMIS and other occupational health and safety programs that teach how to prevent hazards in the workplace but what I didn’t know was that one can be taught how to fall properly.
Our ergonomic consultant, Erin Walkom, told me that a good portion of sports training involves teaching athletes how to fall properly and she incorporated some of these tips into her training course for one of our clients. To view an example of how these pros are taught how to fall properly, check out www.gamefall.com.
Obviously this is one of the given occupational hazards of pro hockey or soccer, but the fact of the matter is, as much as we use caution and safe work practice, accidents do happen. The key to remember is to try and reduce the impact and severity of the fall.
To find out how you can fall like a pro athlete and hopefully avoid a broken arm and lost work time like my friend, watch for our Spring 2009 newsletter, Ergowire, available on our website. If your organization is interested in Slips, Trips and Falls training, contact us at 780-436-0024.