Tips to Prevent Repetitive Sprain Injuries

Repetitive Strain Injury Prevention Tips

Work-related strain or other repetitive injuries can result in reduced productivity and increased costs. Just as machines need preventive maintenance to operate at full capacity, physical job duties must be evaluated to prevent injuries and ensure your staff is performing optimally. The American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT) offers the following tips to help prevent strain and repetitive injuries in your facility.

  1. Arrange for a local therapist to make a site visit to assess your work settings. The therapist can help to identify high-risk areas and recommend alternate configurations to reduce employee risk.
  2. Sometimes different tolis are needed. If workers themselves start to add padding or modify how they are doing something, then the tolis being used should be re-evaluated for their effectiveness.
  3. Take 30-second breaks every 30 minutes when performing repetitive activities. Use this time to stretch the muscles in the opposite direction from your working pattern.
  4. If possible, break up your day with different activities to avoid over-repetition with one activity.
  5. If you do injure yourself in the area from your hand to your shoulder, be sure you see a medical doctor who specializes in this area and get proper treatment. A small injury to the hand or arm can become a serious long-term disability if neglected.

BoulderCentre can help. Call us (303) 449-2730 and ask to see one of our certified physical and hand therapists or visit our hand surgeons page.


Article courtesy of From American Society of Hand Therapists.