Work Related Injuries and How to Prevent Them

Common causes of work related injuries

The Ministry of Manpower of Singapore these as the common causes of workplace injuries:

• Slips and falls
• Machinery incident
• Struck by moving objects
• Struck by falling object
• Overexertion / strenuous movements

How do you prevent workplace related injuries

Most of these causes are outside our expertise as physiotherapists. However, there are general ideas that we use to prevent accidents with our patients that may be useful here. For example:

• Using non-slip material to prevent patients from slipping and falling
• Placing heavy objects at lower heights to make prevent them from falling on you
• Ensuring our staff are trained to prevent injury to them and our patients from improper use of equipment

What we can advise you in a bit more details are how to prevent work related injuries from overexertion and strenuous movements. Here are some tips:

• Avoid sitting cross legged
• Adjust your workstation to promote good posture
• Take frequent breaks, that is, change your posture every 30 minutes to 45 minutes by walking around or stretching.
• If you’re on the phone a lot, use a headset to avoid straining your neck, shoulders, and arms.
• If you’re lifting heavy objects, keep the item as close as possibly to your body and avoid bending your back to pick them up

What to do when you’re hurt

If you’re injured due to your work, do speak to a doctor or physiotherapist to get yourself diagnosed and get yourself on a path to recovery. A physiotherapist may also be able to assess your workstation and suggest modifications to prevent you from gettig injured further in the future. Should you need advice, feel free to contact us!