Monday, December 2, 2019

MSIs—How to Protect Yourself

Work in construction often involves a lot of hard, physical, repetitive work. It is well established that this type of repetitive work may lead to the development of a musculoskeletal injury (MSI), which can cause painful and debilitating health conditions. According to WorkSafeBC, an MSI “is an injury or disorder of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, nerves, blood vessels, or related soft tissue including a sprain, strain, and inflammation that may be caused or aggravated by work. MSIs can affect the body’s soft tissues: the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, and joints of the neck, shoulders, arms, wrists, legs, and back.”

3 Signs
1. Swelling
2. Redness
3. Difficulty moving a body part

4 Symptoms
1. Pain
2. Numbness
3. Tingling
4. Weakness

MSIs are at the top of the list for lost-time injuries, accounting for one-third of injury claims accepted by WorkSafeBC. Left untreated, they can progress into chronic conditions.

3 Health Effects
1. Muscle strain
2. Tendinitis
3. Carpal tunnel syndrome

If You Suffer an MSI

Report it immediately to your supervisor. An injury will have a better chance of being treated effectively if it is caught early.
Ensure incident reports are completed in accordance with WorkSafeBC.
It is critically important that you report all MSI injuries regardless of whether or not they result in lost-time injuries, because MSI injuries such as back strains, tendinitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome are often cumulative in nature.
Failure to report injuries opens the door to allow your employer to claim your condition was a preexisting injury, which may lead to your compensation claim being denied.
Follow up with your steward if you have suffered an MSI at work. Your employer is required to report all lost-time injuries. Often times this requirement is not followed, which means that the union is unaware that you have been injured.

Prevention
In many cases, you may not even realize that the task you’re doing carries a risk of sustaining an MSI. Be aware of the type of task you are performing and the potential effects it may have on your body.

There are four risk factors that can lead to developing an injury:

1. Force – lifting, pushing, pulling, gripping
2, Repetition – doing a task repeatedly with no chance for rest or recovery
3. Work posture – awkward and static positions causing muscles, tendons, and ligaments to work harder
4. Local contact stress – hard/ sharp objects contacting skin (tools, surfaces)

The more risk factors your job entails, the longer the exposure, and the greater the degree the more likely you are to develop an MSI. Minimize these risks and make sure you take adequate breaks.

Here are four more things you can do to prevent MSIs in your workplace:

1. Talk to a member of your health and safety committee, and find out what your employer is doing to prevent MSI injuries.
2. Your employer must conduct MSI risk assessments, eliminate or minimize the chance of workers suffering an MSI, and provide training and education about MSI risks.
3. WorkSafeBC has risk factor identification and assessment worksheets available online as well as a lift calculator to assess the risk of a lift.
4. Educate yourself on the dangers of MSI hazards and workplace solutions by checking out Understanding the Risks of Musculoskeletal Injurybooklet available online from WorkSafeBC.

MSIs—How to Protect Yourself

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