Is Your Work Hurting Your Health?
Hand & Wrist Injuries
- Carpal tunnel syndrome has numbness that’s caused by a pinched nerve in your wrist &
it takes a lot of heat for computer-related hand & wrist injuries. - But you’re more likely to get it if you work with tools that vibrate or use a repetitive, twisting motion to get your job done.
- To Help Prevent It:
1. Take breaks often.
2. Talk with your doctor or an occupational therapist.
3.They may suggest wearing a brace or that a change in position could help.
Back Pain
- Whether you work outside pushing a mower or in a cube pushing paper, your back can
take a beating. - Who has time to remember to lift heavy objects the proper way, practice good posture when
you sit & get up to walk around every half hour or so or take a break if you’re on your feet
all day? - If you have a few extra pounds, that only makes things worse.
- Back pain costs employers more than $7 billion a year.
- To Prevent It:
1. Use your legs to lift, watch your posture.
2. Always ask for help if something is too heavy or awkward.
Hearing Loss
- More than 30 million of us face harmful levels of noise on the job.
- An additional 9 million work with materials (solvents, metals) that could lead to hearing loss.
- And it isn’t just the workplace that’s causing the problem & even folks in quiet offices listen
to music or other audio at unsafe sound levels through headphones or earbuds. - To Prevent It:
1. Wear earplugs if you’re exposed to prolonged sound louder than 85 decibels
2. An example, an idling bulldozer.
Lower-Body Pain or Swelling
- When work makes you sit or stand for hours at a time, you might get fluid buildup in your
legs, ankles & feet. - The condition's name is peripheral edema.
- Symptoms include swelling & discomfort.
- Check with your doctor, who may prescribe something as simple as compression socks.
- To Prevent It:
1. Move around often.
2. Your doctor may be able to suggest exercises you can do to make things better.
Eye Strain or Injury
- More than 20,000 eye injuries happen in the workplace every year, at a cost of about
$300 million. - Many workers are also affected by computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain, which
can lead to dry eyes, headaches, blurred vision & neck & shoulder pain.
To Prevent It:
1. Follow the 20-20-20 rule.
2. Take a 20-second break every 20 minutes to look at something 20 feet away.
Stress-Related Pain
Stress can play a major role in all sorts of ills, including:
- Headaches
- Lack of sleep
- Stomachaches
- Problems concentrating
- Depression
- Anxiety
More than a third of American workers have it at some point.
- And it doesn’t always go away once you clock out.
- To Prevent It:
1. Find your stress-busters.
2. They could include regular exercise, time with friends or setting aside time each day
just for you.
Headaches
- Pain is a common cause of missed time at work.
- Which type of pain causes the most sick days - It's Headaches.
- Whether it’s the strain of concentrating, everyday job stress, workplace things like noise & smells, hunger or dehydration, we’ve all had to deal with a throbbing noggin from time to time.
- To Prevent It:
1. Keep some snacks at your desk
2. You can grab then when you need to.
Neck Pain
- It starts as a little twinge that just won’t go away, no matter what you do.
- It often results from bad posture, whether you’re in front of a screen at the office or under
a car at your shop. - Any activity that pulls or strains your neck muscles can cause pain.
- Irritated nerves & problems with the vertebrae in your neck also can play a role.
- To Prevent It:
b Pay attention to your posture both when you're sitting & when you're standing.
2. Try not to slouch.
3. Keep your shoulders relaxed and try not to cross your legs.
Hernia
- Do you lift heavy objects at work?
- If you don’t do it the right way, you could get a hernia.
- That’s when a part of your bowel slips out through a weak spot in the muscles of your
belly or groin. - Hernias are even more likely if you’re overweight, if you smoke or if you don’t eat a
healthy diet. - It’s usually several lifts that cause a hernia, not one.
- To Prevent It:
1. Learn proper lifting technique.
2. Use your arms & legs to lift, not your back.
3. Don't be afraid to ask for help, either.
Weight Gain
- It’s all too easy to pack on extra pounds if you keep unhealthy snacks at your desk, give in
to fast-food lunch runs & sit for long periods. - To Prevent It:
1. Pack a lunch at home filled with fruits, vegetables & protein & healthy fats.
2. Bring your own good-for-you snacks, too.
3. If you work at a desk, take time each day to get up & move.
Skin Problems
- Your jobsite may be full of things that can affect your skin.
- Things like copy machine toner, solvents, & exhaust are common culprits.
- Contact dermatitis is a rash that appears when something irritating touches you.
- If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you have a higher chance of getting skin cancer.
- To Prevent It:
1. Know what could be risky at your job
2. Do your best to keep it away from your skin.
Respiratory Disease
- Anyone exposed to lots of dust, fibers or chemicals in the air could have problems.
- This can include firefighters, welders, construction workers or anyone who has a poorly-ventilated workspace.
- Lung diseases are the main cause of workplace illness in the U.S. & some can lead to lung cancer & death.
- To Prevent It:
1. Talk with your supervisor about ways you can limit or eliminate your exposure.
2. If you smoke, stop.
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