| By :
John Paul Abbot
More than ever the labor force nowadays is focusing more attention on the matter of workplace injury. While dealing with the stubbornly elevated jobless rate continues to be the dominant theme, we ought to likewise consider the health and well-being of our current labor force. When you take into account all the variables, it makes perfect sense that workers today are probably a good deal more prone to injury now than in recent decades. When we look back at the history of the Industrial Revolution, it seems that certain positions and trades, from the local blacksmith to the modern coal miner have forever involved risk. However, the Information Age of recent decades has created new types of injuries, which arguably have the same degree of lasting damage as anything else. Responses from the medical field to manufacturers of office equipment have raised awareness of the potential for such injuries in the workplace. More specifically, perhaps the severe and chronic nature of some of these injuries has many of us seeking out the latest ergonomically designed office products. It is no mystery that carpel tunnel syndrome has left us somewhat fearful of the risks involved with the use of modern desktop computer components. The trend to upgrade computer devices in order to address physical and repetitive stress is indeed growing. For instance, one such current design can be found in the 3M Ergonomic Mouse. Reminding one of the video game handle you see at the local arcade, it makes more obvious this notion of natural finger and hand movement. Simply put, repetitive motions that seem natural will cause less injury. It seems that the busy professional copes with back problems simply due to poor posture when sitting for extended periods of time. One response to these types of working conditions is the ergonomically designed kneeling chair. By kneeling on the pads in front of you, you are forced to maintain balance therefore keeping your back straight. Lower and upper back problems are very common and the kneeling chair is one of many choices the consumer has. This does not diminish the fact that manual laborers, for example, who suffer injuries from lifting heavy objects have become less significant. The evidence of over-time hours in these types of jobs should be a warning to all of us that the risk of injury has increased. Also, professions that are growing in the fields of therapeutic massage and chiropractics among other things, indicate the need for improved awareness and better working conditions overall. If you think about it, there really are no boundaries to how physical damage can be manifested. You could damage your hearing operating a loud machine. You could damage your eyesight reading through volumes of case law in poor lighting. Increased awareness of these potential problems is truly the first defense. If you ask any economist about the current state of the workforce in this country, he or she will tell you that the employed worker is being asked to work longer and harder. Even as industrial production picks up, companies are still not hiring as they should, which explains why corporate earnings are so robust in recent times. Nonetheless, whether you are a truck driver or an accountant, the risk of being injured on the job is certainly greater. Having a strong resilient work ethic is one thing, but knowing your physical limits on the job is another. Balance is something we should all strive for, and improving your physical environment in the work place may be a healthy start.
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