Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
For the entire month of June, officials with the National Safety Council (NSC) will be pushing their National Safety Month campaign. This month-long campaign is an annual observance to educate and encourage safe behaviors around leading causes of preventable accidents in Cape Coral and elsewhere.
This year’s campaign is helping to encourage residents to practice safe behaviors all day every day.
From the 10th through the 16th of June, NSC officials will be working to educate residents about the importance of Ergonomics.
Our Cape Coral injury attorneys understand that there are small changes we can all make both at home and on the job to help to eliminate the risks of injury and to make ourselves more comfortable. Soft tissue injuries can be difficult to prove and slow to heal. Conditions like carpel tunnel are typically caused from repetitive motion at work. But many such conditions can be aggravated by an injury at home or in an auto accident.
Ergonomics is the act of creating a work environment that fits you and fits your needs. This is oftentimes a hot topic of debate when talking about office and desk workers. Ergonomics is all about learning how to work smarter to prevent conditions such as overexertion.
Ergonomic disorders can affect your soft tissues, more specifically your ligaments, muscles, tendons, nerves, spinal discs, blood vessels, cartilage and joints. These disorders can be the result of working repetitive motions on an assembly line, overexerting when using heavy equipment or even typing on a computer all day. These disorders and conditions can happen outside of work and at home, too! At home, residents should beware of the time they spend playing video games, when using muscles to move heavy items and the movements they’re making on home projects. Common symptoms of these kinds of conditions, disorders and injuries include tingling, pain, loss of grip strength, swilling, numbness, etc.
When doing work at your computer:
-Avoid keeping the keyboard on the top of your desk. Use a keyboard tray if your desk has one.
-Don’t place the monitor above your head. Keep it just a tiny bit above eye level and make sure you’re looking slightly down at the middle of the computer screen.
-Avoid sitting in a ridged upright position.
-Avoid leaning forward.
-Avoid working for a long time without getting up and moving. It’s important to take frequent breaks to get up and stretch.
-Try not to rest your elbows on the desk.
-Keep your wrists in a neutral position when typing.
-Trying not to bend your neck or your trunk repeatedly. Keep the items you use most directly in front of you.
-Alternate duties at your desk to avoid repeating the same movements over and over again.
-Avoid excessive reaching.
-Position your computer’s monitor so that there’s no shine or glare reflecting into your eyes.
Every year, there are more than 3 million people who visit an emergency room because of overexertion-related injuries. These types of injuries account for the leading cause of unintentional injuries across the U.S.
Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner, Attorneys for the Injured, is a law firm that’s dedicated to helping accident victims in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Naples and elsewhere in Southwest Florida. Call us today to set up a free and confidential consultation to discuss your case. 1-800-283-2900.
