While you're doing your job or completing tasks at home, you may be performing certain actions and movements over and over. If you're also using excessive force, failing to condition or relax your muscles sufficiently, or completing that task in a work area that hasn't been adjusted properly, you may be setting yourself up for a repetitive motion injury. Today, you'll learn what causes repetitive motion injury--known as RMI--and the steps you can take to prevent it.
Repetitive motion injury is common among workers who consistently perform tasks that require them to repeat the same movements over and over. The pain associated with repetitive motion injury most often affects the tendons, nerves, and muscles of the hands, wrists, elbows, arms, neck, and lower back.
Estimates of the costs associated with work-related RMI’s range from 13 billion to $54 billion per year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about one-third of all occupational injuries and illnesses are due to overexertion or repetitive motion. Numerous case studies show that increased ergonomics-oriented awareness, training, and hazard reduction will reduce injuries, lost work time, and associated costs.
Repetitive motion injury isn’t new. It used to be referred to as “washerwoman’s thumb” or “telegraph operator’s cramp.” But today, with the spread of automation and increased production demands, the incidence of this syndrome has rapidly increased. Today, hundreds of thousands of cases are reported every year. If the pain associated with this injury is ignored, permanent damage can result. Fortunately, treatment can help – and establishing better work habits can prevent similar problems in the future.
Ergonomics-related injuries can be reduced by improvements in equipment and work practices. An example is work in a nursing home, where an employee is more likely to be injured than is a worker in a coal mine or steel mill. The most common injury for a nursing home worker is back injury caused by lifting patients. These injuries can be reduced significantly by use of mechanical lifting and transfer devices for moving patients in and out of beds and chairs.
Ergonomics is the applied science of equipment design and arrangement, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. Injuries related to ergonomics are those caused by over-use, impact, vibration, repetition, forceful exertion. Largely injuries of the musculoskeletal systems of the body, these injuries include carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, tenosynovitis, tendinitis and others. These problems affect the muscles, ligaments and tendons as well as the nerves and blood vessels.
HOW TO PREVENT SPRAINS, STRAINS AND OTHER INJURIES
Our hands take a lot of abuse. We cut them, scrape them, bruise them and still go on doing the job. Our hands are tough – but only up to a point. Today’s finger cut can become tomorrow’s infection. I know most of you don’t think twice about cuts, scrapes, and bruises. But carelessness about hand safety can lead to serious consequences – like losing a finger, or worse. The stylist career requires constant demand of muscles in just the cutting hand. Ergonomic shears are designed to limit abnormal muscle wear in the cutting hand to prevent muscle fatigue and other related symptoms, or injuries.
When the shear's edge begins to wear it will increase the amount of pressure it takes to make a cut. The purpose of maintaining a sharp edge is to keep the cutting motion smooth and effortless.
stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French inoxydable (inoxidizable), is a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5% chromium content by mass.Stainless steels are notable for their corrosion resistance, which increases with increasing chromium content. Molybdenum additions increase corrosion resistance in reducing acids and against pitting attack in chloride solutions. Thus, there are numerous grades of stainless steel with varying chromium and molybdenum contents to suit the environment the alloy must endure. Thus stainless steels are used where both the strength of steel and corrosion resistance are required.Stainless steel’s resistance to corrosion and staining, low maintenance, and familiar lustre make it an ideal material for many applications. . Stainless steel's corrosion resistance, the ease with which it can be steam cleaned and sterilized and no need for other surface coatings has also influenced its use in commercial kitchens and food processing plants.
Type 314 stainless steel is effectively a 310 type stainless with a higher level of silicon, for increased high-temperature oxidation resistance.
This grade is used in applications that take advantage of its excellent high-strength.
Firstly, what is an alloy? This is a material comprising two or more elements, at least one of them a metal. Alloys achieve better specific characteristics than their constituent parts, and steel is itself an alloy of iron.
Alloy steels are steels in which additional elements have been added to the usual iron, carbon, manganese and silicon that is present in ordinary carbon steels in order to improve their properties and performance. This typically involves better strength and/or hardness and/or ductility and/or corrosion resistance. Several additional elements may be present, and sometimes the desired properties are achieved through a combination of alloying and heat treatment.
There is a vast array of alloy steels developed for very specific applications – such as bearings, gears, shafts, drills, saws, bolts, tyrecord, car bodies, aircraft undercarriages, armour, etc, etc. Alloying elements include bismuth, boron, calcium,chromium , cobalt, lead, nickel,molybdenum, selenium, silicon, sulphur, tellurium, tungsten and vanadium.
The marking on professional shears will tell you:
The bumper is a stop that keeps the two blades from crossing each other. Using a shear without a bumper causes premature wear and eventually leads to damaged tips.
Another concern is the shear edge can now go past the stop and cut you in the closed position .
A finger insert is important because shear ring holes come over-sized so you can custom fit your shear to your finger and thumb. It's also important that you're not gripping your shear; rather, it rests in your hand comfortably.
To properly maintain your shear, wipe with cloth once a day (minimum) and place oil in between the blades. This will prevent pitting and keep it clear from debris allowing the best performance of the shear.
Tension too loose: creates a gap between the blades, can cause folding the hair and adds more strain in the hand to grip and cut.
Tension too tight: can cause premature wear on the edge and the muscles in your hand.
Proper tension: allows just enough clearance between the two blades for a smooth motion an effortless cut.
Placing your shears back in your case will prevent them from being damaged while not in use.
The right shear length for you maximizes production while minimizing cuts and injury. Let us insure that you are making the best investment for your health and success! We now offer many styles of Painkiller shears in Saint Joseph, Mo. and surrounding area.
It's important take time before you start work and stretch hands, wrists, and shoulders to help prevent strain.
How do I stretch my wrist?
Here's how:
Reps: 3-4
Sets: 1
Intensity: Light
Hold: 10-30 seconds
Rest: No rest needed
Starting position: Sit in a chair with your right arm and hand extended in front of you with the palm down, facing the floor.
Movement: This is a two-step exercise. Step 1: Point the fingers of your right hand toward the ceiling. Place the palm of your left hand in front of your right hand to extend your wrist. Gently press your left hand against the palm and fingers of your right hand to increase the stretch, stopping if you feel any pain. Hold. Return to the starting position. Step 2: Bend your right hand forward at the wrist, pointing your fingers downward into a fully flexed position. Cup the back of your right hand with your left hand. Gently press downward with your left hand to increase the stretch, stopping if you feel any pain. Hold. Finish all reps, then switch arms and repeat both steps on your left hand.
Tips and techniques:
Too hard? Press more gently to limit the range of motion.
Standing in one spot? Invest in a thick mat to stand on. You will make such a difference at the end of the work day.
what to look for:
Anti-fatigue mats provide ergonomic support, comfort and anti-slip safety to workers.
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