Ronald W. Porter is a recognized expert in the field of
Occupational Safety and Health, and Ergonomics. In the past
30 years, since becoming Director of the
The Back School, he has instructed over 1000 workshops and
seminars on Ergonomics Awareness and Musculoskeletal
Disorder Prevention to physical and occupational therapists,
medical doctors, occupational health nurses, and industrial
health and safety professionals. Ron has worked with over
200 industries, including Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, E.I.
Du Pont, DS Waters, Shell Oil, International Paper, Cingular
Wireless and the United States Navy, on the development and
implementation of innovative ergonomics programs for both
individual plant sites and entire corporations. He is often
an featured presenter at national safety and health
association conferences including the 2007 - 2010 American
Society of Safety Engineers Professional Development
Conferences, the 1995 - 2005 American Occupational Health
Conferences, SEAK Annual National Workers' Compensation and
Occupational Medicine Conferences in 2005-2007 and a March
2010 national webinar on the Aging Workforce for the ASSE
Virtual Classroom. His Bachelor of Science degree is from
the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and his Graduate
Degree in Physical Therapy from Emory University in Atlanta,
GA. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society, American Physical Therapy
Association, American Society of Safety Engineers and the
American Industrial Hygiene Association.
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“Ergo Breaks”
for the Industrial/Office/Health Care Athlete |
For those of us who specialize in health, wellness, exercise
and fitness we have the long held opinion/belief that
workplace fitness/exercise programs assist workers in being
less prone to work-related injury, require less medical
care, use less sick time and are more productive at work and
home. Unfortunately, the literature specific to worksite
exercise programs that are implemented to control for work
related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) do not always show
successful results.
In a research literature review by Raymond W. McGorry and
Theodore K Courtney, “Worksite Exercise Programs,” in
Professional Safety, April 2006, they concluded that the
lack of sufficient evidence for the success of worksite
exercise programs might be due to insufficient focused,
peer-reviewed research in this area.
The most positive support for worksite
fitness/stretching/exercise continues to be in those studies
in which exercise was included as part of a more
comprehensive ergonomics program. The approach to
controlling WMSDs that includes engineering and
administrative controls in addition to onsite exercise
programs continue to show the greatest promise of a positive
return.
That being said it is this author’s opinion that “Ergo
Breaks” will promote a less static more dynamic work place.
In that type of work environment, the worker receives more
blood flow to all tissues of the body, including the brain.
Today’s work environment includes many jobs where the body
is held in static postures for long periods of time. As we
have learned our body is designed to move. It will maintain
a better level of fitness when work allows for dynamic
instead of static activities. These prolonged and often
awkward postures decrease blood flow and nutrition to all
tissues of the body. Add to this the fatigue caused by
repetition and the risk of occasionally being called upon to
lift, carry, push or pull heavy, awkward objects and all
employees may be sitting on a potential injury powder keg.
It is widely held in the athletic and physical
rehabilitation community that poor physical conditioning
increases the risk of injury and slows or prevents
sufficient recovery when injury does occur.
Exercise/physical fitness has become recognized as a
successful treatment for stress related physical and
emotional illnesses. Exercise releases endorphins that have
been shown to produce a feeling of increased life
satisfaction. Worker satisfaction has long been shown to
have impact on work related injuries, as we have seen since
the article, “A Prospective Study of Work Perceptions and
Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Report of Back Pain,” by
Stanley J. Bigos, MD in Spine, Volume 16, # 1, January,
1991. Therefore within the context of both physical and
mental health and fitness, worksite exercise can be a
win-win for employee and management.
Whether it is short 30-second micro-breaks at the computer
or more extensive warm-up and stretching in the factory or
medical facility prior to work duties, employees will be
more physically and mentally conditioned to perform their
job duties successfully..
Contact your local health care professional today to begin
enjoying the benefits of “Ergo Breaks” and keep your
Industrial, Office and Health Care Athlete in elite
condition.
Last revised: January 12, 2012
by Ronald Porter, PT, CEAS III
