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the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2019 that more than a quarter (27 percent) of the 888,220 non-fatal work injuries resulting in days away from work were related to slips, trips and falls.2 Knowing this, athletic trainers can develop programs to address these types of injuries with a curriculum that includes testing employees’ balance, providing exercises and retesting to see if balance scores improved. As another measure of injury prevention, athletic trainers can partner with the onsite nurse and site leadership to develop emergency action plans for various incident scenarios involving injured persons or site-wide hazards. They can also serve as added medical support for completing OSHA-required medical testing and screenings, including hearing tests and respirator fittings. The combination of these programs and offerings is all part of the goal of reducing chronic injuries and pain among a workforce over the long term. By working together, onsite nurses and athletic trainers can create whole-person health plans and introduce skill techniques that utilize better body movements and help a workforce stay stronger and healthier for longer. Better Outcomes Through Technology At the highest level, the most advanced athletic training programs now use evolving technology to track and trend their ergonomic observations, provide corrective actions for worksites and show how these adjustments improved employee health and reduced the number of incidents. Some athletic trainers also use technology to conduct remote ergonomic assessments, including devices that record employees at their stations and track unalignment or new behaviors. The trainers can then recommend adjustments in real- time and prevent injuries before they happen. Many of today’s onsite athletic trainers will use a customized scorecard where data on injuries, time away from work and recovery time is inserted. This type of reporting helps the athletic trainers and employers understand how the program works, what its strengths are and what areas of health and safety require more attention. One specific benefit of technology with athletic training programs is that if the data reveals a worksite has a high number of injuries to a specific body part in recent years—wrist injuries, for example—athletic trainers can develop a solution to limit them. They begin by examining how workers use their tools and then determine if there are better tools to do the job and provide hand flexibility exercises for workers to do regularly. Using this data, athletic trainers can also organize worksite competitions to promote employee engagement, like a hand strengthening challenge that measures improvement over a certain period of time. The stretches and strengthening exercises eventually become more enjoyable and less of a hassle for workers to complete each day. Athletic Trainers: The Key to Workers’ Long-Term Health Worksites are inherently hazardous and full of ways, places and spaces to get hurt. And while an onsite nurse is a requirement for treating what may seem like inevitable injuries, adding in an athletic trainer is the key to raising the bar in preventing injuries before they happen and making them much less inevitable. The common strains, sprains and tears can all be prevented with routine stretching exercises and ergonomic adjustments from professional athletic t ine i i tr ra i er rs s. I I In nt te g gr ra t ti in ng t t he em nto o a a w w wo o ork ks si i t te ensures workers are o e op pe er ra at ti in ng g a at t t th he ei ir r h he ea al lt th hi ie es st t, , b bo ot th h a at t w wo or and aftftfter the day is do k on ne e. . rk Paul Goren is the Director of Business Development at Onsite Innovations. Goren works closely with client leadership to implement occupational health and wellness programs. Goren has nearly two decades of experience in developing occupational health programs and successfully integrating them across multiple sectors of the industry. Leif Anderson is Vice President, Head of Sales, at Onsite Innovations. In this role, he works with clients to identify their challenges and develop customized solutions in the health and wellness space. Anderson brings years of experience in team building, cultural transformation, coaching, new and retention sales, customer relationship management and strategic leadership functions. REFERENCES 1. https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/osh/case/cd_r31_2020.htm 2. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/fastfacts.html π MONUMENTAL SAFETY OVER 2,850 SAFETY PRODUCTS TO CHOOSE FROM ORDER BY 6 PM FOR SAME DAY SHIPPING 1-800-295-5510 uline.com www.ohsonline.com FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023 | Occupational Health & Safety 47