Each year, the last day of February is reserved for International Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day, a day dedicated to RSI education and prevention. Feb. 29, 2012, will mark the 13th Annual RSI Awareness Day.

“Repetitive strain injuries are a serious occupational health concern across the world and are recognized as leading causes of significant human suffering, loss of productivity and economic burdens on society,” says Steve Horvath, president and chief executive officer at the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). “To help minimize the risks of any workplace injury, we need to constantly create awareness of these issues, and provide practical solutions.”

Repetitive strain injuries, also known as work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), is an umbrella term to describe a family of painful disorders affecting tendons, muscles, nerves and joints in the neck, upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, arms and hands. These disorders can be caused by work activities that are frequent and repetitive, or activities with awkward postures.

WMSDs can be caused by work activities that are frequent and repetitive, or activities with awkward postures, including fixed or constrained body positions; continual repetition of movements; force concentrated on small parts of the body, such as the hand or wrist or a pace of work that does not allow enough rest between movements. Heat, cold and vibration may also contribute to the development of WMSDs. These disorders are generally caused by a combination of these factors - rather than one individual factor.

A fundamental principle of occupational health and safety is that hazards are best eliminated at the source. In the case of WMSDs, the prime source of hazard is the repetitiveness of work. Prevention must aim at eliminating the repetitiveness of the work by proper job design. Where this is not possible, preventive strategies such as good workplace layout, tool and equipment design, and proper work practices should be considered. It is important to recognize these disorders early because medical treatments become less effective the longer these injuries go on.

Preventive and control measures, in order to be truly effective, require significant involvement on the part of the workers, their representatives, and management to improve occupational health and safety.

For a number of free resources for the prevention of WMSDs, including fact sheets, podcasts, webinars and e-courses, visit the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety website.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has developed a web-based tool to help employers and suppliers label their chemical products, in compliance with Canadian and American workplace labelling regulations.
 
CANLabel will address many of the challenges employers and suppliers face when creating compliant supplier and workplace labels in Canada and the United States. This software will assist employers and suppliers to create labels that meet the requirements of Canada’s Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), and the United States’ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard. The software was created with the new Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) in mind, as it is expected that both WHMIS and OSHA will be aligning their systems with the GHS.
 
Features of the software include:

• Hazard assessments drive phrase options
• Translates standard phrases to Canadian French and Latin American Spanish
• Customizable phrases
• Compatibility with off-the-shelf adhesive stationary
• Multiple label sizes

 
“Labels on containers of hazardous chemical products act as the first warning for workers. Awareness of the hazards and the necessary precautions is critical to workers being able to safely handle hazardous materials,” says Lorraine Davison, manager of chemical services at CCOHS. “An upcoming challenge for chemical manufacturers, suppliers and employers will be conforming to the changes required by the new GHS system,” she says.
 
CCOHS is offering a complimentary 90-minute webinar, Going Global-GHS and Labelling, on how to prepare labels that meet current requirements under WHMIS and OSHA while starting to transition to GHS. The webinar will take place Jan. 31, 2012, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST.
www.ccohs.ca/products/canlabel

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) has developed a new manual to assist workers, committees and employers to help identify, eliminate, and control the sources of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in their workplaces.

In Canada, MSDs account for the most lost time injuries, the highest lost-time claim costs, and the most lost time work days of any type of injury. Worker’s compensation board figures from various jurisdictions indicate that MSDs account for 25 to 60 percent of total annual compensation claims.

“The Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) Prevention Manual focuses on how manual material handling tasks can contribute to MSDs,” says Jan Chappel, technical specialist at CCOHS.  “We wanted to provide workers and employers with the tools they can use to help reduce injuries, as well as provide a step-by-step approach for the development of a MSD program for the workplace.”

This manual explains what musculoskeletal disorders are, how and why they occur, and how to identify the risk factors that cause them. The manual also outlines how to develop a program that is focused on the elimination of MSD risk factors from workplaces, with emphasis on manual materials handling which includes lifting, pushing, and pulling tasks.
 
CCOHS publications are unique in that they are developed by experts in the field, and reviewed by representatives from labour; employers and government to ensure the content and approach are unbiased and credible.
www.ccohs.ca/products/publications/msd