Prevent Workplace Injuries
UG2 emphasizes safety in all we do, which makes National Safety Month an ultra-important tradition for highlighting all the measures we can take to protect TeamUG2, including employees, customers and residents or visitors.
This year, Week One of National Safety Month focuses on preventing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). A leading cause of workplace injuries, MSDs can creep up on you because they often build up over time.
A safe work environment is crucial to reducing MSDs. When you are at home and spend an hour changing the drain trap under the sink, you might experience some soreness afterwards. But if you are putting your body into a strained or vulnerable position day after day as part of your job, even if your positioning is just 10 percent wrong, the impact is cumulative—and the damage is much harder to undo.
For UG2 employees, risky, repetitive motions might take the form of someone dragging a heavy trash barrel or pulling storage items off a high shelf without taking proper precautions. Whether an employee is working with us as an engineer, mechanic, janitor or technician, the risks and behaviors that can contribute to developing MSDs are ever-present.
The Current Risk Factors Compounding Vulnerability to MSDs
Spreading awareness of evolving risk factors is an integral part of prevention. In the current climate, added risk factors include:
- An aging workforce means cumulative job effects are catching up
- Pandemic precautions that asked employees to keep distance from each other, leaving people less likely to get a coworker’s support for a team lift.
- Interventions like back braces that offer a false sense of security and lead employees to take more risks. Using braces or other personal protective equipment should be a reminder that there is hazard you are trying to mitigate.
Regular Training + Routine Reminders
AT UG2, we know the remedy for these risks is multi-layered. Our approach incorporates:
- An unmatched training and safety program that every employee completes before their first day on the job
- Annual refresher trainings that reflect our evolving best practices and a data-informed understanding of risk and prevention
- Reminders communicated at every opportunity, from morning check-ins to weekly meetings to one-on-one reviews
- Access to well-maintained equipment from carts and dollies to forklifts and power jacks.
We are also at the forefront of adopting tech innovations such as injury prevention systems that use video to record employees performing tasks to allow them to assess how their skeletal system is functioning and identify stress points in jeopardy.
Safety is at the forefront of every conversation we have at UG2, and we incorporate it into all we do—every staff meeting, every site visit, every decision we make. That is what we mean when we talk about putting people first.