Webinar series
Emergency service responders and healthcare workers are often faced with physically demanding tasks that include lifting and moving people and/or objects in unpredictable, unmodifiable settings; this makes training a critical component of a comprehensive injury prevention strategy. The excessive physical effort, repetitive movements, and awkward postures these workers encounter daily are a likely cause of the majority of their injuries.
This free webinar series will begin with a webinar summarizing our current understanding of the effectiveness of manual handling training for injury prevention and management; the best available research will also be used to make general recommendations for training program development, implementation and evaluation. This introductory webinar will be followed by webinars that offer more specific summaries and recommendations for three different sectors: Firefighters, Paramedics, and Healthcare workers. The final webinar will be an interactive discussion with all webinar speakers.
In this webinar
Training programs are ubiquitous in industries where the work involves physically demanding manual handling of materials or people, and can take the form of physical exercise programs (e.g. weight training) or recommendations for patterns of movement that have the potential to reduce stress concentrations on tissues in the body (e.g. keeping the back straight). Unfortunately, most training programs in use today are poorly designed and are unlikely to reduce the risk of injury to workers. In this webinar, we will present a list of key features that high-quality training programs should incorporate along with the use of a transdisciplinary, participatory and iterative approach.
About the presenters
Dr. Tyson Beach is an Assistant Professor and Knowledge Broker in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education. He also directs research in the Biomechanics and Sports Medicine Laboratory, which focuses on creating and translating knowledge about health and performance in work and sport. Current projects are focused on designing, implementing and evaluating exercise-based performance enhancement and injury prevention strategies for athletes and firefighters.
Dr. Tilak Dutta is a Scientist at KITE Research Institute, the research arm of Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and holds cross-appointments at the University of Toronto in the Institutes of Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Dutta directs the Engineering Health team whose goal is to give individuals with disabilities and their caregivers the tools they need to live safely with autonomy. His research includes preventing caregiver back injuries, preventing falls on icy surfaces, preventing pressure injuries, as well as improving accessibility standards for individuals with disabilities and their families.
Webinar resources
Webinar recording (Webex)
Password: Training2020
Webinar slide presentation (PDF)
Other resources
To complement this webinar series, CRE-MSD has developed three infographic/poster resources on body positioning for the knee, low back, and shoulder for reducing MSD injury risk when performing non-modifiable tasks. These resources are now available as part of the Ontario MSD Prevention Guideline and can be found in the Resource Library, under the Hazard Control category.
-
Positioning the Body to Reduce MSD Injury Risk: Focus on the Knee
-
Positioning the Body to Reduce MSD Injury Risk: Focus on the Low Back
-
Positioning the Body to Reduce MSD Injury Risk: Focus on the Shoulder
CRE-MSD researchers have also developed a position paper sumarizing current best evidence on this topic: Improving Workplace Manual Handling Training Programs.
For assistance, please contact Betina Butler at bbutler@uwaterloo.ca.
Disclaimer: CRE-MSD receives funding through a grant provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. The views expressed are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre nor of the Province of Ontario.