CIS Onsite: Our Philosophy
CIS Onsite has the most comprehensive services available to companies that are looking for an onsite program to keep their most valuable assets heathy, their Employees. We provide all of these services 24/7 because if your company doesn’t shut down, your injury prevention services shouldn’t either. CIS Onsite aims to offer a one-stop-shop for all of your injury prevention needs, except you don’t even have to make one stop, we come to you. We employ highly trained healthcare professionals to serve as our Early Intervention Program (EIP) Specialists. Their expertise can be used in a variety of ways that accommodate the needs of your company. Many companies that offer on-site services focus primarily on reacting to injuries. Our focus is just the opposite. While we do on-site physical therapy (doctors’ orders) as well, we focus on preventing the injury before they need to see a doctor. Our EIP Specialists are skilled at job site risk identification and education. The key to our program is EARLYNESS. With our ergonomic training, we encourage contact from your employees as soon as they feel discomfort when the first signs or symptoms become apparent. This allows our EIP Specialists to address these signs and symptoms before they become more severe. They can also identify the cause and make suggestions on how to prevent it from occurring again. Our mission is to protect your most valuable asset, Your Employees.
Watch Our Philosophy Podcast at this link https://cisonsite.com/podcasts/
Good ergonomic design is the solution to prevent musculoskeletal injuries.
Ergonomics helps employers design jobs or workplaces to match workers’ capabilities and limitations. Making adjustments to protect workers need not be costly, difficult or frustrating. Here are ten tips employers can use to protect their workers and their company’s bottom line:
- Educate and involve employees.
- Take a look at all of the available data to find problems.
- Encourage early reporting of problems.
- Find quick fixes to get momentum going.
- Some problems are more complex than others.
- Focus on effective solutions.
- Don’t just throw money and equipment at the problem.
- Make ergonomics part of purchasing and planning.
- Expect results, but be patient.
- Ask for help.
- Educate and involve employees
Employees are the real experts when it comes to their jobs. They are often the best source for pointing out problems. Chances are they have a solution to offer as well. Educating employees on ergonomics helps them to offer more meaningful suggestions and feel that they are a part of the solution. Keep employees involved for more meaningful results.
- Take a look at all of the available data to find problems
Use your workers’ compensation claims data, OSHA 300 logs, safety committee meeting minutes, absenteeism and turnover records, employee suggestions and any other data you have available to identify where the biggest problems are. Follow this up by observing the jobs and talking to the employees and supervisors about the problems.
- Encourage early reporting of problems
If employees feel comfortable about coming forward with symptoms of injury early on, you have an opportunity to take care of the problem before it results in a workers’ compensation claim. The net result is less pain and suffering for the employee and considerable cost savings for the employer.
- Find quick fixes to get momentum going
Don’t get caught up in “analysis paralysis.” It’s easy with ergonomics to start looking at every little task and movement. Sometimes there are simple solutions that could be implemented quickly, with little analysis, like rearranging a storage area to reduce lifting, or raising a countertop to reduce bending. Putting these solutions into place will generate enthusiasm by demonstrating to employees, supervisors and management how effective and simple ergonomics can be.
- Some problems are more complex than others
For some work environment problems, a careful analysis is in order. By keeping your options open at this stage, you often can find alternative solutions to the problem that you would have missed if you had moved too quickly.
- Focus on effective solutions.
Too often, businesses focus only on solutions like training employees and rotating them in and out of hazardous jobs as a fix. Training in proper work practices is an important part of ergonomics and should accompany any new equipment or procedures that are implemented. But training alone isn’t very effective in reducing injuries. Changes to work practices and equipment often can eliminate or substantially reduce the risk factors for injury.
- Don’t just throw money and equipment at the problem
Purchasing equipment, such as a hoist, is often a very good solution to an ergonomics problem. However, changing the way something is done, such as eliminating the need to lift, is often the most effective way to prevent injury.
- Make ergonomics part of purchasing and planning
By taking advantage of opportunities to make changes during the planning stage, you may be able to reduce your equipment and facilities costs. Any equipment with an obvious problem should be replaced quickly with something designed to eliminate or reduce the problem. Then, make sure that any old equipment that wears out is replaced with ergonomically designed equipment, where appropriate.
- Expect results, but be patient
Ergonomics tools and practices keep workers healthy and increase productivity, quality and employee morale. However, you shouldn’t be discouraged if these results are not immediate. The important thing is to consider all of the benefits when calculating your return, not just reduced claims costs.
- Ask for help
Ergonomics isn’t rocket science; most problems can be solved using in-house expertise. However, there will always be a few problems that will be easier to solve with a little help from someone with more experience.
Access Washington, @Washington State Dept of Labor and Industries
Source: http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/SprainsStrains/10tips/default.asp
10 Surprising Summer Vacation Safety Tips
by Muriel Barrett
Sunscreen? Check. Lifejacket? Check. You know the drill. But when it comes to staying safe on your summer vacation, there are other hazards you may not have thought about. These 10 summer vacation safety tips will help keep your family out of danger at the beach, by the pool, in the woods and on the road.
Summer safety tip 1: Drowning is quiet.
Everyone thinks that people who are drowning yell, thrash and splash. They don’t. Drowning doesn’t look like drowning, as former Coast Guard rescue swimmer Mario Vittone explains. People in serious distress lose their ability to call out for help or wave. Instead, their instinctive drowning response causes them to hover upright at the surface of the water with their head tilted back and mouth open, gasping or hyperventilating.
Summer safety tip 2: Use “touch supervision” with young children around pools.
Home — or vacation home — swimming pools are a particular hazard for very young children (aged 1 to 4). It may be tempting to dive into a magazine or a cocktail while you’re sitting poolside, but if young children are around you should stay focused on them. Amid the chaos of a family beach rental, it only takes a moment of inattention to place a child at risk of drowning.
The CDC recommends designating one adult to watch all children swimming or playing in or around water. Supervisors of preschool children should practice “touch supervision,” which means being close enough to reach the child at all times. About half of child drownings take place within 25 yards of an adult.1
Summer safety tip 3: Know the warning signs of sharks.
Compared to other summer vacation safety threats, shark attacks are extremely unlikely. However, they do happen. Here are a few tips for avoiding sharks:
- Don’t swim at dawn or dusk, or after heavy rains.
- Don’t swim near fishing piers, where sharks may be attracted by bait.
- If you see small fish schooling and jumping out of the water, a shark may be nearby.
- Sharks are attracted to mouths of rivers, channels, deep drops and areas between sandbars.
- Watch for blue or purple flags, which indicate sharks, jellyfish or other dangerous marine life.2
Summer safety tip 4: Know your vehicle load limits.
Can’t fit the kids, the beach chairs and all the suitcases in your vehicle? A rooftop carrier makes packing for your summer vacation much easier. But don’t stuff it to the gills. Read the car’s manual first to figure out the dynamic weight limit for the roof rack. It’s probably less than you think; on average, 165 pounds is the max.3 And remember that adding rooftop cargo raises the center of gravity, which can cause an SUV to sway or become less stable on the road.
Summer safety tip 5: Don’t trust your GPS/phone maps.
A Texas college student was sightseeing near the Grand Canyon when she followed her GPS down a road that wasn’t actually there.4 She ran out of gas and endured five days in the desert before being located — thanks to the efforts of rescuers and her decision to leave a note in her abandoned car, explaining where she had gone. The story illustrates one of the most important travel safety tips: Always have a backup plan. Paper maps are a good idea to carry, along with emergency water, food, and other supplies.
Summer safety tip 6: Steer clear of wildlife.
Many wild animals are drawn to campgrounds because they can forage in trash or snag snacks from tourists. Every year brings news accounts of people being attacked on their summer vacation by animals like bears and bison. The key thing to remember is that most animal attacks are provoked. Never, never feed or harass wildlife, even if you see other people doing it. And remember that bees, deer, dogs and cows kill a lot more people than alligators and bears.
Summer safety tip 7: Spray your shoes.
Picking off a few ticks used to be a normal rite of summer vacation. Now it’s cause for alarm, as scientists have discovered more than 14 diseases spread by ticks, including Lyme disease, babesiosis and powassan virus.5 Ticks are spreading, and reports of disease have shot up. How can you keep your family safe? Science writer Melinda Wenner Moyer recommends spraying children’s and adults’ shoes with permethrin and doing daily tick checks.
Summer safety tip 8: Use the teddy-bear system.
No parent ever thinks he or she would leave a child locked in a car. But tragically, children die from heatstroke in hot cars every year, often because a distracted parent simply forgets the child’s in the back seat. To prevent this, keep a teddy bear in the child’s safety seat. When the child’s buckled in, move the teddy to the front seat as a reminder that the back seat is occupied.6
Summer safety tip 9: Plan ahead to keep pets safe.
Like young children, pets are vulnerable to injury when left in hot cars. Even when the outside temperature is 60 degrees, the sun can raise it to 110.6 If your dog is coming along on your summer vacation road trip, plan ahead for how you’ll keep him cool. Can you pack picnic lunches, or find restaurants that allow dogs on the patio? What will you do if you need to run an emergency errand?
Summer safety tip 10: Make sure you’re protected in case of medical emergencies.
If your summer travel plans take you on a cruise, out of the country, or to more remote areas of the United States, you should have travel insurance with emergency medical benefits and emergency medical transportation benefits. These benefits can cover your medical care and/or emergency transportation if you experience a covered medical emergency while traveling, protecting you from unexpected (and enormous) medical bills.
Source: https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/travel/planning/ten-summer-safety-tips.htm
