Now is the time to review health and safety issues in the workplace, before the year gets into full swing, according to the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA).
APA National President and physiotherapist Marcus Dripps is urging employers to prioritise workplace health and safety and address the $60 billion spent on work injuries each year.
“While workplace injuries are on the decline, each year we spend billions of dollars on work-related injury and illnesses, many of which should be prevented. And tradies are among those highest at risk,” Mr Dripps said.
“This is the time of year to review your safety procedures, retrain and educate your staff, develop a supportive return-to-work culture, and make sure you’ve got the best measures in place to prevent injuries,” said Mr Dripps.
“If you do injure yourself – our message is simple: stop ignoring aches and pains and seek treatment immediately,” Mr Dripps said. “Often we’ll see tradies with injuries that could’ve been managed well before they became serious. It’s unfortunately a common mentality of the sector that needs to change.”
According to the APA, sprains and strains (42%) and musculoskeletal disorders (14%) are also the two highest work-related injury or disease claims, with body stress (40%) being one of the prime cause for these injuries.
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