Bionomics looks at proper body use

We know one can teach a 12-year-old girl to do a back flip on a 4-inch balance beam, 4 feet above the ground, with perfect form. So why can't we teach someone how to lift a tool box or set up a computer workstation correctly?

The question is not just rhetorical for Dennis Downing, president of Future Industrial Technologies (F.I.T.). It's the impetus behind a program he's developed that goes beyond ergonomics to prevent work-related injury.

"Bionomics is a term coined to mean how to correctly manage your body while working: bio, meaning life (body), and nomics, meaning to manage," he said.

Downing says many companies have no doubt benefited from ergonomic interventions. But too many, even after spending large sums of money on re-engineering, buying new equipment or new workstations, still don't get the results they're looking for.

"The difference between ergonomics and bionomics is that the focus is not on the physical environment, per se, but on the proper management of the body," said Downing.

A breakthrough for Downing was the recognition that society puts little-to-no emphasis on teaching people how to use their bodies correctly. The result is that job-induced stresses collect, often resulting in fatigue, discomfort, pain and even injury.

A practical approach
Founded in 1992, Santa Barbara-based F.I.T. trained and certified 1,100 trainers (including physical therapists, chiropractors and medical doctors) throughout the U.S. to deliver its injury prevention program. They create customized lessons based on a thorough understanding by the trainer of the nuances of each job performed at a work site.

"We realize that you can't teach a kinetic activity with a sedentary method such as watching a video," Downing said. 

The training, whether for office workers, firefighters or warehouse employees, incorporates real work tasks. Downing says a sports model is the basis for the training.

"Imagine teaching a child to swim with just a video, and then throwing him in the pool. There must be a 'doingness,' a practical aspect as well as a theory," he said.

"Our approach is that, although the physical environment must be adapted (the basic message of ergonomics), the more important element is to educate employees on how to use their bodies biomechanically correctly, and through a series of therapeutic stretches, how to relieve accumulated stress," said Downing.

He cites the example of large-scale F.I.T. training conducted with United Airlines flight attendants. F.I.T. trainers worked with them on such routine tasks as repetitive coffee pouring and properly stowing bags in the overhead compartments.

"When the flight attendants grab the coffee pot, they clench the pot and use certain muscles to close their fingers. If you pour hundreds of cups per day, the stress accumulates, which can eventually restrict your range of motion," he said.

F.I.T. trainers teach the workers to better use their muscles, and, through specific stretches, how to relieve them. Similarly, flight attendants learn to use a staggered stance when lifting bags.

"If you pull luggage with your feet parallel, you'll slip back into a hyperextension." If the feet are staggered, you're more grounded and better able to move back and forth without stumbling back, he says.

F.I.T. has also had good success with large manufacturers including Xerox, Chrysler and Boeing. To learn more, visit www.backsafe.com. 

TrainingOnline is a full-service learning content provider that specializes in Web-based training courses for the environmental, health, safety and human resources markets. Read more about safety training at www.trainingonline.com.

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