Every year, work-related musculoskeletal disorders cost companies millions of dollars and cause distress to valued employees. Early awareness and appropriate action can change that. The implementation of ergonomic evaluations and employee ergonomic training as well as prompt treatment for work-related injuries helps:
Positive results of Suparna’s Progam include daily increased awareness of ergonomics while working, overall improved physical well-being, and reduced injuries.
Generally speaking, there are two obvious aspects to any workplace injury – ergonomics and work behaviors. However, there are also some not-so-obvious troublemakers for job safety…and unless all these factors are addressed, mitigation of symptoms and reduction of recurrence as well as injury prevention becomes difficult.
In creating a comprehensive Workplace Injury Management Program, Suparna has developed a list of contributing factors / indicators for musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace, based on her experience. Her program addresses each of these indicators. The list consists of ergonomic / equipment / environmental factors that are the responsibility of the Company but also includes an additional 31 factors that are the responsibility of each individual. Suparna’s experience has been that a person can have the best possible equipment and still get hurt, and that equipment fixes without certain inherent changes on part of the individual are short-term and incomplete solutions. Thus, her program philosophy focuses on behavioral modifications and long-term fixes.
The program has been implemented with consistent success in small businesses, Fortune 500 companies as well as global companies with presence in the US and Canada. The idea is to transform the safety culture and promote individual responsibility for good health as well as injury prevention. The program is suited to busy schedules and high pressure environments, and has been designed to not involve additional time commitment. It is also customized based on job requirements, lifestyle, and company culture.
“It is difficult to talk about Suparna Damany without getting emotional, but I feel that she saved my career and returned me to normal day-to-day functions. Over a few months in 2004/05 when work became very intense, I went from having no symptoms of RSI to having such severe symptoms that I couldn’t grasp or hold anything without severe pain. I could no longer perform my work duties. My arms would ache and then go numb each evening, and I had great difficulty sleeping. I saw over a dozen local practitioners in years to follow with variable results, but no one was able to get me strong and functioning better than 50% of my original work capabilities, and I became highly dependent on help in my personal life. Then, through a work program, Suparna came in and did an assessment and spoke of “curing” me. She is the only practitioner I met over the years who seemed to fully understand how bodies respond to repetitive strain, and she is the only one who said that a complete recovery was possible. With her guidance and exercise program, the right ergonomic tools, and with an awareness of how my body responds to repetitive motions, I am able to remain symptom free. She really was the critical tool that enabled me to recover, and I am very grateful that the company provided that opportunity for me. Having her available on Skype each quarter allowed for progression of the program as I was healing, and she was always readily available outside the Skype sessions for extra help when needed. I recommend her without hesitation to anyone that I meet who has RSI symptoms, and I would hope that she will remain a resource for anyone within the company who develops an RSI. “
“After my first meeting with Suparna, armed with a set of individualized exercises, I was able to get complete (albeit temporary) pain relief for short periods of time within a matter of days. This resulted in a rapid and substantial improvement in my general quality of life as I did not have constant pain. Within a matter of weeks following Suparna’s regimen, I realized a reduction in chronic pain as well. I persisted with Suparna’s recommendations and was on my way to recovery when the RSI Mitigation Program was rolled out.”
“When my hands feel fatigued, the stretches help increase blood circulation to my hands and give them relief from that feeling”
“Helps me not to be in a static position all day”
“I had severe bilateral RSI, so severe that it dominated my life for 3 years. Though I tried innumerable treatments, I had reached the point where I believed that my hands would never be fully functional again. Suparna Damany changed that. I can’t thank Suparna enough. I also have to thank my manager for facilitating several on-line consultations with Suparna which maintained a personalized and progressive healing process.”
“Just wanted to give you feedback about my visits with Suparna. From the first time we met a few months ago to today’s visit, Suparna has been extremely helpful with her exercises and variations of her exercises for me. We review them to see if I’m doing them correctly and she has tweaked some for me if I mentioned that I wasn’t getting enough from them. I LOVE SUPARNA! She is patient with me and she explains things so that I understand. Doing the exercises she has given me have helped me tremendously. Can hardly wait to start the Hurt Prevention Program (I just signed up). I told my supervisor that we can start doing them in his office right around 7:30 to get our day started – he just laughed so I don’t think this will happen but I do plan to take better care of myself and do the program to help me.”
