Prevent pain and injury

Preventing and managing discomfort, pain and injury increases productivity and staff morale while reducing injury related costs. As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to protect your workers from harm. This means addressing all the factors present in your workplace that can lead to discomfort, pain or injury.

What is discomfort, pain and injury?

Discomfort, pain and injury cover many conditions of the muscles and bones:

• Gradual Process Injuries (GPI)
• Simple back pain
• Strains and sprains

Usually these arise gradually over time, rather than from sudden events.

What is the impact of injuries?

For employers

Having workers on sick leave and hiring new employees can be expensive and time-consuming for managers and other staff.

Do you know the real cost of an injury? Use the Injury cost calculator to work out the true cost of injuries to workers. Use online or request a copy from the  ACC Publications page.

For workers

Apart from the stress caused by not being able to do your job properly, discomfort, pain and injury can also have a much larger social costs. It’s difficult to measure the cost of not being able to pick up your children, take part in sports, or even sit comfortably to watch television or talk to friends.

What can I do to reduce injuries?

Remember, everyone has a role to play in preventing and reducing injuries in the workplace.

ACC has developed a number of tools to help employers, employees and health and safety consultants manage discomfort, pain and injury.

• HabitAtWork is available in Office and Industrial versions. It is a tool for employers, employees, and health and safety consultants to learn to prevent and manage discomfort, pain and injury.
• Work smart tips
  Use this tool to create specific customised health and safety information for your workplace, employees, and colleagues.
• Discomfort, pain and injury training
  Register your interest in the Preventing and Managing Discomfort, Pain and Injury Programme.

How to implement safer workplace practices

• ACC366 How to implement safer workplace practices (PDF1.3M)
  An introduction to ACC’s comprehensive health and safety system to help prevent workplace injuries.
• ACC4487How to implement safer workplace practices (PDF966K)
  Incorporates ACC4440-4445 Summary flowcharts.
  These provide an overview of the ACC366 content mentioned above. Use the flowcharts to do a gap analysis of your workplace’s health and safety system.

Other resources

The following resources can be downloaded or ordered from the ACC publications page:

• Preventing and managing discomfort, pain and injury (PDF1.8M)
  An overview of what you need to consider to prevent and manage discomfort, pain and injury in your workplace.
• ACC5122 Manual Handling Risk Reckoner (PDF 124K)
  An interactive tool developed as an alternative to the Manual Handling Code of Practice method for assessing risk in manual handling tasks.
• ACC1631 Pain screening questionnaire (PDF 169K) 
  An online or paper based self-administered assessment for people with ongoing and unresolved pain problems.
• ACC1952 A4 Stretches for office workers (PDF 497K)
• ACC1953 A4 Stretches for manual workers (PDF 513K)
• ACC5007 A3 Exercises for hospitality workers (PDF414K)
• ACC5054 A3 Exercises for health workers (PDF315K)
• ACC5053 A3 Office Workers stretching poster (PDF 382K)
• ACC5052 A3 Manual Worker stretching poster (PDF 380K)
• ACC5165 HabitAtWork CD
  The complete HabitAtWork application on a CD, for use where internet access is not available.
• ACC4318 HabitAtWork posters
• ACC4829 HabitAtWork workbook – Office version (PDF 1.7M)
• ACC4830 HabitAtWork workbook – Industrial version (PDF 2.2M)
• Early report form - employee (PDF 77K); employer (PDF 58K)
  Designed either to be filled in online, or to be printed and filled in by hand. Each form has two parts – one for the employee who is reporting discomfort and or pain, and the other for their employer.
• ACC5637 Guidelines for using computers - Preventing and managing discomfort, pain and injury (PDF 1.8M)
  Designed for employers, managers, and health and safety professionals to help workers prevent and manage discomfort, pain and injury associated with computer use.

Forms and checklists

• Contributory factors checklist (PDF 63K)
  A checklist to help assess the contributory factors surrounding problems, incidents and hazards.
• Help yourself prevent and manage discomfort, pain and injury (PDF 56K)
  Self-management advice for people experiencing discomfort, pain and injury.
• Discomfort, pain and injury systems and practices checklist (PDF 56K)
  A checklist to help assess whether a workplace is sufficiently prepared to prevent and manage discomfort, pain and injury, and whether necessary systems and practice are in place.
• Workplace referral to health provider (PDF 49K)
  A tool to help employers formally refer workers to, and communicate with, health professionals involved with their workers.

Last updated: 10 December 2010