Keeping Workers and Industrial Athletes in the Game!
Posted on 3/25/2019 by Mike Montez, M.S., ATC, CSCS
With an aging workforce, increasing health care costs and a continued demand for physically demanding jobs to be completed by humans, more and more companies are looking into providing their employees with access to an onsite injury prevention specialist.
The injury prevention specialist role is often filled by a National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification certified athletic trainer whose unique training, skills and abilities make a great fit for the job. Athletic trainers perform skills including immediate injury triage and care, biomechanics assessment, health and wellness education and strengthening/conditioning of active individuals.
Onsite athletic trainers work with industrial athletes who might be delivering online purchases, assisting with luggage at the airport or even cleaning a hotel room. The main goal of the industrial athletic trainer is injury prevention. Just like in sports, industrial athletic trainers “keep the worker in the game.”
Many individuals don’t know when to use ice or heat, how to stretch a tight muscle, basic nutrition needs for a physical job or even how lack of sleep can affect the body’s ability to heal, decrease motor coordination and increase blood pressure. That is where the role of the industrial athletic trainer comes into play.
Employees suffering a wide array of pain or discomfort from work-related and non-work related activities can seek out care from the onsite injury prevention specialist. Care may include assessing the individual, developing a plan of care and attempting to conservatively manage the issue through a combination of ice, heat, soft tissue massage, prophylactic, non-rigid taping and the application of a topical analgesic.
More often than not, an employee’s symptoms resolve within a few visits. If not, the industrial athletic trainer will discuss potential next steps in the process which could include following up with a doctor for further treatment. The industrial athletic trainer also serves as a referral source for other available services which may include dentistry, registered dietitians, follow-up with the employee’s primary care physician/specialist or even psychological consults.
Think of the industrial athletic trainer as a one-stop shop for all your health and wellness needs while on the job. The service is free (paid for by the employer) and is designed to keep the workforce healthy, happy and safe!
For more information regarding services for the industrial athlete through the Select Medical Outpatient Division’s WorkStrategies Program, please call 866.554.2624 or email [email protected] today.
By: Mike Montez, M.S., ATC, CSCS, WorkStrategies coordinator for NovaCare’s Southern California community. He serves as the site supervisor with our OnSite Program at Delta LAX and offers more than 15 years of experience. He is a graduate of Cal State University Long Beach.