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Whitepaper | The Hidden Risk: How Poor Training Causes Injuries in Ontario Grocery Stores

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INDUSTRY LED, RESULTS DRIVEN PAGE | 3 Long-term Effects and Pain Management "MSDs can be debilitating and life-altering injuries. They can permanently affect a person's ability to work and complete daily personal tasks," said Laura. One challenge in preventing MSDs is that they often develop gradually, so people do not always realize when the damage is being done. "Even though MSDs are discussed at work, I think many employees, especially younger workers, don't think about how an injury could affect them in the future. They feel invincible," said Kathleen Couto, Store Manager at Sobeys. Kathleen participated in both the risk assessment and root-cause analysis workshops. She believes that most grocery store workers do not think about their risk of developing an MSD until it is too late. "My co-workers and I mostly think about the obvious hazards that we can easily recognize, such as a sharp blade that could cut our hand or water on the floor that could cause a slip and fall. We do not often think about MSDs," says Brittany Marchese, a worker representative from Sobeys. Brittany also participated in both workshops. "I don't think many grocery store workers have a good understanding of how MSDs could negatively impact their lives in the future, particularly the younger workers," says Brittany. "We are taught proper lifting techniques, but we are not necessarily aware of the severity of the consequences if those techniques are not followed. We don't really see why it matters until we start to experience pain." " " "Participating in this initiative really helped me understand the causes and consequences of MSDs. Most tasks in any grocery store expose workers to MSDs, so I'm very pleased that we are focusing on these hazards." —Penny Neice, Worker Representative, Metro Laura agrees that workers need to have a better understanding of MSDs in order to recognize the risks. "The majority of workers do not know what may cause an MSD within their tasks. And, with MSDs typically being a delayed-onset injury, workers need to know how to prevent these injuries before they begin to experience the signs and symptoms," said Laura. Once a worker starts to feel pain, it usually means the injury has already occurred. When identified early and treated, workers have a good chance of fully recovering. However, without intervention, long-term symptoms such as chronic pain and limited mobility can set in. It has become common for workers in these situations to use pain medication in order to cope with the pain and continue to perform their job tasks. In fact, the Institute for Work and Health (IWH) delved into this topic to gain more insight into the link between workplace injuries and opioid use. Their study concluded that injured workers are at a higher risk of experiencing opioid-related harms.

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