Returning to Work – Overcoming Short-term Risks to Worker Health and Safety, AND Operations

by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.

In my article in the Proactive Technologies Report entitled, “Online Resources for the New, Reluctant “Home Schoolers” and “Home Learners”,  I identified online resources for parents finding themselves in the position of becoming ad hoc home teachers of their own children as they rode out the Covid-19 crisis. The emphasis was to try and curb the natural erosion of a learner’s skill base from non-use and continue building on those skills to prevent, or at least minimize, the known “summer slide” effects so when schools reopened and students returned to their regular schedules they could hit the ground running.

Employers might not be thinking about it yet – they have plenty on their mind during the shutdown – but the same “summer slide” effect may become apparent in workers currently sidelined as they return to their work. Employers must consider the “start-up” lag that may occur from both memory and muscle atrophy.

First, muscle atrophy may be occurring during this disruption. Exercise facilities were closed, employees had to remain inside for the most part, diets changed and many will experience the “covid-15” weight gain. For the most part, employees were rendered immobile for several months and the muscles developed for the work previously performed – no matter if standing or sitting for extended periods, lifting with the full body or with arms extended, twisting and turning the body, walking or running for extended distances and even which shift is being worked – may not be functioning as well as when they were maintained by a daily regimen. Even balance can be affected by muscle atrophy or spinal realignment during the days away from work.

Anyone who said yes to a friend who needed help moving remembers the weeks of associated back and muscle pain from using muscles not normally accessed. It is easy to relate to a worker returning to their old jobs, old job with new tasks or, in some cases, new jobs with the same employer. Anyone who has not taken a walk in several weeks realizes how laborious it now is and how stamina has been impacted. It is not that these attributes are gone for good, but they may need to be built up to previous levels that were sufficient to perform the tasks once performed. For older workers, balance and stamina are two important factors in mobility and performance.

Competitive sports enthusiasts are quick to say, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” Unexpectedly side-lined for any reason can prove that to be true. That is why therapy is often prescribed for anyone bed ridden for hospital care before release. In extreme cases this may include learning to walk again and move limbs.

Employers might resist the urge to blast back into action and think about how to ease workers back into their old positions or the next disruption might be the number of workers taking time off for muscle pain or injuries and incidents due a worker’s undetected current inability to lift, reach, turn, bend or sit the same way they used to. This can not only pose a risk to the worker, it can impact the workers around them and possibly lead to collateral damage to product, service, equipment and service reputation not to mention excessive insurance claims and staff shortages.

One recommendation to employers is to consult a physical therapist about the various job positions workers will be returning to for recommendations or possible strategies. Perhaps something as simple as pre-shift stretches to wake up the sleeping muscles holding us together. Consideration should be given as to whether it is better and less costly to consult with an expert prior to resuming or to risk having to meet with many experts once damage occurs.

Second, memory atrophy can occur when information previously accessed routinely is suddenly not accessed at all for extended periods. This is not to be confused with brain atrophy caused by physiological conditions. Memory atrophy can occur when time lapses between routine functions, or types of knowledge routinely drawn upon are not accessed in a while.

Memory atrophy can be exacerbated by physiological conditions, and trauma and anxiety can cause short-term memory loss which can add to, or accelerate, memory atrophy. Stress can also impair one’s ability to concentrate and recover dormant memories. Stress and anxiety can lead to lack of sleep, which can not only affect memory by functionality, as well. Those teaching and training should be aware of that factor when trying to return to normal after a traumatic event while the stress and anxiety are still present. Recovering dormant or lost cognitive skills or knowledge may take extra effort.  

Sometimes it is difficult to separate “unwillingness to learn” and “inability to learn;” that is to determine, in this case, if a learner or trainee is unable to temporarily learn, retain or recall. The latter manifests itself if their ability to do so is affected by external conditions such as stress or anxiety from financial insecurity, health issue with themselves or family members, or perceived disorganization of the earning environment. If it is known that the learner or trainee mastered the topics prior, that should be taken into consideration. The teacher or trainer should maintain an awareness of these factors and adjust teaching or training styles, methods, content or environmental conditions within their control to mitigate.

It might be wise to

1. assess each learner or trainee as to their current ability to learn or if they are able to meet the minimum established physical requirements of the job classification;
   1. remediate deficiencies if discovered and if able
   2. involve professionals to remediate if deficiencies are beyond the reach of existing resources
2. determine to what extent previous core skills and knowledge have been retained;
   1. establish a plan to rebuild deficient core skills and knowledge to minimum required levels;
3. create an individual strategy for each learner or trainee to build on this foundation toward the final learning or training goal; and
4. when ready, and to the extent possible and practical, merge those on similar learning or training paths into a cohort for coordinated delivery.

If a structured on-the-job training infrastructure was in place prior to the disruption, recertifying workers to return to work and retraining workers for any lost skills would be much easier since it is possible to draw on job/task/safety data, prior training records and develop/utilize worker development materials in the process. For those who found their organization’s worker training strategy was ill-prepared for disruption, it is not too late to develop one. Proactive Technologies’ approach can set up an infrastructure for a job classification, develop the training materials, assess incumbent workers and establish development metrics (and much more) in as little as 4 weeks!

Coming out of an stressful isolation of several months, having a strategy to reserve some time to address the potential for worker muscle and memory atrophy might help your strategy to move forward and avoid injury, errors, non-compliant products or services and further disruption to operations – all contributors to unexpected costs..

Proactive Technologies’ structured on-the-job training system approach develops incumbent, new-hire and cross-training workers to full job mastery through the accelerated transfer of expertise^TM. To see how it might work at your firm, your family of facilities or your region. Contact a Proactive Technologies representative today to schedule a GoToMeeting videoconference briefing to your computer. This can be followed up with an onsite presentation for you and your colleagues. A 13-minute promo briefing is available at the Proactive Technologies website and provides an overview to get you started and to help you explain it to your staff. As always, onsite presentations are available as well.