Physical strength and conditioning is one of the key principles of injury prevention and management. Well structured and individually prescribed conditioning programs decrease the risk of injury, the severity of injury and can help prevent re-injury. Just like you would expect with management of an elite sporting athlete, maximising the chance of safe work performance requires a worker to have adequate muscular strength and balance, power, coordination, flexibility and endurance in order to maximise their performance and reduce their risk of injury. 

An injury will heal fastest by gradually introducing loads to the injured tissues. Part of this may be a graduated strength and conditioning program guided by your Employ Health physiotherapist so that the body will adapt to loads as the worker gradually returns to their normal duties. This gives the worker every chance to bounce back even fitter and stronger than before.

The body’s tissues, joints and ligaments have a limited capacity to handle stress and work. Once that limit is reached, they are prone to fatigue which means everything is working against you. An individually prescribed strength and conditioning program is designed to increase the limits of an individual’s load bearing and stress capacity, increasing physical performance and their overall capacity to meet the demands of their work roles, safely and efficiently. Strengthening helps improve a worker’s range of motion and mobility, increasing efficiency and performance as well as reducing fatigue and change of injury.

Research proves that workplace strength and conditioning programs improve worker performance and productivity. Not only does this improve the overall health outcomes for the individual but also provides great benefits to the organisation.

With musculoskeletal injuries accounting for the largest proportion of workers compensation claims, it becomes increasingly important for an organisation to truly embody core health values not only as a way of reducing workplace injuries but maximising worker potential.

There is strong evidence that exercise improves concentration, stress management and levels of engagement which would naturally translate to greater levels of productivity and decreased sickness and absenteeism.

It has been shown healthier employees spend fewer days away from work due to illness, saving organisations thousands, even millions, of dollars on down time and temporary employment. Additionally, because good health typically carries over into better family choices, your employees could possibly miss less work caring for sick family members.