By Anthony Vecchione
What do office workers and miners have in common with professional athletes? Injuries. Both groups avoid, recover, and get back to business quicker after an injury with the help of a certified athletic trainer (ATC). In an emerging trend in occupational health, ATCs are using the same approach they use with athletes in corporate and industrial environments to both treat and prevent injuries. In the sports world, the goal is always to get the athlete back on the field of play; in the corporate and industrial world, it’s the same––to return the employee to work as quickly and safely as possible. While traditionally athletic trainers work with athletes during practice or at an event, in occupational health, they bring their orthopedic and sports medicine experience and techniques to the industrial or corporate site. “There are differences between what we do in industrial settings and what we do in the athletic training setting. It’s new for us and we need to adopt new guidelines and rules for occupational health that we don’t have in the athletic world,” said Daniel Nevarez, regional occupational health manager for Anaheim, CA-based Work Care, a physician-owned and managed occupational health company.
In the occupational health universe, ATCs address orthopedic injuries and teach prevention practices to reduce as well as recognize injuries. As a clinic manager and athletic trainer at an open-pit Borax mine in South Central California, Mr. Nevarez offers “lunch and learn” talks on preventive stretching and injury management.
“What to do when you feel like an injury is coming on, and conditioning exercises. When you’re out in an open pit mine, you’re doing a lot of physical movement, there’s a lot of repetitive movements as well,” said Mr. Nevarez. Mr. Nevarez has a background in ergonomics and provides In the open-pit mine environment, typical injuries include skeletal back injuries, ankle, knee, shoulder, and traumatic injuries from falls. Safety is a huge issue in the open-pit mine environment and ATCs work in conjunction with safety departments to develop prevention strategies and practices, Mr. Navarez said. He recalls an encounter with a miner who was recovering from a shoulder injury that required surgery. ergonomics assessments in industrial and corporate settings.
In the open-pit mine environment, typical injuries include skeletal back injuries, ankle, knee, shoulder, and traumatic injuries from falls. Safety is a huge issue in the open-pit mine environment and ATCs work in conjunction with safety departments to develop prevention strategies and practices, Mr. Navarez said. He recalls an encounter with a miner who was recovering from a shoulder injury that required surgery.
“His doctor wanted me to recommend exercises that could help in addition to what he was doing in physical therapy.” Mr. Nevarez said that with the worker’s physical therapy, the visits were limited, but on-site he was able to offer multiple visits. While the majority of occupational health companies outsource ATCs, some hire their own. “Many companies contract with an ATC and they just do ATC services. Maybe they’re there every day, 40 hours a week or on different shifts, or one or two days a week. It depends on what the company wants,” said Mr. Nevarez.
According to Mr. Nevarez, so far the feedback from corporate customers has been positive. “When you go into a new situation, people are often hesitant. Depending on what part of the country you’re in, some people may not know what an ATC does. They think you’re a physical therapist or personal trainer.” That’s especially true when you go to an industrial setting and they’re used to seeing only nurses, doctors, and paramedics. How rewarding is the work in an occupational health setting? “When you’re dealing with the employees on a day-to-day basis, you have interactions with them and you build relationships,” said Mr. Nevarez. In his current position as a regional manager at Work Care, Mr. Nevarez said he’s learning about business, operations, and management while looking for opportunities in which an ATC might be helpful.
Mr. Nevarez also lectures at various companies including a police department in Southern California where he works on a preventative exercise program and with office workers who need tips on ergonomics.
