Ironworkers are Industrial Athletes

IN THE FIELD By Bryan McClure

Treating your body and mind like a sports pro helps prevent injuries

Bryan McClure is a managing partner of Trivent Safety Consulting. He is a safety professional who got his start as an ironworker. As a former football player and football coach with a passion for exercise, he has applied principles of athletic training to the jobsite. Trivent Safety recently added its Industrial Athlete program to its regular class schedule at its training center in Denver, Colo. Learn more at triventsc.com.

Like many high school athletes, I had dreams of playing football at the next level and becoming an athletic trainer. But circumstance led me to become an ironworker, where I worked in the physically demanding field for many years. Flash forward 30 years. Hensel Phelps, a general contractor with locations across the U.S., approached Trivent Safety Consultants to develop a program specially designed for craft workers.

“I want a program that educates our tradesmen on how to take care of their most valuable tool, their bodies. I want a program that the Denver Broncos would use to train their million dollar athletes but geared for the trades,” said Jeremy Spooner, Hensel Phelps Superintendent

Out of this initial conversation was born the Industrial Athlete program. We define an industrial athlete as a person who is engaged in work tasks or projects requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina, and who is trained or skilled in exercises to support that.

The program consists of four classes, each two hours in length, covering nutrition, exercise, ergonomics, and behavioral safety. Since the introduction of the Industrial Athlete class to Hensel Phelps in 2019, 80 to 120 of their workers have completed the program each year. The company has found it so beneficial, that they have expanded its availability to their trade partners.

When workers buy into the concept, they begin to treat their bodies and their minds with better care. It makes them less prone to injury. When employers offer this kind of training to field workers it conveys the message that the individual is important and valued. Here’s a look at the elements of the program.

Nutrition

The Nutrition module was designed by Jenny Vanmeter, the head athletic trainer for the Adams 12 Five Star School District and a Physician Extender from Children’s Hospital in Denver. The class focuses on the proper hydration, macronutrients and calories needed to support the physical nature of work undertaken by craft laborers. It also teaches them how to make healthy choices when shopping at gas stations or eating fast food, which often goes hand in hand with being a construction worker on the road.

In addition, the days of eating salt pills at lunch to stay hydrated are over! There are many great companies out there that offer supplements designed for craft workers that are healthy and have science that backs their claims. We have partnered with WorkingAthlete.com, which offers a variety of products for hydration, energy and nutrition.

A normally active person needs about 12 calories per pound of body weight every day to keep the organs functioning and to maintain normal body temperature. However, craft workers don’t typically fall into the category of “normally active.”

The following examples are for 15 minutes duration. Multiply that out over 8 to 10 hour days, and it’s easy to see how many calories a craft worker needs each day.

• Carrying moderate loads weighing 16 to 40 lbs. upstairs = 159 Calories Burned

• Laying masonry or concrete = 137 Calories Burned

• Using heavy power tools (jackhammer, drills, tampers, etc.) = 114 Calories Burned

• Walking = 91 Calories Burned

To consume the calories needed, we suggest the following macronutrient breakdown.

• Carbohydrates 55-60%

• Protein 20-30%

• Fat 25-30%

The Zero G arm is a tool that can be used to take pressure off the joints of the worker.

Exercise

The exercise module educates the tradesman on exercises to strengthen those muscle groups involved in the most common musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in construction—back, shoulders, and knees. Two of the best exercises, when practiced daily, to improve core strength and therefore reduce the chance of back injury are the Plank and the Hollow Body.

The Plank (above) and the Hollow Body (below) are two good exercises for improving core strength and reducing back injuries.

Providing resistance bands is an easy way for workers to continue exercising on their own.

The program also teaches the difference between dynamic and static stretching and how to incorporate the stretch routines into their daily work.

In the last 10 years, the construction industry has broadly implemented stretch and flex sessions at the start of the shift. Unfortunately, many of these employers are using the same static stretches that I used when I played football in the 1980s. Static stretches are those in which you stand, sit or lie still and hold a single position for period of time, up to about 45 seconds. Holding a static stretch for too long can switch the muscle off and reduceyour performance. Recent studies have shown that performing static stretches on cold muscles can create tiny tears in the muscles. This can lead to joint instability and a reduced muscle power output. Instead, we suggest static stretching be reserved for after a lunch break.

Dynamic stretches, which involves active tightening of muscles and moving joints through their full range of motion, is a better choice for first thing in the morning on cold muscles. Dynamic stretching improves speed, agility, and acceleration. These functional, trade specific movements help increase muscle temperature and decrease muscle stiffness.

Every one that attends one of our Industrial Athlete classes go through the full stretch routine and get a wallet card to keep with them to remind them how to do the stretches. Hensel Phelps purchased a resistance band for each worker that attends the class so they could continue the exercises on their own at home.

Ergonomics

The ergonomics module educates the tradesman on how to fit the work to the worker using the latest technology. These are exciting times for trades workers. Exoskeletons got their start in military and defense and have begun to be used in construction and general industry to help reduce MSDs. We partnered with Ekso Bionics, which donated the use of their Ekso suits and Zero G arms for class demonstrations. The equipment provides support for joints and muscles in tasks that must be completed in positions of poor body mechanics.

The Zero G arm attaches to aerial lifts and supports hammer drills, completely taking all the pressure off the joints of the worker and eliminating fatigue and with that fatigue related injuries. We predict employers will see the impact devices like these will have reducing musculoskeletal disorders and fatigue related injuries, and with that the costs associated with insurance claims and lost productivity. In the meantime, their use in training helps workers better understand the correlation between posture and positioning and stress on their bodies.

Behavioral Safety

Construction is the No. 2 occupation in the United States for suicide. The class discusses coping and support strategies. For example, workers are encouraged to identify their own personal A Team. The A Team consists of co-workers, friends or family who have offered good advice or counseling to them in the past. These are people the individual knows they can talk to when times get tough. Studies have shown that 80-90% of individuals that seek treatment or counseling recover from depression.

It is also important for workers and supervisors to be able to identify the warning signs that someone is at risk for suicide. Changes in behavior or the presence of entirely new behaviors, especially following a painful event, loss, or change in life circumstance. Increased tardiness and absenteeism are also key indicators. Most people who take their lives exhibit one or more warning signs, either through what they say or what they do.

In addition, we want workers to be able to understand how risk tolerant they are. A Risk Perception & Tolerance tool identifies “blind spots.” Workers become desensitized to risk on jobsites that they see day in and day out because most of the time these risks do not result in accidents. For example, ironworkers frequently work around cranes lifting heavy loads every day. A person walking down the street would see this and not go near a load being lifted as it looks dangerous, but ironworkers often, unnecessarily, work under the crane loads, even though they’ve likely been trained to never get underneath a load suspended by a crane. It’s a matter of training your eyes to see your everyday activities the way a passerby on the street does.

The construction industry has never experienced worker shortages like this before. For companies to thrive in this current environment, they need to change how they think about employee wellness. It is not only vital to keep their current workers healthy and productive but it’s an absolute necessity to attract a new generation of workers. •