February 29 comes around only once every four years; repetitive strain injuries are far more common occurrences.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is among those organizations worldwide that observes the leap day as International Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Awareness Day.

As CCOHS indicates in its promotional materials, since the leap day is the only non-repetitive day of the year, it is “the ideal date to devote to raising awareness of repetitive strain injuries.”

Also known as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), repetitive strain injuries are an umbrella term used to describe a family of painful disorders affecting tendons, muscles, nerves and joints in the neck, upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, arms and hands. MSDs develop slowly and can happen in any workplace where people are bending, straightening, gripping, holding, twisting, clenching or reaching for prolonged periods. They are the most frequent type of lost-time injury and the single largest source of lost-time costs in Canada.

In Ontario, MSDs account for about half of all allowed lost-time claims according to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Between 2009 and 2018, about 190,000 Ontario workers lost time due to sprains and strains.

“MSDs don’t usually have an immediate traumatic impact, so people tend not to think of them as particularly serious injuries,” says Lisa Hanna, an ergonomist at WSIB in Toronto. “However, when you consider that sprains and strains are the leading cause of injury in Ontario workplaces, they do qualify as a serious problem. But the good news is they can be prevented.”

RSI Awareness Day, which is observed on February 28 on non-leap years, is the perfect time for employers to make sure they know how to prevent these injuries in the workplace, she says.

“This is particularly important for people working in the services, health care, and manufacturing industries,” says Hanna. “They are the top three industries with sprains and strains as the most commonly reported injury to the WSIB.”

The Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders’ MSD Prevention Guideline offers practical tips and examples to help understand and prevent MSDs.

The guideline also shares a few tips to consider to help prevent sprains and strains in the workplace, including:

• Store it off the floor. Store—and work on—objects between your hip and chest height.
• Keep it close. Store objects or work close to your belly button.
• Hands below head. Work with your hands below your head.
• Look straight ahead. Work with the head straight and level.
• Get a (good) grip. Tools and gloves should fit your hands, keeping hands and wrists strong.
• Change it up. A well-organized job has variety and pauses that give the body time to recover.