Adecco how-to: encouraging stretching in your workplace

Regular stretching is important for overall well-being, but it's also crucial for your employees’ health and safety at work. Both physical work and office jobs can strain the body over time, so it's important for employers to encourage their employees to take breaks and stretch throughout the day.

Why employers should encourage regular stretching

Workplace injuries can be expensive – and severely impact your team’s morale. They make your employees less productive and lead to costly compensation payouts. There were over 2.8 million workplace accidents in 2019, with about 10% of these occurring in transportation and warehouse industries. This costs US companies a massive $1 billion in compensation costs every week.

Your workers’ safety should be your top priority, and that’s where stretching comes in. Regular stretching can help prevent injuries by increasing the body’s flexibility and range of motion.

Stretching can even improve blood circulation and increase energy levels, making employees more productive throughout the day. Studies have also shown that stretching helps reduce stress levels, which can further improve employee morale and productivity.

Remember, workplace injuries don’t just affect people with physical jobs. Working from home or in an office with a poorly set up workstation can also lead to muscle problems and repetitive strain injuries.

How to promote stretching in the workplace

It’s important to provide your employees with information about the benefits of stretching. Do this by hanging informative posters in common areas or by sending out an awareness campaign by email. You should also encourage managers to stretch with their team before starting work. This will clearly communicate the importance of stretching as workers see their leaders embrace your new initiative.

You can also create a designated area for employees to warm up and stretch before or during their shift. Provide yoga mats and instructional posters that will help your employees stretch correctly.

Hiring an expert to train your employees is another great way to get everyone on board. This will also ensure that your workers know how to stretch safely.

Effective stretches to start with

Before starting work, your employees should warm up in a controlled manner. This gets the blood flowing around the body and primes joints, muscles, and tendons to start moving. Only after warming up should workers start stretching. Stretches must be done at each individual’s pace, and in an open space. All stretches should be done twice!

Warmups

Knee raise – March in place for one minute while raising your knees to waist level. The leg that’s not being raised should stay still and your foot should be planted on the ground.

Shoulder roll – Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, then slowly elevate your shoulders. Slowly roll them backward in a circular motion for one minute.

Arm circles – Stand with your arms held out at shoulder height. Keep your arms straight and move them in a circular motion in one direction for 15 seconds. Repeat in the opposite direction for another 15 seconds.

Stretches

Wrist flexor stretch – Extend one arm in front of you then gently pull back your fingers and palm with the other hand for 15 seconds. Repeat for another 15 seconds with the other hand.

Wrist extensor stretch – Extend one arm straight out in front of your chest, make a fist, and flex your wrist for 15 seconds. Gently pull back the top of your hand with the opposite hand. Repeat with the other arm for 15 seconds.

Neck stretch – While standing straight, slowly bring your ear towards your shoulder. Keep your other shoulder down. Repeat this movement on the opposite side, then do the same movement towards your chest and back. Stretch for 15 seconds in each direction.

Back extension – While standing, place both hands on your lower back. Slowly arch your body backward until you feel tension. Hold for 15 seconds. Keep your head facing forward and slowly come back to the starting position.

How to get serious about workplace safety

Promoting workplace safety and preventing injuries can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. The best way to keep your employees safe and productive is to partner with seasoned experts who know how to quickly address risk factors throughout your organization.

At Adecco, our award-winning Risk Management team uses industry-leading tech to monitor how employees move and how they might be putting themselves in danger. We then implement behavior-based safety protocols that keep workers safe and save businesses money.

We recently helped a manufacturing company in New York save over $700,000 a year in workplace-injury-related costs. Our team’s smart ergonomic evaluations, site visits, and high-impact safety improvements are just some of the ways we transformed our client’s approach to health and safety.

Get in touch with us today to find out how Adecco can help keep you assess and improve your safety protocols!