Staff Functional Movement Screens - Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre

A dynamic assessment, being the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), was performed on Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre Staff members who voluntary participated in the program. FMS evaluates the quality of 7 fundamental movements and provides quantitative data that identifies individuals at risk of injury and allows for the provision of individualised corrective exercise programs. Intervention is aimed at improving proficiency of fundamental movement patterns and as a result reduce lost time due to injuries and the number of injuries within the workplace. The Centre is a YMCA managed recreation facility. The Health Club provides modern gym facilities fitted with the latest cardio and resistance training equipment. Aquatic facilities include with three large, heated swimming pools, with one indoor pool comprising lap lanes and two kids’ sections, as well as an outdoor toddler pool.

What motivated you to set up a health and wellbeing program?

To improve productivity, reduce workplace injuries and also improve the corporate image of the YMCA as being a proactive workplace that values it employers. Being in the Health and Wellbeing industry we as an organization must lead by example and the Functional Movement Screen is a program that will ensure that this occurs. The YMCA is an empathetic organization and this motivated this initiative as it allows us to identify potential cause and effect relationships of micro-trauma as well chronic injuries in relation to movement asymmetries and develop a program to minimise/eliminate these before our fellow colleagues developed non-contact injuries.

What does your program involve?

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS) is a dynamic assessment tool, evaluating multiple body segments in fundamental movement patterns. FMS evaluates the quality of 7 fundamental movements and provides quantitative data that allowed for the provision of individualised corrective exercise programs. This assessment tool identifies individuals at risk of injury and also qualifying them to perform specific movements. FMS identifies faulty movement patterns and imbalances allowing for the development of corrective strategies. The FMS can be applied to any fitness level, identifies specific exercises based on FMS scores to instantly create customized treatment plan that can be sent to email addresses.

What did you do to promote the program?

Memo explaining the event were detailed to each worksite within the organisation. An information and booking folder was developed and placed at the main reception. All Team Leaders and Coordinators were emailed inviting them to participate, explaining the program and its benefits and requested they support this event by promoting it to their staff base and forwarding the details. The event was heavily promoted by word-of-mouth within the workplace. A follow-up reminder to register email was sent out in the preceding the event.

Who participated in the program?

All employees were invited to participate in the health promotion initiative (from Management to causal staff). Two separate days were offered to allowing staff to book a time that best suited. 21 staff participated in the project from all sectors of the Centre (Management, Middle Management, Customer Service, Crèche, Administration, Aquatic and Health Club). The program was developed through the up-skilling of 2 employees which facilitated the two screening sessions and distributed the corrective exercise programs.

What was the impact of the program and how was this measured?

The benefit initial was through health promotion with the discussion about efficient movement patterns and how compensatory movement patterns can cause microtraumas and injury. The program identified individuals at high risk of injury and provided them with a individualized corrective exercise/prehab program to correct faulty movement patterns. The success of the program was gauged through qualitative feedback (feedback questionnaires) and also quantitative information through the raw data of the FMS scores pre and post intervention. In the future this program will also provide a baseline for individuals to assist with their return to work program if they become injured.

*Disclaimer:
The publishing of entries on the WorkSafe Awards website and or/the granting of an award does not constitute any endorsement by WorkSafe Victoria of a product, method or service, or the occupational health and safety performance of the workplace. Monthly Champions must undergo expert review to progress through to the stringent validation and judging process and can only progress to the next stage of entry once WorkSafe are satisfied that the entry/entrant has met the relevant award category criteria and terms and condition of entry.

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