Photo By John Hughel | An Oregon Army National Guard Soldier performs routine maintenance with the batteries...... read more read more
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The U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center serves as a vital resource for safety and occupational health information, benefiting Soldiers, Department of Defense civilians, and contract employees alike. By prioritizing readiness, the mission’s proactive approach is to analyze, train, and develop systems designed to prevent accidental loss of personnel and resources. The establishment of the Army Ergonomics Program in the mid-1990s has been instrumental in addressing and reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), fostering a healthier and more productive workforce.
To promote a safer work environment and minimize injuries, the Oregon National Guard is actively evaluating a range of challenging job tasks that workers may face. These tasks, which involve lifting heavy items, bending, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward positions, and performing repetitive activities, are being assessed to identify opportunities for improvement and better support the entire workforce.
"The ergonomics program prevents musculoskeletal disorders, and therefore increases the overall productivity of the workforce, reduces workers’ compensation claims and associated costs, and preserves the full-time employee workforce,” said Adisa Hadziselimovic, an Occupational Health Nurse with expertise in medical and workplace safety, who is actively enhancing awareness of the Oregon National Guard’s Ergonomics program.
Her efforts focus on identifying and addressing the effects of MSDs on workers. These disorders impact muscles, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments, and tendons across various jobs performed daily by employees of the Oregon Military Department. Damage may occur in a single sudden event, known as acute trauma, or gradually from repetitive events, known as micro-trauma.
“Many injuries occur over time through repetitive tasks, but others can happen in a particular moment, like lifting something too heavy or an awkward movement, or being in an odd body position,” she said, describing the wide variety of routine issues that happen on the job.
Work-related injuries encompass a range of conditions that often arise from the cumulative effects of repetitive motions or unsafe work areas. Additionally, nervous system disorders have been associated when there is a mismatch between a worker's training or skill set and the specific demands of their job.
“The reduplicated actions exert undue stress on one or more parts of the body over time…which can lead to deterioration, a lack of mobility, and pain in one or more areas,” Hadziselimovic said. These include conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and various strains in the back, neck, shoulders, and legs.
A recent report from the Defense Health Agency in March of this year highlights an important opportunity for improvement within the Department of Defense: injuries are currently the leading cause of healthcare utilization across all military branches. Approximately 50% of service members seek care for injuries each year, a significant portion of which are preventable. Moreover, over a third of non-battle-related injuries necessitate evacuation. By focusing on injury prevention strategies, this has a direct impact on preventing lost duty days, maximizing members' physical fitness standards, and meeting deployment readiness objectives.
“In our work, we’re mostly focusing on the dual-status Title 32 technicians, conducting medical surveillance to help prevent or mitigate exposure to certain hazardous work conditions with the CSMS (Combined Support Maintenance Shop) facility maintenance technicians,” Hadziselimovic said. “We’re also part of hearing and vision conservation, pretty much everything that has to do with preventing injuries.”
“What I want to do is raise awareness with our overall program. That means looking at a wide variety of occupations and some of the environmental risks associated with them.”
The ergonomics program has been a valuable component of the Oregon National Guard's comprehensive safety strategy in the past several years. With the recent appointment of Hadziselimovic to lead the program, the initiative stands to benefit from her extensive background in healthcare and wellness, spanning over two decades. Her expertise is expected to enhance the program's effectiveness and promote a safer work environment for all personnel. She has worked as an ICU nurse, with service members at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and in the private sector in Denver before taking on her current role here in Oregon.
“My position has been empty for a few years, going back to 2018, so now we have a plan and a budget,” she said, describing her commitment to Soldiers' well-being. “I just love providing care to patients' bedside needs. I was looking for something that was away from the hospital where I could create health and fitness improvements, do it more preventively, instead of waiting for patients to come to the ICU and needing treatment after the fact.”
Part of that plan is to work with volunteers in the Oregon National Guard workforce, as the state has 14 facilities and over 450 technicians who can directly benefit from safe working conditions.
“I would like them to go to a basic ergonomic training course, like an OSHA training course, so they have a basic knowledge of what to look for and do walk-throughs of the immediate areas and try to assess ergonomic hazards or issues that can be improved in the work conditions,” she said, detailing roles volunteers can perform. “If someone is in a very awkward position when they are writing or typing, or like how they may be working on a truck – where we can look into getting them different equipment that will have them in a more neutral position in their posture.”
By paying attention to the details in the everyday workplace, Hadziselimovic hopes that volunteers can commit to six hours of annual training after completing the Department of Labor's 40-hour initial training: OSHA #2255 Ergonomic Principles course. This would also adhere to Army Regulations 385-10, which states that “Commanders, leaders, and supervisors ultimately have the responsibility to identify, mitigate, and assume risk, including risks not specifically outlined in this program.”
Ultimately, this would protect Army personnel, property, and equipment, and reduce the costs of occupational injuries, illness, and accidental loss to improve readiness.
“I am excited about some of the goals we have in place for the program, which would include having one advocate for each work area or at least one per facility, Hadziselimovic said. “The proposal is to do this in three phases over the next three fiscal years at facilities around the state with full implementation by the end of FY28.”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.30.2025 16:35 |
| Story ID: | 499341 |
| Location: | HAPPY VALLEY, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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