Employees in all construction trades spend hours climbing, carrying, lifting, kneeling, reaching, bending, pushing, pulling or working in awkward positions, often while navigating changing environmental and jobsite conditions. All of these activities can contribute to acute and cumulative musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs) such as sprains and strains, which can be costly in terms of lost time and worker’s compensation insurance costs.  

This raises an important question for the construction industry: What could we learn from the way athletes prepare for performance, and how could those principles help construction workers stay safer, healthier and capable of doing their jobs throughout their careers?

“If you put an NFL player through a shift carrying heavy materials, climbing scaffolding and battling brutal weather without a proper warmup, recovery plan or the right gear, they wouldn't make it to halftime. Why do we expect any less from our trades?” says Rena Goudey, a senior risk engineer with AXA XL insurance company and a former construction safety manager. “Construction workers aren’t just laborers — they’re elite industrial athletes. And if we want to actually protect our people and drive productivity, we need to rethink our approach.”

Stretch-and-Flex

For the past few decades, pre-work stretching warm-up routines or “stretch-and-flex” programs have been used as a tool to reduce the potential for musculoskeletal injuries. While stretching is not a substitute for hazard controls, a properly designed routine can help prepare workers for the physical demands of their jobs and may contribute to reducing injury risk when combined with effective ergonomic controls.

While some employers have been reluctant to embrace the concept or employees have felt self-conscious to stretch in front of their peers, seeing teams perform warm-up exercises before the job has become increasingly more common. 

Additionally, there has been an industry shift to active movement versus static stretches and tailoring routines to match the tasks being performed. Studies indicate that static stretching where employees hold a muscle in a lengthened position for 20 or 30 seconds, has the weakest evidence for injury prevention and may even temporarily reduce muscle power. Dynamic warm-ups, by contrast, use active movement to raise muscle temperature, increase blood flow and rehearse the motions the job will demand. 

Travis Browning, division HSE manager at Superior Construction in Jacksonville, Florida, works closely with the company’s Wellness and Benefits team and insurance carriers to develop programs that promote total worker health and safety, including mental health awareness. As part of these efforts, the company has developed activity-specific warm-up exercises designed to prepare workers for the physical demands of their jobs.

“We prioritize pre-activity stretches,” Browning says. “In heavy civil roadway construction, because the work is so spread out, a morning routine involving the entire site can be challenging. Employees may end up cooling down while traveling from the central meeting area to their individual work locations.”

Instead, Browning emphasizes the importance of putting responsibility for preparation closer to the work itself.

“It is crucial that crews and individual workers recognize which activities require a warm-up and understand their own bodies and physical limitations," he adds.

Resources for Designing Your Program 

When it comes to creating a tailored warm-up program for your employees, start by looking beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Check with your human resources or benefits department for potential resources, such as ergonomists, physical therapists, occupational therapists or qualified fitness professionals. Insurance carriers may also have risk control, ergonomics or injury-prevention specialists who can provide guidance and resources. These professionals can help your organization with the following:

• Analyze job demands. Evaluate the physical requirements of specific tasks, including lifting, carrying, pushing and pulling, overhead work, climbing, kneeling, squatting, crawling, repetitive hand use, prolonged standing, and awkward or sustained postures. 
• Identify relevant movement patterns and physical demands. Observe the movements workers perform throughout the workday and identify the mobility, strength, balance, coordination and endurance required for each trade. 
• Select appropriate exercises. Choose movements that prepare workers for the activities they are about to perform. Exercises should focus on the areas of the body and movement patterns most commonly used during the workday rather than simply selecting a generic series of stretches.
• Screen proposed exercises for safety. A qualified professional can review exercises to ensure they are appropriate for the workforce and identify movements that could place unnecessary stress on joints, muscles or other areas of the body. Consider modifications for employees with physical limitations or pre-existing conditions rather than expecting everyone to perform the same movements.
• Develop trade-specific routines. Create routines that reflect the physical demands of individual trades, tasks or work groups. 
• Train supervisors or designated leaders. Provide leaders with appropriate instruction so they understand the purpose of the program and can demonstrate the movements correctly. 
• Modify routines for different work groups and conditions. Build flexibility into the program so exercises can be adapted based on the work being performed, environmental conditions, equipment, work schedules and individual capabilities. 
• Integrate the program into the workday. Determine when and where warm-ups will occur and make participation practical. A brief routine performed consistently before physically demanding work is more likely to succeed than a lengthy program that is difficult to incorporate into the jobsite.
• Educate employees on the purpose of the program. Explain that the goal is to prepare the body for the physical demands of the work, not to diagnose injuries, replace medical care or guarantee that an injury will not occur. 
• Evaluate the program and make evidence-informed adjustments. Treat the warm-up program as an evolving component of your injury-prevention strategy. As new information becomes available or job tasks change, review and modify the routines rather than allowing them to become a repetitive checklist that no longer reflects the work.

“When you invest in your crew like they're elite performers, they show up and perform like elite professionals," Goudey concludes. "That’s how we build a bulletproof safety culture."

Be well, my friends!