On The Safe Side

The Golden Safety Cone Award is to recognize employees in our District who have demonstrated excellence when it comes to safety. Each building has their own Golden Cone. Anyone can make a nomination, so if you see someone being SAFE, please nominate them! Nominations can be sent to the Safety Cone Ambassador at each building. Please contact your building safety committee for more information.

Check out these Golden Safety Cone Award winners!

Whether you work in an office or outdoors, your muscles can become tired, stiff, and sore after a long day. Daily wear and tear from fatigue combined with back, neck, and shoulder pain can drastically reduce productivity and job satisfaction.

Fortunately, you’re not the only one looking for a way to combat these nagging aches and pains. One of the easiest, quickest ways to avoid pain and stiffness from a long day at work is to take multiple breaks throughout the day to stretch.

Good posture reduces strain on the spine and neck, lowering the risk of shoulder, back, and neck pain. Unfortunately, proper posture is hard to maintain when sitting at a desk all day.

Sitting or standing for long periods of time can wear down your spine. Gravity starts to pull you down and poor postural habits may start to creep in. You may find yourself slowly hunching forward or shifting your weight from one leg to the other. Taking a minute or two to stretch can help improve your posture, balance your weight, and realign your spine.

If you’ve been immobile for hours, your body is most likely going to be stiff and sore when you get up. Ideally, our bodies would only be immobile at night, when we’re asleep, and for short periods of time during the day. In the modern workplace, however, many people are going up to 8 hours with very minimal movement. Aside from the occasional break to eat or use the bathroom, our bodies have become sedentary.

This sedentary lifestyle is detrimental to our health, causing problems with muscle weakness, loss of flexibility, and reduced blood circulation. It’s important to adapt to this new work style by taking frequent breaks to get up, move around, and stretch.

Taking a break from sitting, for at least a few minutes every hour, can help counteract these effects. Taking a few minutes to stretch every so often can also help increase muscle and joint elasticity, thus improving the body’s overall range of motion.

• Stretch warm muscles. Stretching a “cold” muscle, or a muscle that hasn’t moved in a while, isn’t recommended. If you need to stretch at work, try walking around the office a bit to reduce any lingering muscle stiffness. A short walk helps your muscles warm up and prepare for movement.
• Keep it steady. Regardless of what muscles you’re stretching, you want to focus on proper form. Keep your movements slow and smooth, while breathing steadily. Moving too abruptly or without regard to form can potentially strain the muscles and cause an injury.
• Avoid painful movements. If you feel pain, numbness, tingling, or any difficulties performing a stretch, you’re pushing yourself too far. If you’re struggling with a certain movement, modify it slightly until you can perform the stretch without pain.
• Everything in moderation. Stretching is about improving muscle flexibility and increasing circulation. You won’t benefit from the stretch by spending a minimal amount of time on it. On the flip side, stretching too often or holding a stretch for too long can overextend the muscles and cause discomfort.

Insurance, Workers' Compensation, Safety and Benefits

Email: hagemak@live.siouxcityschools.com
Location: 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA, USA
Phone: 712-279-6692

The Sioux City Community School District offers career and technical programs in the following areas: Business & Marketing, Family & Consumer Science, Health Science, and Industrial Arts, Technology, & PLTW.

The Sioux City Community School District is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. It is an unfair or discriminatory practice for any educational institution to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information (for employment), national origin, religion, age (for employment), disability, socioeconomic status (for programs), marital status (for programs), or veteran status (for employment) in its educational programs and its employment practices.

Inquiries or grievances, including Section 504 grievances and grievances under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, may be directed to Jen Gomez, Director of Student Services & Equity Education at 627 4th Street, Sioux City, IA 51101, (712) 279-6075, gomezj2@live.siouxcityschools.com. Please see District Board policies 103 and 504.4 for additional information on available grievance procedures.