Bapco’s first Ergonomics awareness campaign was officially launched by its deputy chief executive and chairman of the company’s Environment, Health & Safety Committee, Dr Eion Turnbull.

The three-day campaign, which ends today (December 9), includes displays and lectures at the Bapco Club and in the refinery.

The displays highlight the risks associated with incorrect footwear, wrong posture, manual handling, and heavy backpacks. Every day, the lives of thousands of people around the world are severely affected because of these seemingly routine activities performed the wrong way over several months and years.

For example, incorrect techniques while using a computer can result in wrist and elbow pain that is so severe that parents are not able to pick up and cuddle their children. Incorrect lifting habits restrict people to bed-rest for long periods and eliminate virtually all, but the simplest activities from their lives.

Awareness of these hazards is being promoted through quizzes for for Bapco’s
employees and their families and the distribution of information packs to schools.

The importance of adopting these good practices early in life cannot be over-emphasised as small injuries sustained while the body is developing can be become weaknesses that inflict significant pain over very long periods later in life. For this reason, the committee has distributed Backpack Safety posters to all primary and intermediate schools giving advice to children and their parents about choosing, wearing and loading their backpacks.

The Bahrain Ergonomics Society was the first such organisation in the Middle East, and Bapco’s Ergonomics Awareness Campaign is the first activity of this kind in Bahrain, said a statement.-TradeArabia News Service