Injured officers get help

An increasing number of parking officers are getting injured falling over on the job, so Auckland Transport is introducing a daily pre-work workout to help with physical conditioning.

The falls prevention programme, called Move Strong, will be introduced for parking officers based in Takapuna and Manukau and will aim to prevent musculoskeletal injuries including slip, trip and fall-related injuries and back injuries.

According to AT’s latest health and safety report, parking officers sustained injuries slipping on wet leaves, tripping on the kerb, falling on mud and tripping on a metal plate.

Of the four incidences in a month, three officers required time off work for their injuries.

The longest amount of time required off work was eight days.

During the 12-week Move Strong programme, each day before heading out on the job, parking officers will work with a physiotherapist on conditioning exercises.

The physiotherapist will also work with selected staff on good practice for job tasks like chalking tyres.

Other than falls, this year parking officers have also been injured with finger lacerations on the security wires for the covers of pay and display machines and eye discomfort from when an object/dust was blown into eye.

JACKSON THOMAS Auckland parking officers are getting help to prevent injuries at work.