by Justin Zimmerman, MS, ATC, CSCS

Most high-level athletes have a routine they go through to get in the right headspace prior to training or competition. A mind divided can lead to errors with potentially serious consequences. Think of leaving yourself open for a tackle during football, or not monitoring your surroundings while walking on a construction site.

The Daily Checklist For Success

PREPARED was designed as a start-to-finish daily checklist to minimize workplace injury risks. By adopting a PREPARED mindset, we can maintain safety throughout the day. As humans, we are fallible and can fall victim to human error. PREPARED is intended to incorporate redundancy to mitigate such errors, similar to a pre-surgical or pre-flight checklist. Pilots and surgeons both undergo years of training to become experts in their given fields, but even experts can fall victim to mistakes, which is why structured systems are so valuable.

One key benefit of PREPARED is that it brings what we intuitively know to the forefront of our minds. For instance, most of us know we should drink more water to stay hydrated but still forget. Similarly, we know twisting through our trunk to reach a box is less safe than taking an extra second to align our shoulders, hips, and toes before lifting—but how often do we actually adjust our movements? A PREPARED mindset makes us more conscientious of these small habits and make intentional changes to improve safety and efficiency in our daily tasks.

Creating The Prepared Mindset

So how do you create a PREPARED mindset in yourself and your team? Here are the steps I recommend folks take:

Slow & Steady – After I conduct PREPARED training with site leadership, folks normally get excited and want to educate the workforce on everything. All at once. This is a common mistake. In my experience, change that lasts happens slowly. Bombarding team members with new ideas and initiatives all at once usually leads to minimal buy-in. Instead, opt for a phased approach, focusing on one PREPARED principle for a few weeks before introducing the next.

Take It With You – Early in my career, I carried a one-page PREPARED printout in my notebook for easy reference. A pocket-sized version or business card can help you reinforce the checklist until it becomes second nature. Post PREPARED materials in high-traffic areas, and rotate their locations periodically to maintain novelty and attention. If you need more PREPARED materials, reach out to your Work Right Injury Prevention Specialist.

Prepare for PREPARED – Making PREPARED a daily habit starts with minimizing barriers and creating opportunities for consistency. Preparing for PREPARED can start with easy actions like purchasing resistance bands for your warm up routine, reviewing proper body mechanics for certain tasks at your pre-shift stand ups, or keeping PREPARED materials visible and refreshed. Simple things can reduce the effort required to build a routine.

Building a prepared mindset takes time but the investment is worth it to move the culture of your team towards one focused on prevention. If you’re not in a leadership role, don’t doubt that you can still be the catalyst for change among your co-workers and lead by example. So, grab your PREPARED checklist and align yourself with injury prevention.

Justin Zimmerman, MS, ATC, CSCS || Justin started his career with Work Right over 5 years ago as an Injury Prevention Specialist. He has since moved into a sales role where he gets to highlight the incredible work done by team to impact the lives of the people we serve and expand our reach. In his free time, you can find Justin spending time with his wife, 2 kids, or coaching wrestling.

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Be sure to check out our other blogs for further injury prevention education and tips for the industrial athlete from Work Right NW!