Injuries at work can often occur due to sloppy movement, poor handling or simply moving equipment wrong. The Onsite Coach, Guy Onley, is a weightlifting coach, roof tiler and scaffolder by trade who created the Onsite Coach to teach miners and tradies preventative ways to look after their bodies.
Guy has been a weightlifting coach at The Coalface Gym for more than 10 years and also dabbled in amateur strongman. He knew how important it was to understand how your body works and how to use it correctly to avoid an injury.
“In owning a gym, it became pretty clear to me that no one really understands the concept of a deadlift which is key to every lift, in a gym and outside of it. A mate who owned Pettigrew Funerals asked me to come and train some of their guys and then I started working with some tyre fitters and eventually in mines at Mudgee.
“I realised there was a real need for people to understand weightlifting whether you go to a gym or not, because at the crux of it weightlifting technique teaches you how to lift, carry and hold.
“You have to teach people to understand that their body hinges, it doesn’t bend and our lifestyles have left us with sloppy movements and a lack of control when we breath and brace.
“The old ‘bend your knees and keep your back flat’ has never worked, it’s a really bad cue, the only part of your body that does bend is your back. So, teaching manual handling is basically just weightlifting articulated differently.
“From there I developed a program to teach people manual handling and workplace recovery. It’s not only about teaching people good movement, but also about helping them recover tired muscle groups. We give the workers easy at home trigger point therapy techniques to relieve aches and strains before they become an injury,” explained Guy.
Guy said what he teaches is preventative. He wants to make sure everyone knows how to address the niggles before they turn into an injury. Often, you ignore the niggle and think if you go home and have a sleep or stretch, it’ll be right. But you get straight back in a truck the next day and it all compounds.
The lessons are practical and hands-on.
“I used to rock up at mine sites with strongman Atlas stones because these are the quickest way to teach people good technique. But now I’m travelling across states, so I take a suitcase full of empty sandbags and fill them up on site.
“Then we use them to practice The Onsite Method before we practice the same techniques on the gear on site.”
Guy always undertakes an onsite assessment to work out what is needed first which he said makes his training more receptive. It also gives him an idea which of his programs will suit the workforce best. He has a range of workshops from manual handling, workplace recovery and mobility maintenance.
“I like going to the site because it gives me skin in the game so if they’ve seen that I’ve been on site, they are more receptive. You go out to some sites and they’re a bit stand offish and they’re thinking, ‘who is this bloke, what does he want’, and I froth off that stuff, if someone is trying to give it to me, I give it straight back,” Guy laughed.
“I want them to know that I am for them and I’m not just there to tick a box.
“The biggest thing I get back that encourages the mine managers is everyone says they feel confident to lift. If I get someone who hasn’t lifted before, and they see a big concrete ball or a huge sandbag they freak out. And yes, it might look heavy but if you use your correct bio mechanics, you can make it feel light and avoid any injuries.”
| For more information on the Onsite Coach: www.theonsitecoach.com/ |
