Six mental skills for strengthening soft-tissue safety.

Don’t be soft on soft-tissue injuries. These problems—typically, strains and sprains to the back, shoulders, neck, and other areas—plague numerous organizations and, even worse, often escalate as workforces age. Initially, many companies try to injury-proof the workplace, from ergonomic design fixes to job redesign/ rotation. These definitely help but, regrettably, often to a plateau. In last month’s column, I wrote about organizational strategies for corralling these common injuries.Now, I’ll focus on specific skills everyone, from executives to workers in fields, plants, and offices, can apply to have more usable strength and control, as well as prevent pain and injury.