JointAction

The JointAction Program was formed as a result of collaborative work between Michael Lawrance and Associates and elite sports consultancy Fasttrak Performance, when the entities combined to produce a musculoskeletal resource for the shearing industry .

This collaboration of industry experience, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, physical ergonomics and exercise science resulted in the development of significant expertise in Musculo-Skeletal Disorder (MSD) prevention and rehabilitation.

Multidisciplinary Team

A point of pride for our organisation is that all of our staff are equally effective and comfortable delivering the program to any level of executive or operational staff. In most cases, this is because they have backgrounds and/or personal experience in some hard physical industries as well as the revent academic and professional qualifications.

 

Associate Professor Aron Murphy

"A PhD who drives earth movers on the weekend"
Aron is currently a senior lecturer at UTS Sydney. He joined the School from the Sydney Academy of Sport where he worked with elite athletes across a number of sports including track and field, basketball, rugby union, triathletes and rowing. He received his PhD from Southern Cross University, in 1995 and was a recipient of the Promising Young Scientist Award from the Australian Sports Medicine Federation.

He has served as a consultant for several sporting organisations including the Sydney Swans. He has published extensively in a number of areas including muscle physiology, strength and power development, sprint techniques, running efficiency and training techniques for young athletes. He is a member of the International Society of Biomechanics, The Australian Strength and Conditioning Association, and the NSW Astronomical Society.

Currently Aron is managing a variety of occupational health projects as well as supervising post graduate research students.

David Bick B App Sci (Physio), Post Grad Dip (Sports Physio), Dip App Sci (Med. Rad.), APA Sports Physiotherapist.

"Physiotherapist to the sports stars"
An award-winning Sports Physiotherapist, David has committed his career to inspiring Australians from early development up to elite athlete level. He is a recognised specialist in tendonopathy, running clinics and lectures educating other physiotherapists from around the country. He is currently the personal physio of world soccer star Harry Kewell.

For seven years, David has traveled the world as Team Physiotherapist to our Australian Rugby Union Team - the Wallabies. And as a former Australian Under 21 representative himself, David's private clients read like a who's who of Australian Champions - George Gregan (Rugby), Ian Thorpe (Swimming), Matt Shirvington (Track and Field), Jamie Dwyer (Hockey), Alyson Annan (Hockey) and Melanie Roche (Softball) just to name a few.

Before the Wallabies, David travelled domestically and internationally for two years as Team Physiotherapist for NSW rugby team The Waratahs, twelve years with the Olympic men's and women's Track and Field, Softball, Gymnastics, and Hockey Teams, and another eight years as Team Physiotherapist at the NSW Institute of Sport for Softball, Gymnastics and Track and Field. In 2000 David caught the eye of royalty, being awarded the Australian Sports Medal for service to Sport by Her Majesty the Queen.

Today, JointAction is David's passion, using his knowledge, experience and wicked sense of humour to teach everyday Australians and their employers the secrets to looking after themselves in the workplace.

Michael Lawrance BAppSci (OccTherapy), MHlthSci (HlthProm), CPMSIA, MHFESA.

"Sheep shearer turned Occupational Therapist"
A background of having worked hands-on in heavy manual handling and high-risk industries, Michael is trained in occupational therapy, (physical and psychological training) with further research in workplace design and hazardous manual handling-related injury prevention.

Michael has worked in injury prevention and ergonomics in a range of industries, including mining, horse racing, shearing,, agriculture, manufacturing, transport, health and the meat industry.

Michael says having worked as a shearer for so many years in his earlier years has provided an expert grounding in manual handling workloads and injury prevention.

John Pryor MHSc

"Fitness trainer to the big boys of sport"
John is the manager of Fit3k & FootballFit. His company provides services to elite sporting organisations in Australia in the areas of fitness training, strength training, nutrition, biomechanics and injury management. Over the last few years, he has worked with the NSW Waratahs, the ACT Brumbies, the Brisbane Broncos, the Qantas Wallabies and Suntory Japan.

John completed a masters degree researching muscle mechanics and has international publications in sports medicine, biomechanics and strength training journals. He works extensively with all football codes as well as maintaining an ongoing role in occupational health.

Since turning the same analysis tools used in sport on the workforce, John feels there is a need for greater recognition of the physicality of many work environments.

What Informs Us?

Leading International Thinking and Practice

We look for and learn from leading thinking and proven practice in preventing musculoskeletal injury and disorder. A key influence on our work is the work lead by Stuart McGill, (University of Waterloo, Canada) who describes his and his teams work asFrom cell to society! going on to say:

“Our mission is to optimize health and performance and prevent injury and illness through an understanding of human movement. Our interdisciplinary approach embodies both biophysical and social sciences ....” University of Waterloo, Canada

We are also informed by leading research in occupational environments regarding musculoskeletal injuries and disorders. JointAction aims at whole of company education and change based the best thinking in what demonstratably does and doesn’t work, e.g.

“Training workers about proper material handling techniques or providing them with assistive devices are not effective interventions by themselves in preventing back pain.” Martimo KP, Verbeek J, Karppinen J, Furlan AD, Kuijer PPFM, Viikari-Juntura E, Takala EP, Jauhiainen  M. Manual material handling advice and assistive devices for preventing and treating back pain in workers. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 3.

So JointAction does not teach people how to lift or tell all the problems will go away if they get fitter. JointAction uses a whole of company approach to educate, stimulate, inform and support needed changes lead by the people in the organisation. We provide the kick start, the ongoing coaching and musculoskeletal expertise - you carry the ball and kick the goals!

Hard Physical Experience at Work

We know from hard experience of physical work in real industrial environments that we need to look and change way beyond individual attitudes to make improvements. Which is why we only work with a whole of company approach. We find it works and what’s more, management and workers enjoy making it work. And it pays off.

Respect the Knowledge of the People Who Do the Work

We apply careful, attentive listening and learning from the people with the best knowledge of the work, the problems and usually what will be needed to sustain real improvements, i.e. the people who do the work and the people who manage the work.

While knowing about something is valuable it is sometimes only hastily acquired and untested information reflecting nothing more than reading ability with good recall and regurgitation skills.

It Needs to be Fun and Profitable to Work

A key belief is that improvements and change are only sustainable if they are either fun or profitable or both. If you doubt this statement ask yourself why entertainment, alcohol and gambling are always the great survivors in hard times. We like to think JointAction can stimulate the changes needed while only having positive effects.