Union Approach to Health and Safety: - United Steelworkers

To create a body map, you need the following materials:
Flip chart paper,
Flip chart markers,
Pages of colored “sticky dots” in seven different colors,
Tape,
Color code for body mapping of injuries/illnesses (this could be a flip chart page, a
handout, or both – see attached example at end of handout).
Tell participants that a body map is a picture that identifies the various injuries, illnesses
and stresses workers have experienced from the work they do or have done in the past.
Body mapping is a tool that can be used by unions and workers to identify trends in
injury/illness experience and develop priorities for hazard correction.
Divide participants into small groups of four to six people. Once participants have been
assigned to small groups, have each small group gather around a table or a section of a
table.
Distribute the following to each small group:
A flip chart page,
A flip chart marker,
A set of “sticky dots” in 7 different colors, and
Activity Handout: Color Code for Body Mapping.
Ask each group to identify an artist in the group. Remind groups that every group always
has an artist! That person will draw a large outline of a body on the flip chart page with
the magic marker. Artists should feel free to draw a “front” and a “back” if they choose.
Read aloud the “color code for body mapping,” the color-code for their job injuries and
illnesses.
Ask each participant to recall his or her own particular work-related injuries, illnesses
and stresses from the past and present. Explain that each participant will put the
appropriate color dots on the map on the body parts affected. Remind participants that the
body map must reflect their own job-related injuries, illnesses and exposures, not those of
co-workers or others in their workplaces.
For example, a participant who inhaled a chemical that made him/her ill might put a dark
green dot near the nose, where the chemical was inhaled; or, s/he might put the dark
green dot in the lung area if his/her lungs were affected by breathing in the chemical. For
occupational stress, some participants might put a yellow dot on the body’s head; others
might put it in the neck/shoulder area if that is where they experience tension; still others
might put it in the stomach area to show stomachaches.
Give small groups about 10 minutes to do their body maps.