'' Not as Pristine as You are led to Believe ''
PART 2
Written by Osteopathic Solutions Director Gareth Milner BSc. (Hons) Ost.
Best viewed on Desktop & Laptop computers.
The Good
Starting Part 2, we will be taking a look at what they are good at. I promise, in this The Good section, there will be no critique …. no Pristine and Davy Snowdon bashing.* As I am a positive** person in life, I will just be positive about what they are good at.
*But that prehistoric club has a lot of evidence to back it up, don’t you agree?
**This insightful and necessary Blog should have been written in 1997. Shame I was 16 then.
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‘Deep breath in … and deep breath out.’
That’s for me, not for you.
First up …
Business.
They are a Small Medium Enterprise; an SME that is good at business. 1, 2, 3 year contracts. They get them. You have to be ruthless to get these. As I used to be a Heal the World Osteopath, being ruthless in business doesn’t come easy to me. Maybe some of you may think I am ruthless writing this. I would say informative.
Building a Team.
In some of my favorite Business Books Oversubscribed and 24 Assets by Daniel Priestley, (pictured to the left with me talking about our Books) he talks about the key people you need in an SME. A Key Person of Influence at the helm. A Sales Team. An Operations Team. A Finance Team. A Service Team. Pristine Condition has this. More kudos. In 2023 we took the leap to build a Sales Team and a Finance Manager. We didn’t find the right fits for our Business. Business is hard. Life is hard. Pristine has developed an enviable Team. Well done to Davy Snowdon for that.
Catchphrases.
As I mentioned earlier you don’t need … ''Gareth!* What did you say earlier, you would be 100% positive in this The Good section?'' … ''Yeah, yeah. OK'’
*That was the little Davy Elf on my shoulder.
The best being ‘Don’t do your doughnut’. This is the use of a schema, which is defined as a representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model.
When we think of a doughnut, we think of a stronger, more dense covering. The soft rather fibrous dough. And then the gel-like core.*
*If it’s a jam doughtnut, and not a ring doughnut.
This catchphrase, accompanied with a basic explanation of how your disc gets damaged (especially with forward bending and twisting whilst lifting and lowering) and the resulting chronic back pain, will help to get the idea into peoples’ heads. Obviously this needs backing up with Optimal Lifting Practices. ''Gareth, that’s a bit of a dig.'' My reply to the Davy Elf on my shoulder ''Why do you say that?'' … The Davy Elf goes silent.
In our Bespoke DVD Videos we have ‘Don’t be a He-Man’ (shown to the left). People like this and find it funny. It’s meant to be my caricature as He-Man, Master of the (Manual Handling) Universe. Sounds like what Daaaa …..…. ''Gareeeeeth!'' …. ''OOOOOK. I won’t say that. But you knew what I was going to say.''
Marketing and Social Media
With a budget that allows for it, they produce regular videos; and do display their Training Executives out and about. But … ''Gareeeeeth'' …. ''No I am saying this Davy Elf on my shoulder! You never see photos of the Training Executives demonstrating Manual Handling Techniques. Why would that be?''
Pristine Condition has a small Team that has 100% focus on their internet presence. That is linked with years of decent levels of business that has been able to fund this.
That's The Good over. What 2 things did you mainly notice about it?
The Personal Trainers
A Personal Trainer is defined on Wikipedia as an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for healthy individuals and groups.
I started working out in the gym at 14 years old at the Dulwich College Fitness Centre. Over nearly 30 years, I have learnt all and more that Personal Trainers learn in their Diplomas, supported by a Bachelor of Science Degree in Osteopathy. Although never competing, I have lived the Bodybuilder lifestyle. The 5 days of heavy weights; screaming out the last rep. The relentless scheduling of what you eat and when. Spending your last £s on supplements and Whey Protein. Drinking 5 pints of skimmed milk every day.* Even throwing down egg whites. The obsessive standing on the scales every day. Lived and breathed it. Loved it.
*And all that cow milking.
In that (mildly) rebellious time at 17, the Personal Trainer Profession was calling me. I could have been the Joe Wicks … before Joe Wicks. In the coming years, my Business focus will likely move sideways onto Personal Training with a focus on NOT injuring yourself. Maintaining gym and physical fitness (and capability) longevity. So that we can train into our 80s. Wouldn’t that be cool.
Personal Trainers know how to get people fit. They know how to get people strong. They know how to motivate people. They (generally) know nothing about biomechanics and how exercises create strain to the musculoskeletal system. You would think they would, right? They don’t. I present the evidence. We will be looking at 3 lifting exercises that Personal Trainers advocate, publicly recommend and support.
The DeadLift … in my Blog Post ''Deadlifting, A Best Practice or Hazardous Lifting Exercise'' the conclusion was AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE !!!
Of course, us mere mortals are not going to lift weights anywhere near what Eddie Hall (pictured below) used to shift. 500kg in his case. But 150kg will be commonly lifted in the gym for 8 reps. At 5 foot 9 and 13.5 stone at 17 years old, I used to bash out 3 sets of 8 reps with 120kg, with the 7th rep seemingly failure. One more rep following.
No matter what any Personal Trainer, and even Olympic Level Trainer says, The Deadlift will irreparably damage your spinal discs, especially the L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs, even with good form. Disc herniations* are most common between the ages of 35-45. You may get big and strong lower back muscles and glutes, however you are asking for a disc herniation or even worse a prolapse.
*In Layman's terms, a slipped disc.
What happens when a Disc Prolapses?
Firstly let’s take a brief look at a Spinal Disc’s structure and function. The spinal discs are made of cartilage and are sandwiched between each pair of vertebrae. They are shock absorbers and give the spine flexibility. The thickest disc is between the 5th lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum (L5/S1 disc). This disc is the most commonly injured, followed by the L4/L5 disc and the C5/C6, C6/C7 discs i.e. the lower back and the lower neck. Each disc is composed of an annulus fibrosis and a nucleus pulposus (shown in the image gallery to the left).
Disc injuries are most common between the ages of 35 to 45 when the discs are full of the gel-like nucleus. A common medical term for a disc injury is a ‘slipped disc’. However its name is very misleading as the disc is not displaced in any way.
The outer one third of the annulus fibrosis receives pain sensitive nerve endings and will detect damage. In a Disc Herniation, the outer rear layers of the annulus weaken and the gel-like nucleus protrudes to the rear.
Affecting the L5/S1 disc, this would cause daily symptoms of aching in the lower back and buttocks. Pain will continue down one or both legs to the foot, perceived as an ache or burning, with pins and needles and numbness in the foot.
In a Disc Prolapse, the annulus tears and the gel-like substance extrudes posteriorly compressing the spinal cord and spinal nerves. Pain is severe and sharp in all ranges of movement (especially forward bending) with accompanying back muscle spasm. Affecting the L5/S1 disc, pain will shoot down one or both legs which is called ‘Sciatica’. The MRI Scan (shown to the left) details a prolapse in the patient at their L5/S1 level.
From experience, clinically treating these injuries, and from personal experience suffering a neck (C5/C6) disc herniation, you don’t want one. The levels of pain, every second of every day, with the compression of your spinal cord. You will be miserable. Just look at Tiger Woods on the golf course these days. Miserable. And that’s not because of his golf. Every movement hurts him. This is what it is like with a disc herniation and prolapse. No surgery and rehabilitation programme will return the disc to what it was before. You will live with chronic pain every day. You will cherish sleep. You will cherish the bottle of spirits. Sleep and spirits … those pain numbers. Deadlifts will cause this. Fact. Gym exercises do NOT transfer to industry.
The Clean & Jerk
Before we briefly look at The Clean & Jerk, watch this Video.
The initial part is basically the Deadlift. I won’t go through each part. You can see it below. Being blunt, if you want to hobble around during your 50s and older (with chronic neck, shoulder, lower back and knee osteoarthritis) go smash the Clean & Jerk like this guy.
No shock absorbing cartilage lining joints anymore. Bone on bone. Gym exercises do NOT transfer to industry.
We will return to The Clean & Jerk later when you will hear how Pristine Condition’s Training Executives apply The Clean & Jerk principles to real factory floor tasks during their Courses … Yes, you did just read that.
Good Mornings
I saw this exercise recently in the Gym (variations shown below). With my ‘Heal the World’ Osteopath hat on, I felt compelled to help the person prevent an early retirement from the gym. Politely approaching them, simple education was given in simple biomechanics and why this exercise will ruin their spine. Bottom to top. The ‘buy-in’ was there. Through the credibility of being an Osteopath and the simple approach to the facts, this young guy understood. This is a classic example that Personal Trainers do NOT get taught Biomechanics, Orthopaedics, Physiology and Anatomy to the level they should do.
They are prescribing exercises that will hurt people. The standard Good Morning is the standing one (far left above). And astonishingly, there is a seated version, a hack squat machine version (shown 2nd from the right above) and worst of all a sitting on the ground version (far right image above).
If you practice this exercise, you will soon never experience a Good Morning. You will wake up with shooting pain down the leg, reaching immediately for the narcotic pain killers, maybe even alcohol spirits before 9am.
Gym exercises do NOT transfer to industry. They never have. They never will.
John Lear
John Lear (1935–2020) was the British National Coach for an unprecedented* 40 years, coaching at multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
Clearly like Davy Snowdon, in his life John Lear gave great service to the British Weightlifting scene. John reminds me of Joe Weider, the God Father of Bodybuilding (2nd image in left gallery).
For John Lear’s achievements in his career and the esteem he was clearly held with, there is deep respect from me.
*That was a Googled paragraph on John Lear. There’s that word again … unprecedented. Maybe that’s where Pristine Condition got that word from?
However ...
Fact 1. John Lear was a qualified PE Teacher. A Physical Education Teacher. You remember, the ones at school who would manage the Rounders game and Unihockey, that plastic stick hockey game.
Fact 2. He was not a Physical Therapist.
Fact 3. He was clearly a personal Friend of Davy Snowdon.
And with this, I pose the question for you … Is John Lear’s validation of Pristine Condition worth the lifting chalk on those Olympic Lifters’ hands?
Here’s some of the most important snippets from John Lear’s Davy Snowdon ‘validation’ paragraph …
‘John Lear, first met Pristine's Founder and CEO David Snowdon MBE since the early 1980s.’
‘Mr Snowdon MBE was a Physical Educationalist’
'He rapidly advanced through the Coaching Awards of the British Weightlifting Association (BWLA) to become a Staff Coach - the highest grade of competency in coaching within the sport of weightlifting, strength and power training.
‘ At the Olympic games in Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, he was selected as the Expert Strength, Conditioning and Power Coach, advising all 32 of Team GB’s Olympic sports teams.’
‘Himself, a former World Record holder entered into the Guinness Book of Records, Davy also proved to be an inspirational coach in the sport of Weightlifting and, in 1992, he was appointed National Coach to Great Britain's Women's Weightlifting team.’
‘His wide knowledge of applied anatomy, kinetics and exercise physiology has enabled him, in conjunction with his own ability as a Weightlifter, to apply these principles to all branches of activity in sport, general fitness and in the essential areas of Health and Safety in Industry.
This knowledge and its application has been the foundation for the development of a hugely successful worldwide business* and I would have no hesitation in personally recommending him and his company’s services.’
*Amazon, Virgin, Tesla. All hugely successful worldwide businesses. Where does Pristine Condition fit into that category?
Even John’s making that Bullshit Meter go high.
Davy Snowdon MBE
When someone says CEO and Founder, and then repeatedly adds on MBE, when they own a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) i.e. not Virgin like Richard Branson; what comes into your head about that SME owner?
Davy Snowdon, as John Lear said is a PE Teacher. The letters you see after his name don’t show BSc … do they*?
*BSc. … the letters of a Degree in a Science subject.
John Lear states Davy Snowdon is ‘an expert lecturer and teacher in all of the core subjects.’ All the Lecturers I have ever met had a Degree in their chosen field. Authorities in subjects that involve Science, have Degrees. They have studied between 3 -5 years at Undergraduate level in one subject. Davy has MBE after his name, in case you didn’t know. So does Alan Titchmarsh.
As stated on Pristine Condition's website .... ‘Davy has spent most of his life training and studying the human body and the art of weightlifting.' If he had studied the Human Body to the level he deludes himself with, and tricks many with, he would have BSc. after his name.
‘Davy was awarded an MBE by HRH Queen Elizabeth II for the significant reduction in accidents throughout industry and improving the health and wellbeing of our nation.’ Is Davy the Minister of Health & Wellbeing at Downing Street? Maybe that could be his next post.
I have BSc. (Hons) Osteopathy after my name. But I don’t state it all the time. It would 1. Get boring 2. Look pretentious.
People, and of course Davy will say ‘Well, you’re just jealous your achievements haven’t had validation from the Queen’ and my reply ‘I wouldn’t want validation from a Family of Thieves*, I would prefer Degree Qualification letters. That’s achievement. That’s validation.’
*You may like of loathe Royalty, however this is fact. Royalty by taking Tax Payers’ money over 100s and 100s of years. That’s no validation.
In this section you have seen SOME of the horrors what Personal Trainers advocate.
Davy Snowdon is a PE Teacher. Sure, he is good in Business. Sure, he used to lift heavy. Kudos for that. With what you have seen so far, and what’s coming with additions to The Ugliest, The Ugly and The Bad … he is a Manual Handling and Anatomical wannabe*.
*If you can take your eyes off of the Spice Girls and where Davy is coupling with Posh (with that negligent pushing practice that started Part 1), take a look at that Squat Lift he is performing below right.
‘Stay in Your Lane’
In Author Carmine Gallo’s International Bestseller TALK LIKE TED in the final Chapter ‘Stay in Your Lane’ Carmine believes that when presenting to an audience (as well as generally in business), we should be authentic, open and transparent.
Carmine says .... ''Most people can spot a phony. If you try to be something or someone you're not, you'll fail to gain the trust of your audience.''
In the Book Oprah Winfrey is quoted ... ''People should identify what lane they should be in, and to stay in their lane.''
Richard Branson** was interviewed by Carmine, and quoted from the Book ... ''Branson, doesn't put on an act. He's real. The same person on and off camera.''
Wrapping up the Stay in Your Lane Chapter from TALK LIKE TED, Carmine writes ... ''Be true to your authentic self - the best representation of yourself that you can possibly be.''
If Carmine Gallo was speaking to Davy Snowdon, he would likely say ''Stay in your Weightlifting Lane. Don't try to be something ... you are not.''
*TALK LIKE TED .... The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds. In his book, Carmine Gallo has broken down hundreds of TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters, as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology, communication, and neuroscience to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. Gallo’s step-by-step method makes it possible for anyone to deliver a presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.
**Richard Branson appears 3 times in my Book Sorry! We're Closed. From it you can listen to Essay 3 - Do a Branson! here. LinkedIn connect with me sending me 'Gareth, can I have the AudioBook free?!' and I will reply 'Yes of course. Here's the link ...'
The American Cowboys.
The historic American Cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of special significance and legend.
The slang definition of a Cowboy is …
One having qualities (such as recklessness, aggressiveness, or independence) popularly associated with cowboys, such as:
A: a reckless driver
B: a business or businessperson operating in an uncontrolled or unregulated manner
What with the Pristine Condition Racing Team, I do hope Davy Snowdon isn’t a reckless driver.
Jokes aside, myself and our Team of Physical Therapists at Osteopathic Solutions have long believed Davy Snowdon should ‘Stay in his Lane’. Go have an International Gym Empire Davy. Or with the void left by Joe Weider’s passing, the God Father of Bodybuilding Training, this would be in your lane. Go train the next Arnie, like Joe did.
Recently I was shocked that a Group Health & Safety Director described Davy Snowdon as a ''Cowboy''. If I had a Group Health & Safety Director say that of me … well, I would think long and hard about my expertise; and see what huge knowledge gaps there were. I would strongly think about calling it time in my Business. A ‘Cowboy’. That’s shocking. And that’s not the fact that that was said.
The Evidence of Pristine Condition’s Lies, Fabrications and Low Service Value … What their Website & Social Media say
We have conducted a complete analysis of all what Pristine Condition display on their website. Therefore, our analysis is 100% concrete and credible. It is almost a Root Cause Analysis of why they fail every Company and every employee that ever gets taught their novice grasp on Manual Handling techniques.
First up their TRACA ‘Tool’ ….. ‘Harness the power of TRACA's® robust reporting tools.’
Here their Marketing Team are having a field day. Like with all what Pristine supply, this tool is dressed up like it is some alien standard tool that can cure all your MSD woes. I had heard about it for a number of years, and then saw it at a Council in 2020 when I came out of my office and ran our Physical Therapist led 3 Day Manual Handling Instructor Assessor Programme. Opening up the TRACA booklet with a screwed up face impending, I said to myself …. ‘Is this it? Where is the value in that?’ Since 2020, I hope they have upgraded it. Or better redone it completely.
The Scientific Evidence … or lack of it
Following some of Osteopathic Solutions recent LinkedIn and Twitter posts, raising the awareness of what Optimal Manual Handling Techniques really are amongst Britain’s Health & Safety Professionals, the below was a reply from the Pristine PR Machine.
‘Unprecedented’ (out of Davy's Friend John Lear’s textbook of stock words). ‘Globally’ (gotta love this Corporate spin). But most importantly ‘Scientifically proven principles.’
Where are their Scientific Trials … Research Papers … Theses (the plural of Thesis)?
Where are the Pristine Condition, Davy Snowdon written PubMed papers? Sorry to raise your expectations that they might exist … but they don’t.
There is very little research on Manual Handling Techniques. We have not done any research papers on the subject. I am not a Professor. And nor is Davy Snowdon MBE.
But what there is to date, is ‘World Leading’ research into Human Biomechanics. A subject that has hugely advanced since Davy’s Home Office (random?) PE Course. There are no Scientific Papers like ‘Negligent Biomechanics of Manual Handling Technique – Why is its Teaching allowed?’
The use of ‘our’ in ‘scientifically proven principles' suggests they have done a Research Paper. This would be a good question for their Head Office PR, Sales and Marketing Team …. As you are World Leaders in this subject, and have your own Scientifically proven principles, can you email us over your Research Paper?
You’ll be waiting a long time for that email to pop up.
Honest marketing. The Pristine Condition Marketing Manager Darren Beer, certainly missed that part of his Business Management with Marketing Degree at the Buckingham Chilterns University.
The Physical Therapy Analogy
Can you guarantee results?
Is a positive effect a sure-thing?
As of writing this, I am Clinically treating (for no fee) a Maltese Man in his 70s called Tony, applying what I learnt at The European School of Osteopathy.
Tony recently fell over landing directly on his shoulder. The Surgeon offered ... well what Surgeons do. Slice and dice. His injury is an Adhesive capsulitis. In Lamens ... a Frozen Shoulder.
But can I guarantee Tony results? Can I guarantee that I will help make his shoulder better?
Of course, I am confident in my abilities to help restore normal motion in his shoulder and remove the majority of pain. Yes. But it’s a Professional case of saying to Tony ‘You are going to need 3-4 months of weekly Treatments and with this … we will see where you are at.’ I have NOT guaranteed him he will have the same shoulder before the accident.
So we return to my questions … Can you guarantee results? Is a positive effect a sure-thing? If any Company guarantees results, is this just a dishonest marketing ploy?
Unprecedented Results
Let’s define unprecedented …. ‘Never having happened or existed in the past’.
Us Apes* started roaming this planet around 2.3 million years ago in South Africa. Us humans roaming around now seem to think we know ALL the past.
*Emma Farrell's illustration to the right from Sorry! We're Closed.
There are some people who believe Humans have already lived on Mars. So, if NASA came along and said in a few years ‘Our unprecedented mission has landed humans on Mars!’ …
Could they really justify this?
Could they say this has ‘never happened or existed in the past?
Of course, NASA has credibility. They are space Experts. But can they use unprecedented?
Look, I know I am being facetious, especially with the Mars thing; and as we return to all things fake marketing with Pristine Condition I can see Professor Davy Snowdon MBE, now changed from his PE Uniform into his Lab Coat*.
As Professor Davy runs his Scientific Research at Henley-on-Thames, on some seriously steroid bulked-up rats, teaching them how to push a ball**. After months of pain staking research, Davy concludes that his ‘Best of the Best’ Programme has reduced rat neck injuries by over 50%. After publishing his research, Davy goes to collect his Award from the Guinness Book of Records. But, a heckler is heard in the crowd. He can be heard saying '' I hear your research isn’t worth the paper it is written on. I hear the 100 rats in the trial were all fed different food. Some had collars on, some didn’t. 50 of the rats came from Spain. 50 of the rats came from Russia. And to top it all off, the ball they were pushing was smaller and lightner tha the previous research. Codswallop.''
The crowd go hush. The Award Ceremony Announcer pulls the award from Davy’s hand … but it doesn’t come back easily.
*I know. I must be on LSD.
**Hopefully not with the CORRECT practice we saw at the start of this Blog.
I think it’s time to bring in (again with Pristine Condition), The Advertising Standards Authority.
The Advertising Standards Authority
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) www.asa.org.uk is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. The ASA applies the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. You can Learn More here.
You can find recent Rulings on the ASA website here & make a complaint here.
Pristine Condition has zero or even anti-matter Scientific evidence to say … ‘Our field-based team are all ex-military and are often described as ‘the best of the best*’
Who described them as ‘the best of the best'? We see no names. Even if they did say that, what Expertise are they drawing from? Or more like lack of Expertise.
Before the next part of the ASA case, have a bit of film nostalgia on me.
* ‘The best of the best’ … more nauseating self aggrandising**. If you need to pop out to your local pharmacy for some anti-emetics***, please do.
**Promoting oneself as being powerful or important.
***Anti-puke medication.
‘Our methodologies are scientifically proven to deliver outstanding results!’
Where’s the Research Paper? … nowhere to be seen, as it doesn’t exist. Lies upon lies, and then some more to top it off. ‘Groundbreaking’. Everything Pristine Condition seem to do … has never been done before.
No Research Paper there to view. No mention of Biomechanics experts. They even spell Biomechanics as ‘Bio Mechanics’. Notice the gap between the words. That gap represents the gap in their knowledge.
Clearly, none of the Group Health & Safety Managers validating their Programmes have any knowledge or Expertise in Human Biomechanics and/ or Manual Handling. It’s as simple as that.
‘BENCHMARKED MESSAGES’ is defined as ‘evaluate (something) by comparison with a standard.‘
I pose the valid question … What standard are they comparing to, with reference to their use of ‘Benchmarked’? What is THAT standard?
Pristine Condition's 50% and 100% comment (shown above) gave me a headache, literally. I have an A-Level in Maths. But it still gave me a headache. The 50% reduction guaranteed. And then the 100% reduction achieved. Percentages can be very misleading data. Very misleading. So misleading that articles like this exist.
www.singlegrain.com/blog/a/misleading-statistics-in-advertising
‘WORLD CLASS MEDIA PRODUCTIONS’
There are supposedly 195 countries in the World. Therefore, has Pristine Condition ‘benchmarked’ against the USA’s provision. Maybe they have. Can’t see any evidence of it though, can you? Have they ‘benchmarked’ against China’s offering? 也看不到任何证据 …. Chinese looks a fun language. That means can't see any evidence of that either. Allow me one more. Have they ‘benchmarked’ against Tuvalu’s offering? Can’t see any evidence of that either. But as Tuvalu is within the British Commonwealth, Pristine Condition’s Ex-Military Training Executives will have likely parachute landed from their Chinooks, onto the South Pacific islands. Maybe they fed back intelligence via the dark web to the Pristine Condition headquarters?
‘SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS’ … with what you saw in The Ugliest, The Ugly and The Bad … do I need to say anymore?
‘Award winning’ … it had to get in at some point. It just had to. No deceptive Company (like Pristine Condition) will miss that one. What Award is this? The internal Pristine Condition ‘Best of the Best’ Award. That likely exists.
Are Pristine Condition worthy of an ASA complaint? We think so. With what you have read in this Blog, and just seen, we would expect you think so too.
Here’s the Complaint Letter we sent to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Of course, many will see through this fabricating marketing. However, many won’t.
Like this post has been 27 years in coming, another letter to the Advertising Standards Authority about Pristine Condition and Davy Snowdons’ lies and fabrications …. is well overdue.
For you Scientists amongst the audience to insure a fair test, a good experiment has only ONE independent variable. The independent variable is the one that is changed by the scientist. As the scientist changes the independent variable, he or she records the data that they collect.
So, in Scientific Research there can only be one variable. In Manual Handling and reduction of Musculoskeletal Disorders take a pause from reading this for 3-4 minutes, and in this time ask yourself what variables could be going on when a Manual Handling Training Company comes in. What variables? I brainstormed the following:
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Increase in Employee numbers, more sharing of tasks. Maybe before the Employee number increase Employees were over overworked.
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With an increase or change of employees, these new Recruits could have been previously trained in Manual Handling from Physical Therapists, maybe even us at Osteopathic Solutions, and now perform Optimal Handling Techniques more often at work and at home.
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The new Employees could be under 25 years old. Fully able to absorb the physical rigors of the roles and NOT suffer MSDs.
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Factors such as Employees suffering MSDs are taking the strongest prescription painkillers such as Naproxen, Codeine, Tramadol etc.
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There could be local NHS initiatives on promoting Back Health.
6. There could be paralleled in=house Occupational Health initiatives to promote Health and Wellbeing.
7. Back Supports may have been provided.
8. There could have been a case of an Employee putting in a fake MSD Injury at Work Claim; with subsequent failure in their case as they were assessed by an Osteopath supported with a Medico-Legal Report. This could put off the people who like to lie and deceive, stopping them think about putting in a fake Injury Claim.
9. There may have been an investment with equipment, for example Electric Pallet Movers for those that were pushing and pulling heavy palletised loads.
10. Some of the Employees who were frequently off work with MSDs, perhaps they left.
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is a psychological term for the human tendency to only seek out information that supports one position or idea. This causes you to have a bias towards your original position because if you only seek out information that supports one idea, you will only find information that supports that idea. This is in opposition to doing more comprehensive research that would expose you to opposing ideas.
For after you have read Part 2, check out more on Confirmation Bias here. These sort of Articles and Blogs on this subject can really help you in many facets of your life, especially with important decisions.
If this is the first time you have come across this Psychological concept, can you think of any times in recent times when you have had Confirmation Bias?
If you and the Business that employs you, use Pristine Condition, are you practising Confirmation Bias? Having been manipulated by their marketing and persuasion skills, that they are the ONLY reason you have reductions in MSDs?
The Truth Campaign Analogy
In 1998 in America, there was The Truth Campaign tobacco revolution. An advertisement was run with a bunch of teenagers who dumped body bags outside a major Tobacco firm, exclaiming with megaphones that 1800 people every day were dying from tobacco related diseases.
At the same time a second anti-smoking campaign … ‘Think. Don’t smoke’ … was launched.
After 2 years of the campaigns, smoking among high school students dropped by 18% and among middle school students by 40%.
Practising Confirmation Bias, it would be easy to pin the results on the anti-smoking TV ads, wouldn’t it?
At same time there was a rise in cigarette taxes. About half of this decline in student smoking may have been associated with a rise in cigarette taxes during the time of the study.
Take the post Pristine Condition programme figures with a pinch of salt* ... if you take Davy Snowdon’s (and his PR and Marketing Machine’s) words** at face value, you're not questioning their apparent worth.
*To take a statement with 'a pinch of salt' means to accept it while maintaining a degree of scepticism about its truth.
**Being mindful the reductions have been achieved with negligent Manual Handling Techniques. How come?
Through my UK travels over the last 18 years with the ‘dog and bone*’ I have encountered many Health & Safety Professionals who display the classic Pristine Condition brainwashing. It could even be a Clinical Psychological Disease … this classification might fit … Pristinus Neurologic Disorder or PND.
*Phone … good old Cockney rhyming slang
If you feel you are suffering, or have suffered from this quite widespread condition. Don’t fear. There is an antidote. This Blog; all Parts 1-5 of it. This will save you from PND, to a brighter future.
If you have dumped your Confirmation Bias about Pristine Condition. Well frigging done. You will be better off without PND, and the people around you at your Business will be too.
In 2015 I spoke to the Engineering Company Laing O’Rourke’s Wellbeing Leader Silvana Martin. She said …
‘Pristine’s programme, it didn’t work for us!’
The Pristine Programme* … it doesn’t work for everybody.
Maybe their 50% guarantee, should be changed to … ‘50% guaranteed NOT to work for you’.
Maybe that’s marketing misleading in itself.
*Full of negligent Manual Handling techniques.
Part 3 ... The Ugliest Part
In Part 3 we take a look at Pristine Condition’s new AI App ‘Anatomical Intelligence’ & supported by the credibility of Parts 1 & 2 of ‘NOT as Pristine as You are Led to Believe’ ... why we have coined their new App as ‘Anatomical Incompetence’.
We remind all UK Health & Safety Professionals of The Ugliest, The Ugly & The Bad of Pristine Condition’s biomechanically negligent, self-coined ‘scientifically proven’ Manual Handling techniques.
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