Injury Prevention

Medical Director Offers Back Injury Prevention Tips

Try these 10 tips, from Daniel Brustein, MD, medical director for University Hospitals CompCare, for addressing back injuries:

• Back pain complaints are not unusual; focus on preventing injuries and disabilities.
• Use pallets, platforms and adjustable shelves to bring work close to the worker.
• Consider using smaller packaging to limit weight of loads. Extremely large packaging can force workers to use material handling equipment.
• Position loads and parts bins within normal range of motion to reduce trunk-twisting.
• Use material handling equipment, i.e. lift assists, lift tables, good-gripping gloves and handles on boxes.
• Use conveyors, automatic carts or other equipment to reduce manual carrying.
• Use job rotation and light-duty programs to supplement improvements in job design.
• Worker training and physical fitness are important, but it is hard to train a worker to do a high-risk job safely; it is just as difficult (and, in some cases, legally problematic) to hire only people with strong, durable backs.
• There is much controversy about the use of back supports. If you use them, make sure they are part of a broader injury prevention program.
• Understand the existence of non-occupational risk factors, i.e. genetics, obesity, aging and smoking.