When back pain strikes, most people blame their work.
According to low back pain expert Professor S H Snook PhD CPE, who teaches at Harvard University, there is still much uncertainty surrounding the issue. On the one hand, the Institute of Medicine say there is a clear relationship between occupation and low back pain and on the other a Swedish orthopaedic surgeon who has conducted a lot of work in this area (A L Nachemson) concluded there is a relationship between the two, but it is only a weak relationship. |
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Is back pain inevitable? |
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There is just as little agreement on the causes of lower back pain. Age and Genetics are often cited as significant factors and begs the question whether heavy lifting, pulling or pushing really triggers low back pain or just exacerbates an underlying problem. |
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Whilst it is difficult to prevent low back pain - because ageing and genetics can't be controlled, the design of the job, behaviours and disability can be managed. Refocusing our approach to Ergonomics and using it as a management tool, to work with back pain rather than trying to prevent it seen by Snook as the way forward. |
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"It comes down to an old Ergonomics principle, designing jobs for the worker. We have the knowledge that the workforce is aging and that back pain accompanies an aging body, yet we continue to design jobs for young strong people. The job doesn't change throughout the years but the person does." The complexity of the spinal structure and the potential for significant ‘life changing’ injury often results in individuals transferring stresses and strains to other parts of the body (usually the upper limbs). Poor ergonomics of workstations, tools, equipment and postures will add to the overall effect. Combine this with greater sedentary lifestyles; lower levels of physical fitness and poor diets make healthy back prospects look bleak. |
Don’t take it lying down! |
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Some simple pointers to get you started to address the problem: |
- First of all do you have a problem? Don’t base your opinion on your experiences alone. Observe tasks and activities with ‘open eyes’ e.g. using video recording allows you to step back and see what is really going on.
- Use statistics and symptoms/wellness surveys to help you identify where problems might exist.
- Try to quantify the problem. There are a number of recognised tools available that provide some level of ‘scientific rigour’ to judging associated risks.
- If you do the above well the solutions should be easy to identify, some with minimal costs (e.g. job rotation; breaks; posture correction; kinetic techniques; culture of physical fitness), whilst bigger changes and expenses can be planned.
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