Let’s talk about back pain and injury. You don’t want it. With good practices, you can avoid back injuries. Lift with your knees; not your back. That’s a good start, but there’s more.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), back disorders are one of the leading causes of disability for people in their working years and afflict over 600,000 employees each year. Back injuries can occur traumatically or develop over time and can originate at work or at home, affecting both. They can be avoided or minimized by good work practices.
There are many poor practices that can contribute to back disorders. Reaching, twisting, or bending while lifting, bad body mechanics when lifting, pulling, pushing or carrying objects, poor posture (sitting and standing), and repetitive lifting of awkward items or equipment are common contributors. Poor footing, such as slippery floors, can lead to forceful movement or jerking of muscles. Vibration, from weed eaters, chainsaws, and similar equipment can stress the back. Heavy lifting, particularly when fatigued or dehydrated, is another common cause.
The office can be similarly risky. Poor design of work stations or bad workflow in general (all that twisting and jerking to reach the printer or running to the copier) can eat away at back strength. Maintaining bent posture is bad form for many of us and even how we hold our mouse or operate our keyboard can prove beneficial. Stressful living and work environments doesn’t help and neither does poor physical condition.
Reducing back injury risk seems to be a collective of good work practices, good posture, stretching and exercise, and staying hydrated. A little nagging goes a long way too – coworkers should look out for each other and offer reminders when we are going at it the wrong way.
The spinal column normally consists of 24 movable bones or vertebrae (there are 33 in all, but the lower nine are fused in adults), called vertebrae. The vertebral bones are stacked and articulate, separated from each other by intervertebral discs, a cushioning substance located between adjacent bones. They are certainly strong, but they rely on the muscles and ligaments around them for support. You might think of them as reinforced concrete – they can take a fair amount of compressive force, but they need support and don’t bend well without it. That is probably a terrible analogy. Suffice to say, there’s a lot going on in there and you need to take care of it or it will strike back at you.
As with many risk reduction strategies, the best tactics involve eliminating the risk from the start. If the things we are lifting can be kept in your safe zone, where you can move them while standing straight, you are part way there. Move the items directly off a truck bed onto a table or rolling cart and then from the cart to the next place instead of putting them on the floor and then picking them back up. Even then, test the weight of the item before you commit and don’t be afraid of asking for help if it’s heavy, large, or unwieldy.
Think of a safe zone as keeping the load as close to your spine as you can and shoulder to waist high. There is a concept in structural analysis called moment – it is a function of weight or force and the distance it is from a point – the moment at that point is force times the distance and you can think of it as a force multiplier, but not in a good way. You want to minimize the moment by lessening the weight or the moment arm, or both. Tighten your diaphragm muscles and breathe normally as you lift things. Better yet, if there are lifting aids available (forklift, hoist, a co-worker), let them help you.
Twisting and sudden movements while lifting are poor practices as well. Take a moment before you make the move and plan your route. How many times have you picked something up, only to see the destination is cluttered and then you stand there awkwardly holding the object while you move stuff around? Move things out of the way so you don’t have to move around them, make sure you have a place to set the item once lifted, and lift in slow, smooth movements.
Even lighter tasks can be a problem if they are repetitive. If you have to move many items, be conscious of the strain of that repetition and work in some breaks. Think of shoveling mulch onto a trailer. The mulch isn’t very heavy, at least in comparison to stone or clay. But, the repetitive bending, lifting, and twisting motion will take its toll. Obviously, employ a machine if you can, but if you can’t don’t take on the whole trailer in one shot without a break or two and some water along the way (more on that in a moment).
Carrying things long distances? First, see if there is a hand cart or rolling cart you can use. Then, don’t load the cart up so much you have to strain to move it, particularly if you are moving over uneven terrain.
Regular stretching and exercises to strengthen your core keep your back in better form to handle the strain. You can exercise your core even when you are driving or sitting at your desk, by tightening your diaphragm (that thing you do when you are sucking it in to secure your skinny jeans) for ten seconds at a time while breathing normally – do three sets of ten a few times a day to get rid of the guilt over that Danish you had at breakfast and you kill two birds with one stone.
Watch your posture. Whether you are lifting items or moving them around or just sitting at your work station, culture yourself to be conscious of your posture. Remember how they harped on us as kids to stop slouching? Turns out they were right.
Stay hydrated. Particularly when it’s warmer, it is easy to get hydrated. They say that bodies are comprised of approximately 70% water and who are we to argue? Water keeps us fluid and minimizes stiffness. We have read that drinking plenty of water maintains the height of intervertebral disks, which allows them to act like shock absorbers or springs. So, drink water regularly throughout the day. And we’re talking water – the 24 ounce coffee or Big Gulp soda pop doesn’t really count. Caffeine is a mild diuretic and while it may not cause dehydration, it doesn’t ward it off very well, either. Look, if your doctor says it’s alright, drink your coffee or your soda, but get some water in you on a regular basis throughout your strenuous activities.
Rest is important to your back health as well. Good sleep is important to ward off fatigue, but you also have to take periodic breaks so you don’t get worn out; and, know when it’s enough for one day. Mixing less strenuous work into the day and stretching the heavy lift over multiple days, particularly when it is hot, is a good practice if you can swing it. When you are in an office environment, make a point to interrupt long periods of sitting or standing in one place. And yes, if you are trapped in a Delaware T2/LTAP training course and the instructor hasn’t taken a break in a good, long while (Matt!), quietly get up and move to the back of the room for a stretch – maybe the instructor will get the message and you’ll help out your colleagues a bit.
Supervisors and managers should observe work habits of their crews periodically and look for poor practices. A periodic tailgate safety talk employing some of these concepts can reinforce better approaches and keep everyone healthy.
The Delaware T2/LTAP Center’s Municipal Engineering Circuit Rider is intended to provide technical assistance and training to local agencies and so if you have safe work practice questions or other transportation issues, contact Matt Carter at matheu@udel.edu or (302) 831-7236.
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