Back pain and injuries are among the most common causes of lost workdays and long-term disability. About 80 percent of adults suffer from back pain at some time in their lives, and hundreds of thousands of workers suffer disabling back injuries on the job every year.
When you think about it, it’s not surprising that there are so many back injuries. Just look at the back’s unique structure and role. The back is made up of a complicated network of muscles and bones that literally hold up the body and control much of a person’s daily movements.
So when the back’s abused, the consequences can be serious and sometimes incapacitating. One wrong move can be a very painful mistake, and long-term stresses and strains on the back can cause deterioration, chronic pain, and disability.
Safe Lifting
Perhaps the most important area to emphasize about back safety on the job is lifting. Improper lifting is believed to account for up to half of all job-related back injuries.
Training in the proper lifting technique can go a long way toward keeping workers healthy and on the job. Make sure your employees know these simple steps in safe lifting:
- Stand close to the load with both feet firm on the floor and spread at about shoulder width, with the toes pointing out.
- Squat down, close to the load, keeping your back straight, bending at the knees.
- Grip the load firmly with your hands, not just your fingers. Place your hands on diagonally opposite corners so that one hand pulls it toward you and one lifts.
- Bring the load as close as possible to your body. Keep your weight centered over your feet, arms and elbows tucked in to your sides, and chin tucked in to your neck.
- Then lift gradually and smoothly, letting your legs do the work. With the back still straight, lift head and shoulders first while the legs push the body up smoothly.
Whatever safety meeting you need, chances are you’ll find it prewritten and ready to use in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library on CD. Try it at no cost or risk. Here’s how.
Other Preventive Measures
Lifting isn’t the only cause of back injuries, of course. Most people put unnecessary strain on their backs in a variety of other ways. For example:
Excess weight—especially potbellies—puts constant strain on the back. That’s just one more reason to watch what and how much you eat.
Lack of exercise. Exercise strengthens back and abdominal muscles used in lifting and other related tasks. It also reduces stress and increases flexibility.
Poor posture—whether sitting, standing, or driving—is a major cause of back strain. When you slouch, the ligaments, rather than the muscles, are forced to do the work of supporting the body, which puts pressure on the vertebrae.
Bending and twisting are both killers on the back. Workers should try to limit bending and twisting motions—for example, by placing objects on tables or other elevated surfaces rather than on the floor so that they don’t have to bend and lift.
We challenge you to NOT find a safety meeting you need, already prewritten, in BLR’s Safety Meetings Library. Take up our challenge at no cost or risk. Get the details.
Training for Healthy Backs
BLR’s Safety Meetings Library provides the perfect materials for conducting frequent and engaging training on back safety so that you can teach your workers how to avoid back pain and injuries. This cost-effective resource provides safety meetings on general back safety, safe lifting, and material handling—all complete with supporting handouts, quizzes, posters, and safety slogans.
All told, the Safety Meetings Library CD provides you with more than 400 ready-to-train meetings on more than 100 key safety topics—a shrewd investment in this time of tight safety budgets. In addition to the meetings’ supplemental quizzes and handouts, you also get relevant regulations (OSHA’s CFR 29), a listing of the most common safety violations cited by OSHA, and case studies of actual OSHA cases and their outcomes.
Safety Meetings Library lets you choose from a variety of training approaches, including:
- Mandatory—Sessions that are OSHA-required
- Comprehensive—Sessions with broadest coverage of a topic
- 7-Minute—Short, simple, targeted sessions to fit tight schedules
- Initial—A session used as introductory training on a topic
- Refresher—Sessions that follow up on or reinforce previous training
- Tool Box Talk—More informal reinforcement of a topic
- PowerPoint®—Graphic presentations for comprehensive initial or refresher training
- Hands-on—A session in which there are training activities
- Spanish—Including Spanish language handouts and quizzes coordinated with English sessions
You can get a preview of the program by using the links below. But for the best look, we suggest a no-cost, no-obligation trial. Just let us know and we’ll arrange it for you.
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Back strains and injuries can happen anywhere, but a great many happen at work. Back strain represents one of the largest segments of employee injuries. Only the common cold accounts for more lost workdays.
OSHA’s bloodborne pathogen standard applies to all “reasonably anticipated” contact with blood (or other potentially infectious materials) that may result from the performance of an employee’s duties.
OSHA’s bloodborne pathogen standard applies to all “reasonably anticipated” contact with blood (or other potentially infectious materials) that may result from the performance of an employee’s duties.