Do You Know :
Back Injury Prevention
Note: This article is one in an ongoing series of articles available to advise customers and organizational members on important, but generally unknown or misunderstood, business coverage risks or coverage nuances. This article is one in an ongoing series being published over the course of the year, compliments of Sentry Insurance.
Back injuries are a principal source of workers’ compensation claims. While a back injury may seem to be caused by a single well-defined accident, the real cause is often the combined interaction of several work and non-work related risk factors.
Work-related factors include:
• Reaching while lifting
• Poor posture
• Stressful working activities
• Bad body mechanics
• Repetitive lifting of awkward items and equipment
• Twisting or bending while lifting
• Heavy lifting
• Fatigue
• Poor footing such as slippery floors or constrained posture
Non work-related factors include:
• Congenital defects of the spine
• An aging work force
• Decreases in physical conditioning and exercise
• Job dissatisfaction To help avoid back injuries, consider implementing engineering and administrative controls.
Engineering controls focus on redesigning tools, workstations or jobs to reduce the frequency and severity of possible injuries. These controls include:
a. Material handling tasks should be designed to minimize the weight, range of motion, and frequency of the activity.
b. Work methods and stations should be designed to minimize the distance between the person and the object being handled.
c. Platforms and conveyors should be built at about waist height to minimize awkward postures. Conveyors or carts should be used for horizontal motion whenever possible.
d. Material handling equipment should be easy to move, with handles that can be easily grasped in an upright posture.
e. Adjust workbench or workstation configurations in such a way that employees can remain in a relaxed upright stance or fully supported seated posture.
f. Reposition bins and equipment to avoid repetitive or sustained twisting, stretching or leaning to one side. The bins should be elevated, tilted or equipped with collapsible sides to improve access.
g. Store heavy objects at waist level.
h. Provide lift-assist devices and lift tables. Administrative control is achieved by modifying existing personnel functions such as worker training, job rotation and matching employees to job assignments. In other words, the control actions are focused on the worker.
For more information, visit www.sentry.com. Current Sentry Insurance customers can access a variety of online resources by visiting the Sentry @ Your Service link, clicking on “Customer Login” and entering your account number.
For information on this topic or information on any of your insurance needs, please contact Randy Dombrowski of the Sentry Insurance Group at 715-346-7272, Randy.Dombrowski@Sentry.Com.
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