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Put your back into it - safety that is!The Health and Safety Executive has announced a major national campaign to reduce work-related back injuries. Backs 2005! will run from June 13 to July 15. Over that period HSE will promote awareness about the risks of back pain at work through advertising campaigns and both Local Authority and HSE inspectors will be targeting back pain and manual handling in a co-ordinated inspection programme. Manual handling is the major cause of back injury, but there can be others. Whole body vibration, for example, may cause back problems for drivers of vehicles and postural constraints in some workstations may also be a factor - if someone has to work at a counter that is the wrong height for instance. Back pain accounts for one in five cases of occupational ill health. In 2003/04 there were 204,000 new cases of musculoskeletal disorders and nearly 12 million working days were lost as a result. The Health and Safety Executive is keen to spread the message that high-risk activities such as heavy, frequent or awkward lifting can often be avoided by the use of mechanical aids or improvements to job design. They are asking for support from industry and unions for the campaign. When inspectors visit workplaces during the campaign they will be looking for evidence that:
Inspectors are being asked to identify at least one higher risk activity in at-risk workplaces and to agree a work-plan with the employer to remove or control the risk. This will be checked in a follow-up visit early in 2006. A copy of the inspection report form that they will be using is available on the HSE website for the campaign along with various posters, leaflets and other information - http://www.hse.gov.uk/backs Employers are being asked to assess manual handling risks - using the HSE Manual Handling Assessment Chart (MAC) where appropriate - and to develop solutions for any significant risks. Usdaw is supporting the HSE campaign. Back pain is a significant issue for members in all sectors because so much of their work involves manual handling. For retail members, for example, there are potential risks in all jobs - pushing/pulling roll cages, shelf-filling, checkouts, work on the delicatessen counter, etc. We know that risks on the checkout can be reduced by good checkout design to minimise the amount of stretching and twisting. But even where employers have introduced well-designed checkouts, they need to be well maintained. Broken belts, chairs that are missing or damaged and long hours without a break or rotation onto other work can all increase the risk of injury. Safety reps can get involved in supporting the HSE campaign. If you have access to the internet you can download the posters and leaflets from the HSE web site or you can order copies from the Health and Safety section at Central Office. You can also order and use Usdaw's own materials for tackling manual handling and back pain. Copies of the Preventing Manual Handling Injuries - an Usdaw safety representatives guide, Body Mapping - telling where it hurts leaflet. the Back Us Up poster and Is your work a pain in the back? poster can be downloaded online and printed copies can be ordered from the Stationery department at Central Office. If any safety reps want to do a more detailed inspection on back pain risks, contact the health and safety section for advice and assistance with questionnaires, using the HSE's MAC tool to assess handling tasks, etc.
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