SafetyVet
Solutions for the veterinary professions!
SafetyVet
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Preventing
back injuries is a major workplace safety challenge for any business. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million American workers suffer back injuries
each year. Back injuries account for one of every five workplace injuries or illnesses.
Further, one-fourth of all worker’s compensation clams involve back injuries, costing
billions of dollars on top of the pain and suffering borne by the employees.
In the veterinary profession, back injuries occur more frequently than any other kind of injury except bites and scratches, yet few hospitals have taken the time to address the problem with any form of training. Oh, we tell staff members not to over do it; to get help when they need it. And at the same time we expect them to do things unassisted because of staffing shortages or other "temporary" problems in the practice. This dichotomy often leaves the staff member confused and they assume the priority is on quick task completion instead of timely, safe work practices. That’s when accidents happen.
No single approach has been found for totally eliminating back injuries, though it is felt that a substantial portion can be prevented by an effective control program and ergonomic design of work tasks. OSHA is in the process of collecting data on workplace ergonomic injuries as a prelude to the rule-making process. Whatever the final recommendations or rules come to be, it is expected to focus on the two major methods for preventing lifting injuries: administrative controls and engineering controls.
Engineering controls are not the ultimate answer, but they do play a vital role. By designing (or modifying) the work area to be more comfortable, we not only reduce injuries, but we also reduce worker fatigue - and that usually means more accuracy and productivity. Examples of engineering controls in the veterinary practice would include:
For the veterinary practice, administrative controls seem to be the most likely to produce results. Lifting animals is a lot like lifting boxes - the principles are the same (click here for more information on lifting properly) but there is one major difference: boxes don’t struggle and animals don’t have handles!
Aside from ramps, steps and lift tables discussed earlier, there is no other single means of getting the patient to a working height without lifting them. Because lifting is an essential element of almost any job in the hospital, the focus must be on training. Awareness and constant reminders of the proper lifting techniques that place minimum stress on the lower back are essential. Some practices have started giving staff members literature on physical conditioning and stretching exercises to reduce the risk of muscle strain in these conditions.
Through the years, there have been many proposed solutions to this problem, but few of them are believed to be of much benefit on a wide scale. Some of these proposals include development of an mathematical equation using horizontal location, vertical location, vertical travel distance and lifting frequency to calculate the maximum safe lifting load for an individual. Another suggestion would put a maximum weight limit for any single lift, or a load-moment limit which would consider the effect of the distance of the load from the worker's body. Tables of maximum weights for different percentiles of male and female workers have also been proposed.
Although the scientific community continues to search for the "ultimate answer" to the back pain question, the best defense at the present time is just good ol’ fashioned common sense and a healthy dose of training. Workers can’t avoid every situation where they will lift, pull, push or drag objects, but we can increase their awareness of the hazard and recognize the limitations of each person and each situation.
Short of improving on the human body, the best way of reducing back injuries is to increase the use of all the preventative measures at our disposal.
The information on these pages is excerpted from
The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual (5th Edition) by Philip J. Seibert, Jr., CVT,
Copyright 2003 Philip J. Seibert, Jr., CVT All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced for distribution without prior permission
from the publisher.
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