Pain in the back?

How to support your employees and promote healthy back-care within the workplace.

2 min readOct 10, 2018

Back problems are the one of the most common forms of ill health disorders at work. With a few simple measures in place, it is possible to reduce absence, improve productivity, and keep your team happy and healthy at work.

The most common causes of back pain at work include:

· Heavy manual labour

· Repetitive tasks

· Long periods sat at a computer or workstation

· Prolonged periods in one position

· Working beyond normal physical capabilities and when tired

But how can these be prevented?

The most important thing to do is talk to your employees. If you don’t communicate, they cannot tell you which areas give them problems, and which work well for them. By talking with them regularly, you can stay aware of the situations and change things as soon as they are raised. Don’t just assume that you sorted the back-care side of things, and never review it. Things change. People change. Keep up to date.

Prevention Tips

Make jobs physically easier

· Use wheels to transport things

· Make loads smaller

· Ensure work stations are the correct height

· Provide fully adjustable chairs

· If possible and desired, provide standing desks

Talk to employees regularly

As we said before, regular communication is what is key. Stay current with what is wanted and needed.

The Back Book

Make this available to all staff. It contains evidence-based information on both preventing back pain, and living a normal life with it.

Record all instances of back pain

By recording all instances of back pain, you will have the information needed to analyse and discover if there are patterns forming and address those areas.

Early advice about back pain can reduce absence and improve productivity.