Let’s face it. Warehousing and storage involves the movement of products, not just with materials handling equipment like forklifts, conveyors, and overhead cranes but also by hand. Manually handling loads, in turn, puts a lot of strain on an employee’s back.
In fact, in the warehousing and storage industry, injuries and illnesses involving the back account for more than one in five of all injury and illness cases involving days away from work (DAFW) each year, making back disorders a top concern. Some disorders are serious enough to require surgery; some lead to permanent disability. While many people think that back disorders are acute and come from a single lift of a heavy or awkward load, back disorders often result from relatively minor strains that occur chronically over time.
The good news is that whether acute or chronic, most back disorders are preventable. Back safety applies ergonomic principles to any lifting or manual handling task. Teaching safe lifting techniques, for example, is a proven way to reduce employee lost time and workers’ compensation costs related to back disorders. However, training is only half of the back safety picture. A complete back safety effort will also include the identification of back hazards at your warehouse or storage facility, implementing engineering and administrative controls to reduce or eliminate those hazards, and managing any reports of back disorders.
While there is no federal OSHA regulation specifically on back safety, safe lifting, or ergonomics, all employers in the warehousing and storage industry are covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Act if they have one or more employees. The Act requires covered establishments to provide a safe and healthful workplace. If your facility fails to protect its employees from back hazards, OSHA can still cite you under the General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)) of the Act. So, it’s important to identify tasks that present back hazards, so that you can implement ways to control those hazards and prevent back disorders.
Related regulations include:
Note: Employers should check to see whether their states require any ergonomic or safe-lifting protections. Some states, such as California, may have specific requirements.
While federal OSHA does not “require” employers to put in place a back safety program, a sound, flexible framework for addressing back safety issues may include the following elements:
Editor’s Note: Sources of this ezExplanationsTM section are listed in the Acknowledgements section.