Can a company issue a back support to an associate without a prescription from a physician?

You may issue PPE without a doctor’s prescription. However, OSHA would prefer that employers attempt to reduce ergonomic hazards by addressing engineering, work practice, and administrative controls, and that PPE be used only as a last resort. In a letter of interpretation 09/20/1993 — Personal protective equipment, general requirements and employer responsibility, OSHA states:

“If a hazard cannot be removed by engineering, or administratively controlled in the workplace then personal protective equipment would be required.”

• Engineering controls — physical changes to the job to control or reduce the hazards
• Work practice controls — changes in the way employees perform the work (such as lifting technique, two-person lift teams, using micro-breaks, etc.)
• Administrative controls — policies that are designed to reduce the magnitude, duration, and/or frequency of exposure (reducing shift length, rotating workers, scheduling more breaks, adjusting the work pace, etc.)

After all of these approaches have been tried, then employers may use PPE to supplement these other controls. PPE does not eliminate ergonomic hazards and it cannot be relied on as a permanent solution to musculoskeletal disorder hazards unless other feasible controls are unavailable.

NIOSH has also concluded that the results of studies analyzing the effectiveness of back belts in injury reduction show insufficient evidence that back belts actually do reduce injury. In fact, NIOSH says there is some research showing that workers believe they can lift more when wearing a back belt, and may subject themselves to even greater risk by lifting more weight than they would have without a belt.