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Studies show that low back pain will affect up to 85 percent of the United States adult population at some time in their lives. Other work-related musculoskeletal problems such as neck, arm, or leg pain are a large part of manual laborer use of sick leave and health care services.
A recent study of risk factors for recurrence of symptoms linked the following with increased health care and sick leave use:
older age
female gender
physical load
high job strain
low social support at work
You can't do much about the age or gender of your workers but social and physical work-related factors are within your control. Take a look at current work guidelines for workload and job demands. How much time do the workers have to complete their tasks? How
much control do they have over their workload?
Research shows that physical load and repetition aren't as demanding on workers as the sense that they have no control over their job situation. A lack of support from the supervisor or manager is also stressful.
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