All the right moves

Professional athletes plan their moves to reduce chances of back injuries. So can construction workers.

Professional athletes must pay close attention to the ever-changing situation around them, as well as stay in touch with the signals their bodies send to stay at the top of their game.

It’s not any different for construction workers, says Loren Wolf, president of MusculoSkeletal Injury Controls, Inc. She is a physical therapist who specializes in helping construction workers prevent disabling back injuries. She gets her experience from years of work in physical therapy that combines with her family’s involvement in a specialty concrete and building materials supply business.

While awareness of back safety issues have increased in the last 15 years, she says construction workers still don’t treat their bodies with the respect and attention that athletes give their bodies.

“Construction workers use their bodies in much the same way as professional athletes. They are using their bodies in a way that makes them a living. Whether you are throwing a football or hammering a nail, your body doesn’t know the difference. If it’s done incorrectly, over time, you’ll find that it hurts you,” she says.

Varied tasks, varied challenges
Construction work is also much like athletics in another respect: the work varies as conditions change.

“Construction tasks change from day to day and from site to site, where athletic tasks in a game change from play to play. That makes it more difficult to address tasks that can cause back injuries, so it requires planning and setting up work so it minimizes the chances of back strain,” she says.

Strains often begin with the first delivery of tools and materials to the jobsite.

“Contractors and suppliers often have great equipment at the shop for loading tools and supplies onto trucks, but very little or no equipment available for unloading at the jobsite. Many times, it’s unloaded by hand. Then, it’s moved and restacked by hand before it’s finally used on the job. Every time it’s moved, it creates an opportunity for a back injury. It’s best to plan supply placement on the jobsite so it doesn’t have to be moved again before it’s used. Also, use the right equipment to make unloading safer,” she says.

A common back killer on jobsites involves gang boxes that have only lid access and tend to be too deep for most workers. “Heavy equipment always ends up in the bottom of these boxes and often gets pushed to the back. Then, when it’s needed, materials are already stacked up beside the gang box, so it’s hard to reach the tool because the only access is from the front. Lifting items such as concrete saws from the back and bottom of the box puts the back at a great risk of injury,” she says.

Newer styles of gang boxes that have drop fronts or cut-away sides make tools more accessible and helps reduce back injury risks.

She also suggests placing heavier items on top of platforms or other materials to make them easier to reach in the bottom of gang boxes.

Job specialization increases risk
Increasing specialization of tasks that workers do on jobsites can actually contribute to back and other repetitive motion injuries.

“If most of the work, such as driving screws, is at torso level, then a pistol-grip driver is best. But if the work changes to being overhead work or below the knees, the angle is incorrect for a pistol grip and it would be better to have a driver that allows straight-on pressure which is better ergonomically in those positions,” she says, “The right tool depends on the position of the body.”

Five tips to healthier lifting
Wolf suggests that learning to use your back properly in construction requires diligent effort and support from supervisors and foremen. “It’s like a right-hander learning how to write left-handed. It takes persistence and perseverance. At first it’s awkward, but with practice, it gets better. The key is to stick with it and do it with every lift,” she says.

Wolf recommends five things to keep in mind to improve work and minimize back injuries.

1. Warm up before picking up. “Workers often ride for an hour or two before getting to the jobsite, then jump out of the cab and begin work. How many athletes perform without warming up?” she asks.

Stretching hamstrings can greatly reduce your chance of back injury by increasing the flexibility of your pelvis, Wolf says. “Simply put your foot up on a five-gal. bucket and stretch forward to stretch the hamstring of the leg on the ground. Don’t hurry and don’t push or jerk while stretching. Use even, slow force. Repeat with the other leg,” she says. “Keep feet and legs parallel while stretching. If the foot is off to the side, you are stretching incorrectly.”

2. Lead with your head and shoulders. “Look at how weight lifters or tacklers take a stance before they move. They lead with their head and shoulders, which helps puts the back into the optimal position and prepares the body for the load. By leading with your head and shoulders while lifting, the back goes into its natural curve. Then, push up with the feet and legs,” she says.

3. Your nose and toes should point in the same direction. “If your nose and toes are pointed in the same direction, you aren’t twisting your torso while lifting. Twisting can be very hard on back muscles and discs,” she says. If you must pivot, have your toes follow your nose to prevent twisting at the waist.

4. Limit reaching distance to around the belt line. “Whether you are lifting, lowering, pushing or pulling, do your best to keep your hands near your belt line. That helps keep the weight near your center of gravity and reduces chances of back injuries,” she says.

5. Take a stretch break. In highly repetitive jobs, take a break when your body signals that it’s time for a different position. During breaks, work muscles that aren’t worked doing the task. “If your shoulders are hunched or your hands are over your head for work, do a chicken-wing move to stretch your back muscles. If you are on your knees, stand up and arch your back. Instinctively, you know which muscles to work; just don’t wait until they are screaming at you to take a break,” she says.

Breaking bad back habits
It’s overwhelming to think about minimizing all of the back dangers on a jobsite, but Wolf says that, over time, they can be addressed.

Planning is key. “Think about the work at hand and how the work must be completed. Often, it’s the frontline workers who have the best ideas on how to minimize back strain, and often, seasoned workers have figured out ways to reduce back stress. Make it a priority to discuss and identify ways to reduce back strain,” she says.

Purchasing departments also must understand the importance of buying the right tools which can have a better ergonomic fit. “The tools that cost less in price but don’t offer vibration-dampening features or are less user-friendly will cost more in greater worker injuries and wear and tear on workers,” she says. "Spending a bit more for an ergonomic tool is money well spent and will decrease your cost of ownership.”

As we age
It’s no secret that gray hair and balding heads are more common on jobsites than ever before. With that “experience” comes less pliable and more easily injured muscles and ligaments in the vertebrae and even the onset of arthritis that can be aggravated by overexertion.

Inflexibility of the mind can also cause or perpetuate back injuries, Wolf adds. “Workers who are unwilling to try new tools run the risk of developing problems because they are unwilling to try new ways of doing things.”

“We have seen this with concrete form workers who would rather tie wire by hand than use a power wire tier. They think they can do it as fast and better by hand, but if they gave the powered wire tier some time, they would likely find that it can do as good a job as they can and, with a little practice, as fast or faster than by hand. Try the new tools. It may save your back,” she says.

If you smoke, Wolf offers yet another good reason to quit. “Smoking causes blood vessels to constrict. If you have a back or disc injury, the minimal blood flow in these areas will be even less. The body can’t heal itself without blood flow, so smoking slows the healing process,” she says.

Published in the September/October 2006 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

back to top