This week is Back Care Awareness Week - a campaign raising awareness of back pain, which is one of the most common musculoskeletal problems. In fact, according to the 'Management of Low Back Pain' article published in British Medical Journal, 60% of the adult population can expect to have a back problem at some point in their life. In most people the pain is very unlikely to be caused by anything serious but it may be due to a range of factors, including poor posture, inactive lifestyle, improper workstations and incorrect manual handling.
Back pain affects people's general wellbeing, reduces their productivity, and is one of the main causes of absence from work. According to 'Health and safety at work. Summary statistics for Great Britain 2022', 7.3 million working days were lost due to musculoskeletal disorders (MSK) in 2021/2022. Also, there were an estimated 477,000 workers affected by work-related musculoskeletal disorders and 42% percent of these cases were back related. There many things that can be done in the workplace to reduce threats to MSK health, including adapting physical environments and work practices, promoting healthy habits, as well as early interventions to identify and address problems.
Visit BACK CARE AWARENESS WEEK (corazonhealth.co.uk) to find out more about Back Care Awareness Week and how you could support your employees suffering from MSK problems.
