Back injuries are very common in many industries. Warehouse workers may need to move pallets, boxes or other heavy items, which can cause them to strain their back. Nurses may have to help lift or turn heavy patients – something that should often be done by two nurses, but that may not be possible in a fast-paced hospital environment.
Back injuries can be very detrimental to someone’s quality of life and they can often linger. Are there proper techniques people can use to prevent them?
Taking the strain off of your back
There are proper techniques you can use to lift a heavy item or another person without putting as much strain on your spine itself.
For instance, keeping your feet wide apart and squatting down so that you lift up with your legs is much better than bending straight over and then lifting up with your back. It’s also important to lift slowly and carefully, and then to move cautiously. People sometimes injure themselves while carrying a heavy item if they have to turn, twist or catch their balance. It’s also important to know when to enlist the help of a device or another worker if the lift is too heavy for one person to do on their own.
But none of this will actually prevent back injuries. It just makes them less likely. Even people who use proper techniques and try to work carefully can still suffer serious injuries on the job. These injuries could be so severe that they cannot work any longer, meaning they’re looking at lost wages, medical bills and many other costs.
If you are in a situation like this, you certainly need to know how to seek workers’ comp benefits.