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Kraus J., Brown K., McArthur D., Peek-Asa C. and Zhou
L.
University of California at Los Angeles School of Public
Health
Samaniego L. and Kraus C.
3-E Company, San Diego, California
Introduction: This study (publication date November 1996)
tracked 36,000 workers of a national home supply chain over a
six-year period beginning in 1989. The company instituted a mandatory
back support use policy between 1990 and 1992 at 77 stores in
California. The company, Home Depot, required "no additional
workplace training or safety measures during the study period
that could account for a drop in low-back injuries."
Discussion: Injury reports and other worker information were
analyzed by the study team. Workers included men, women, young
and old and those whose jobs involved both low and high levels
of lifting. More than 100 million work hours were logged during
the study period. The researchers found that the workers had
31 back injuries per one million work hours when not wearing
supports and 20 injuries per one million work hours after the
mandatory back support policy began. The highest risk groupmen
25 and younger and 55 and older who had worked for the company
for one to two years and whose jobs required the highest intensity
of liftingshowed the most benefit from wearing supports.
Conclusions: The study found that low-back injuries fell by
about one-third when workers were required to wear back supports.
Both men and women workers, young and old, involved in low and
high levels of lifting benefitted from wearing the back supports.
The authors acknowledge the devices are yet unproven and caution
that further research is needed examining occupations such as
construction, agriculture and mining to see if back supports
prevent injuries to those workers.
Accepted for publication in the International Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Health, November 1996. This page excerpted
from UCLA Public Information Office news release October 9, 1996.
"We found compelling evidence that back supports
...along with worker training and proper workplace ergonomic
design... can play an important role in helping to reduce back
injuries among workers who do a lot of lifting."
Jess Kraus, PhD, MPH
Study results presented at the American Industrial Hygiene
Conference and Exposition, May 1996, Washington DC.
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