Landscape Contractors at High Risk for Back Pain

Aching back? Could be your job, particularly if you happen to work in one of the 10 occupations members of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) rated as the worst for causing back pain.

Back pain, notes the ACA, is one the most common work-related injuries in the United States, accounting annually for approximately one-quarter of all lost or unproductive workdays. While factors including working posture or workstation design can have an impact on any worker’s back, the ACA used an informal poll of its members to determine the 10 occupations that chiropractors in the United States felt were the most at risk for developing back pain.

Topping the ACA’s list are heavy truck and tractor-trailer driving, chosen because drivers are subjected to constant compression and vibration from the trucks as well as prolonged sitting.

Awkward positions, lifting and hammering put construction workers and shingle roofers on the list. Landscapers, whose jobs may require lifting of heavy rocks and dirt, and twisting and turning, were also considered to have one of the worst jobs for back pain.

Emergency personnel made the list – police officers for the extended periods of time spent sitting in their cars, their heavy equipment belts, and because when they are called into action, they’re often required to make sudden movements or struggle with people resisting arrest. Firefighters and EMTs face back-taxing tasks including battling the heavy water pressure from a hose, carrying people, and occasionally gaining access to a location with an axe.

Heavy lifting earned farmers and delivery drivers spots on the list. And auto mechanics were mentioned as well thanks to the physically awkward positions they work in throughout the day.

Finally, nursing home workers were singled out for the types of objects they may be lifting – people. Said the ACA, lifting people in and out of bed can cause a nursing home worker to twist, lose his or her balance, and, due to the unpredictability of the patient being lifted, make sudden reactionary movements that result in injuries.

All of the jobs deemed by the ACA to be “high risk” for developing back injuries can benefit from ergonomics to help workers minimize the risk of back injuries and also to help workers with existing back pain perform their jobs more comfortably and efficiently.