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  The link
between manual weight lifting and risks of trauma and musculo-skeletal
disorders, particularly of the lumbar vertebral column, has been widely
reported in the literature.
In fact, low back pain is the first cause of disability in the population
under 45 years of age. As much as 20% of accidents at work involve the
lumbar vertebral column as a result of heavy objects lifting carried out
incautiously.
Such pathologies hold the second place among the ten most important
health problems at work, as reported by NIOSH (National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health).
Every year, in Great Britain, as much as 4% of workers need to change job
due to vertebral column disorders.
In the Scandinavian countries, the average of working days lost every 100
workers due to low back pain problems is 36. In the US it has been
calculated that the total cost for all cases of low back pain ranges
between 10 and 60 billion dollars a year.
This knowledge has urged the European Union to issue specific rule to
regulate the employment of manual force in weight lifting, in order to
keep it within acceptable limits. In Italy this directive has been
implemented in the law 626/94 (title V).
Musculo-skeletal disorders are very common in the hospital environment;
in fact, hospital work usually involves both the maintenance of prolonged
fixed postures and the lifting and carrying of weights. During such
operations, in relation to the worker's posture, the weight and
dimensions of the object, the distance to be covered, compression forces
affect the anatomical constituents of the lumbar spine and can lead to
microlesions and lesions of such structures.
Among the different causes that can lead to disorders of the spine, both
the structure and organization of the hospital and the training of the
health personnel play an important role.
In fact, as far as the structure is concerned, an erroneous planning of
the rooms and of the fittings could impede a correct manual lifting of
the patients or could prevent the employment of hoists should they be
available. Furthemore, the hoists could be underemployed because of
insufficient information or training or because of the tendency,
especially of the senior personnel, to avoid new machinery or because of
the precariousness of such machinery. On the basis of the workers'
perception of strain, the situations at highest risk are as follows:
shifting the patient from the bed to a wheelchair, turning the patient in
bed, lifting the patient on the pillow, lifting up the back of the bed,
all operations that might become particularly difficult if the patient
cannot cooperate, as it is often the case in some of the wards, such as
the rehabilitation ward, the intensive care unit, the Accidents and
Emergencies department, the surgical wards and the orthopaedics ward.
Disorders of the vertebral column affect the lumbar, dorsal and cervical
tracts and consist of arthrosis and disc herniation. Symptoms include
pain and functional inability.
For additional information
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![[collegamenti]](ico/collEfdr.gif){kind=small}
