Is the task actually the 'cause' of injury?

Is the task actually the 'cause' of injury?

Added: 00:08 14.08.2008

I think it is excellent that there is such a campaign. However, I feel that it may be a bit misleading to suggest that most back injuries are CAUSED by work, as this suggests that manual handling only occurs in the workplace, and that the manual handling task was the actual cause of the injury.

Firstly we should consider that manual handling is basically an application of force, which would suggest that the majority of people will probably do far more manual handling in their everyday lives than at work. Manual handling is often a term associated with moving 'heavier' loads at work, whereas if we were to accept that it is just an application of force/human movement (from taking the milk out of the fridge to changing gear in the car), then it would offer us greater opportunities of assessing the risks involved.

It is important to consider that injury (unless of an acute, traumatic nature) is the final consequence of an ongoing cycle: sustained tension, cumulative strain, tissue adaptation, actual or potential INJURY. The factors that contribute to this cycle include a compromise to anatomical, physiological, bio-mechanical and developmental balance. From my experience, such compromises tend to relate to the habitual movement pattern adopted by most adults, which appears to create excess tensions and pressures on the human body and systems.

I have found that most adults are carrying tissue adaptations due to their habitual movement pattern, which would suggest that a injury in the workplace is often just the 'final straw' rather than the cause.

I also think that many therapies are still focused on treating the symptom (i.e. pain) rather than the cause, which could suggest that the injury is likely to re-occur as the cycle has not been changed by the intervention.

In essence, I do not feel that manual handling needs to be viewed as a 'unique' entity, which I think will often confuse a person, or give them the impression that they only need to be 'careful' about moving something at work. Manual handling is essentially a human movement, therefore if the emphasis was placed on offering people the knowledge of how to move efficiently, the solutions to manual handling would become self-evident.

My apologies if I seem to have ranted on a bit :) Human movement is an area that I am very passionate about, and I believe that if manual handling could be examined as an integrated part of human movement, rather than a separate 'specialised' area, the future incidences of musculo-skeletal injury would be greatly reduced.

Thanks for listening :)

Gary

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