2024-05-05 06:41:38
In France, one in five sick calls is related to back pain. This corresponds to 12 million lost working days each year.
Published 05/05/2024 08:41
Reading time: 2 min
The proportion of occupational accidents related to low back pain increased between 2005 and 2017. It went from 13 to 20%. Work intensification, productivity and aging of the active population are among the main reasons. (IVAN PANTIC / E+ / GETTY IMAGES)
One in five sickness absences is linked to back pain. This corresponds to 12 million working days lost each year. However, companies have a real role to play in preventing the occurrence of low back pain.
franceinfo: Why these alarming figures on back pain and how can companies remedy it?
Sarah Lemoine: Low back pain, which is sometimes called lumbago or “back pain”, is this intense pain felt in the lower back. “Between the 12th vertebra and the ischial fold”, soberly specifies the High Authority of Health. It is sometimes associated with sciatica, which is also not pleasant.
IN latest Public Health France survey, we learn that among workers, 42% of men and 48% of women reported suffering from back pain in 2021, in the past 12 months. All socio-professional categories and all sectors are affected, but not in the same proportions.
Men with back pain work mainly in manufacturing, construction, healthcare and agriculture. Women with back pain are overrepresented in water management, waste management, transport, storage, healthcare and agriculture. Farmers, workers and employees are more affected than managers, although no one escapes.
What is the employer’s responsibility?
His responsibility is to limit or eliminate the factors that cause back pain in his company. This is not always easy to understand, because the reasons can be several, explains Laurent Kerangueven, expert at the National Institute for the Prevention of Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases (INRS).
There are activities that involve carrying heavy things, those that vibrate the body, restrictive positions or even sitting all day. This is combined with psychosocial risks, stress for example, or dissatisfaction at work.
Are companies taking action?
Companies are tackling the problem, but not always by approaching it globally. However, eliminating the factors that cause back pain requires thinking regarding the way work is organized and carried out in practice, emphasizes INRS.
Companies can be supported and helped financially, and they have every interest in that. The proportion of occupational accidents related to low back pain increased between 2005 and 2017. It went from 13 to 20%. Among the reasons are the intensification of work, productivity and the aging of the working population.
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