At Work

Its perfectly safe to work with back pain. However, many people spend 8 hours a day at work so it’s important that we are fit and conditioned for the role we do. During an episode of back pain, it’s normal to protect yourself by moving more cautiously and doing less, but it’s important that these protective strategies are only short lived and you get back to moving well with confidence again.

If you have a job that involves lifting, then it’s important your back is fit to do it. It’s sensible to only lift loads that your used to and confident to lift.
If you’ve had a long-time off work, or off lifting, then you should slowly build your lifting fitness over a few weeks. At work this is often called ‘light duties’, ask your employer to help with this.
Often workplaces have equipment to help make manual handling more comfortable, you should be trained and confident to know how to use it.
Often when we’ve had an episode of back pain, we lose confidence in using our back. If this is the case then get help of a professional to guide you to get confident and trust loading the back again.
If you work in a static job, seated or standing, make sure your work set-up is comfortable for you.There is no ‘correct’ posture or set up, and you can play with different set-ups to find the most comfortable.
Sometimes we have to spend long periods of time sitting down. Sitting is not bad for you, as long as you are active and moving regularly, as part of an overall health plan.

Working at a desk all day is not ideal, but it’s common in our economy. Hence, it’s important that our desk space is set up to be comfortable for us. We come in all shapes and sizes and what’s comfortable for one person might look very different to the next, so don’t get focused on there begin one single ‘correct’ set up. Play with a few and see what you prefer.

Often having your computer screen at eye level in front of you and your chair facing it is best, but see how it feels for you.
Have your mouse and keyboard in a position where you can comfortably use them.
You should take regular breaks to get up and walk around the office (or even better outside) as part of an overall exercise and health plan. Try creating a walking club at lunch, or have walking meetings. Even better start a couch to 5k program within your office and set a goal of a local Parkrun.

When lifting and handling heavy goods, it is important your fit enough to do it:

You need to be fit to lift the load expected of you.Loads much heavier than you normally lift should be avoided.
If the load is heavy, it’s most efficient to get the load close to your bellybutton to minimise the load on you. This can mean getting down to any load to get it close.
Sometimes when you’re tired we risk straining ourselves, so be aware how you feel and include this in your risk assessment. What’s easy on a Monday morning might not be on Friday afternoon after a stressful week with little sleep.
Jobs that involve regular heavy lifting often have equipment to help you. Make sure you're trained in how to use it.
If you’re unsure, test the weight of the item you are about to lift by pushing or pulling it. This can help you chose the best strategy.
Our culture can be quite negative about backs, but the truth is that backs are robust, adaptable and capable of moving and handling in a variety of positions.

If your job requires you to be on your feet all day, then you’re already getting a good dose of exercise, great! But if it’s causing you problems then you may need to alter what you are doing for a short time.

Take breaks in your tasks to vary what you do. It makes sense to rotate the tasks you do throughout the day/week, if its reasonable for you to do so.
You can still be sedentary when stood! So move regularly if it feels better to do so.
As with all jobs, getting regular exercise and keeping fit outside of work will greatly improve your health and often helps keep backs fit.

At Work

At Your Desk

Lifting & Handling

On Your Feet