Back strains and injuries can happen anywhere, but a great many happen at work. Back strain represents one of the largest segments of employee injuries. Only the common cold accounts for more lost workdays.
As you may have learned from personal experience, back injuries can be extremely painful and long lasting. They can keep you in bed for extended periods of time, and occasionally, they may even require surgery. For some people, back pain never really goes away.
The National Safety Council says that overexertion is the cause of about 31 percent of all disabling work injuries. Injuries to the back occur more frequently than do injuries to any other part of the body, so it's very important that employees understand just what types of acts are likely to strain their backs and how to perform tasks in ways that reduce the risk.
Why So Many Injuries?
To understand why there are so many back injuries, it's useful to understand what's in your back to be injured.
Basically, the back holds up your entire body. The spinal column, which runs down your back, is an S-shaped stack of bones called vertebrae. These vertebrae are connected by ligaments and separated by soft disks that cushion and protect the bones. At the center of the spinal column is the spinal cord, and from there, nerves run out to other parts of the body.