Abstract
Stubbs, D.A. and Nicholson, A.S., 1979. Manual handling and back injuries in the construction industry: an investigation. Journal of Occupational Accidents, 2: 179–190. The incidence of all accidents, manual handling accidents, back injuries, and back injuries attributed to manual handling incidents in the building and construction industry have been investigated. Employees in trades classified as involving heavy physical labour were found to be most at risk, and in all trades those under 30 years of age had higher incidences than those in older age groups. Of manual handling accidents observed, 50.3% were caused by lifting/loading and lifting/carrying, and 73.1% of back injuries attributed to handling incidents were specifically linked to these same activities. It is argued that back injuries arise either as a result of an acute gross injury, or as the cumulative effect of a series of smaller excessive strains. The results are discussed and compared with parallel studies in other industries.
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