Manual rolling load and low back pain among workers in Japan: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Manual rolling of heavy objects remains in the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom recommends load weights of <400kg in the rolling task. However, the association of rolling weights <400kg with work-related low back pain (LBP) has not been sufficiently investigated. This study examined the effect of rolling loads weighing <400kg on LBP among Japanese workers. A web-based survey gathered information from 15 158 workers in 2022. Among them, 15 035 did not handle loads, whereas 123 handled rolling weights <400kg. Load weight was categorized into 4 groups: no-handling (0kg) and rolling weights of ≤20, 20-40, and >40kg. Multiple logistic regression analysis examined the association between the subdivided rolling weight and LBP. No significant differences in odds ratio (OR) of LBP were found for workers handling ≤40kg rolling weights compared with that for no-handling workers. However, workers handling >40kg rolling weights had a significantly greater OR of LBP than those not handling loads. Rolling weights between 40 and 400kg could place a high stress on the lower back. Implementation in Japan of the HSE recommendations regarding rolling load should be carefully considered.