Preventing Back Injuries on Oil and Gas Sites

Back injuries are among the most common injuries in all U.S. workplaces, including oil and gas sites. Many oil and gas workers’ job duties involve lifting, lowering, carrying, pushing, or pulling heavy objects, leading to back injuries. Workers can also injure themselves by bending or lifting the wrong way and working in awkward positions.

Fortunately, your company can help workers avoid back injuries by arranging your work sites to minimize lifting and providing proper back injury safety training, equipment, and tools.

Hierarchy of Controls

When safety hazards can’t be removed from a work site, employers often use the hierarchy of controls to protect workers. From most to least effective, the hierarchy of controls consists of:

Engineering Controls

If a hazard can’t be removed from a work task, engineering controls are the most effective hazard control. Engineering controls minimize exposure to a hazard by making changes to equipment or the work environment. For lifting and moving heavy objects, examples are lifting and carrying equipment such as:

• Carts
• Dollies
• Pallet jacks
• Forklifts
• Pneumatic lifts

Some lifting and carrying equipment, such as forklifts and motorized pallet jacks, require workers to receive hands-on training before they can be used.

Another simple way to help prevent back injury is to reduce the weight that needs to be lifted or moved. Splitting heavy loads into smaller ones can make them easier to move.

For example, if workers need to move a pallet of concrete mix across a site and don’t have a pallet jack available, moving the entire pallet at once would be impossible, even as a team. However, each worker could take one bag of concrete mix at a time and make several trips or put a few bags on a cart and use the cart to carry them across the site.

Your company’s sites should be arranged so workers can lift objects from between knee height and shoulder height whenever possible to reduce strain on their backs.

Administrative Controls

Administrative controls are the next most-effective type of hazard control and include safe work practices and procedures. Training employees to lift and carry items safely is an easy way to help prevent back injuries. Before lifting, employees should determine the shortest, most obstacle-free path to get the load to its destination. They should also determine if the load is light enough to carry themselves, or if they need to make multiple trips or use team lifting.

Once workers are ready to lift, they should follow some basic safe practices:

• Bend at the knees, not at the waist, and keep their back straight
• Hold the object as close to the body as possible, straightening their legs
  slowly as they lift
• Shift their feet to turn and navigate around unavoidable obstacles
• Bend at the knees when lowering the item

Workers should avoid these unsafe lifting techniques:

• Keeping their feet close together or rounding their lower back
• Lifting unbalanced loads or loads too heavy to lift without help
• Lifting heavy objects immediately after sitting or slouching for long periods
• Lifting objects overhead with neck and back arched

Workers should also be trained on team lifting procedures for loads they can’t lift alone:

• Before beginning, someone should take the lead in coordinating the lift
• All lifters should communicate to move the load together smoothly
• Lifters should communicate when lowering the load so it doesn’t land on
  hands and feet
• If anyone moving the load has to walk backward, the workers moving forward
  should help guide what direction to move and how to avoid obstacles

Exercise and Stretching

Working on an oil and gas site can be physically demanding, but regular exercise can help workers take care of their backs and the rest of their bodies. The back is essentially a hydraulic system, and activity helps fluids flow to parts of the back, such as the discs, easing pain and joint stress. Exercise can also stretch shortened muscles and maintain joint mobility.

Stretching before beginning work or lifting is an important part of preventing back injury. Even workers with back injuries should stay as active as their physicians recommend while their injury heals.

Protective Equipment

Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is used when hazards can’t be minimized or eliminated with engineering or administrative controls. PPE is not as effective at preventing back injury as engineering or administrative controls, but some PPE can make lifting safer and easier while also protecting workers from other hazards.

Many site workers are required to wear steel-toed boots, gloves, and other PPE. Workers should choose gloves with a good gripping surface to help reduce strain and keep loads from slipping out of their hands. Boots with a gripping sole will help workers keep their footing and reduce the chance of slipping and falling while carrying a load. Finally, knee pads help protect workers’ knees when kneeling to pick up loads.

You may have heard about workers using back support belts to prevent or recover from back injuries. A common misconception is back support belts provide extra support for the spine. In 1996, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) did a comprehensive study and concluded that while back support belts might help workers who already have back injuries to recover more quickly, they are not proven to prevent lifting-related injuries. Another study conducted by NIOSH in 2000 found no significant difference in reported back pain by workers who wore back belts compared to those who didn’t.

Back belts may give workers a false sense of security, leading them to attempt to lift more than they safely can, increasing the risk of injury. While back belts do not generally increase the risk of back injury when worn properly, workers should still follow safe lifting practices and not rely on a back belt to avoid injury.

In many industries, workers need to lift, move, and carry heavy loads. Workers can take a variety of precautions to help prevent back injuries during this often unsafe action. Proper training and communication are key to keeping all workers safe.

Additional Resources

• Preventing Back Injuries in the Workplace blog
• Lifting Safely safety tip video
• Back Injury training courses