When people talk about lingering injuries, they’re often talking about back injuries. In a split second, you can hurt your spine so severely that you will feel the ramifications for the rest of your life. It doesn’t even have to be a worst-case scenario — such as breaking your back and becoming paralyzed. Even a far more minor back injury can linger, make future injuries more likely, and impact your career.
Learning how to prevent a back injury means understanding how they happen in the first place.
Working to keep yourself safe
So, you know how important it is to protect yourself on the job. That begins with an understanding of how and why these incidents take place. Here are some common reasons for workplace back injuries to keep in mind:
- Having to repeatedly make the same motion over and over again, even if doing it just once does not lead to injury.
- Trying to lift something that is simply too heavy to lift alone or without mechanical assistance.
- Trying to rush while lifting something, leading to a slip or a fall.
- Lifting incorrectly, especially when bending and lifting with your back, rather than crouching and lifting with your legs.
- Spending too much time in a seated position, especially if that’s followed by physical exertion.
Of course, you can also hurt your back in many ways that are not specifically spine-focused, such as getting involved in a car accident on the job or falling from a ladder. No matter how your injury happens, you need to carefully consider the proper medical care, the potential long-term ramifications, and the steps you need to take to get workers’ compensation.