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Case 17: Back injury caused by lifting trays from a machine Occupational rehabilitation case studies

Company

Major multi-site biscuit and snack manufacturer with an Occupational Health Department (OHD).

Injury

A male employee attended the OHD; he had pulled his back whilst lifting a tray from a ‘vibrating grader’ machine.

He had tenderness and pain along the right side of his lumbar region. He was advised to go home, rest and take anti-inflammatories for 48 hours and if no better to see his GP. The following day he had ‘stiffened up’ and he was advised to keep as active as possible and to continue with the anti-inflammatories.

Intervention

The employee was advised that as soon as he was less stiff and could comfortably drive, that restricted duties could be found in his work area.

He saw his GP the following day as he had continued to become stiff. He was prescribed Tramadol, but only took them a couple of times whilst he continued with regular anti-inflammatories. He discussed with his GP that the OHD had stated that restricted duties could be accommodated and a week later he returned to work. His Team Manager found duties that did not involve lifting and he started on 4 hours/day, increasing to full hours within the week.

OHD referred him to physiotherapy for advice as to how to prevent a re-occurrence. He had 2 sessions of physio and within 3 weeks he was back to completely normal duties and hours.

Benefits

The successful outcome in part resulted from the employee receiving the correct medical advice immediately after the injury. Additionally, the employee was happy to return to work under the benefits of a rehabilitation programme.

Link URLs in this page

  1. Food & drink manufacturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/index.htm
  2. Common risks - in food and drink manufacturing industrieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/industries.htm
  3. Meat, poultry and fishhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/slaughter.htm
  4. Milling, animal feedshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/grain.htm
  5. Bakery productshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/bakery.htm
  6. Dairy productshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/dairy.htm
  7. Fruit and vegetableshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/fruitveg.htm
  8. Alcoholic and soft drinkshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/drink.htm
  9. Chilled and frozen products https://www.hse.gov.uk/food/chilled.htm
  10. Supply chainhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/chain.htm
  11. Safety risks overviewhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/safety-hazards.htm
  12. Manual handlinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/handling.htm
  13. Slips on wet or contaminated floorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/slips.htm
  14. Falls from heighthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/falls.htm
  15. Workplace transporthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/transport.htm
  16. Struck by somethinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/struckby.htm
  17. Overview - Food processing machineryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/machinery.htm
  18. European CEN 'C' Standards for food processing machineshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/standards.htm
  19. Packaging machineryhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/package.htm
  20. Overview - Prevention of dust explosionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/dustexplosion.htm
  21. Selection and use of vacuum cleanershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/dustexplosionapp1.htm
  22. Explosion relief for small bins and siloshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/dustexplosionapp2.htm
  23. Overview - Occupational health topicshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/healthtopics.htm
  24. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)https://www.hse.gov.uk/food/musculoskeletal.htm
  25. Dermatitishttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/dermatitis.htm
  26. Noise induced hearing losshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/noise.htm
  27. Overviewhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/asthma.htm
  28. Low dust flourhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/low-flour-dust.htm
  29. Exposure to disinfectantshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/disinfectants.htm
  30. Work-related stresshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/stress.htm
  31. Overview - Occupational rehabilitationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/rehabilitation/index.htm
  32. OH Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/rehabilitation/casestudies.htm
  33. Overview - Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/information.htm
  34. Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/experience.htm
  35. Useful linkshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/links.htm
  36. Food and Drink Manufacture Health and Safety Forumhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/forum.htm
  37. Topics of interesthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/live.htm
  38. Case studies menuhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/rehabilitation/casestudies.htm
  39. Previous case studyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/rehabilitation/case16.htm
  40. A recipe for safety: Occupational health and safety in food and drink manufacturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg252.htm
  41. Moving food and drink: Manual handling solutions for the food and drink industries https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg196.htm
  42. Case studieshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/experience.htm
  43. Food Standards Agencyhttps://www.food.gov.uk/
  44. Slips and tripshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/slips/index.htm
  45. Fallshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/work-at-height/index.htm
  46. Musculoskeletal disordershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/index.htm
  47. Workplace transport micrositehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/index.htm
  48. Equipment at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/index.htm
  49. Back painhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/backpain/index.htm
  50. Pushing and pullinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/pushpull/index.htm
  51. MAC toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/index.htm
  52. Food and Drink Manufacturing Forumhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/food/forum.htm
  53. Federation of Bakers (FoB)https://www.fob.uk.com/
  54. Craft Bakers Associationhttps://www.craftbakersassociation.co.uk/
  55. British Meat Processors Association (BMPA)https://britishmeatindustry.org/
  56. Dairy UKhttps://www.dairyuk.org/
  57. Chilled Foods Association (CFA)https://www.chilledfood.org/
  58. British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF)https://www.bfff.co.uk/
  59. Food Standards Agencyhttps://www.food.gov.uk/
  60. IOSH Food and Drink Grouphttps://www.iosh.co.uk/groups/food_and_drink_group.aspx

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Updated 2023-06-15