"THE HEART OF THE MATTER"
a special program of the National Emergency Medicine Association (NEMA)

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Week: 587.5 

Guest: Dr. Lawren Daltroy, assoc. dir. Arthritis Ctr. Brigham & Women’s Hospital 

Topic: Back saving work techniques 

Host/Producer: Steve Girard 

NEMA: Saving your back at work...coming up... 

SPOT: The best emergency? The one that doesn’t happen. The National Emergency Medicine Association. Visit us at www.nemahealth.org. 

NEMA: Back injuries cost business about 43 billion dollars a year in the U.S. and Canada...Dr. Lawren Daltroy’s study at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital showed training all workers good motion technique to prevent injury does not help at all. But some changes in how we work might...  

DALTROY: We’re not meant to do the same thing all day, everyday. So, one of the things that I think is very important, but also very difficult to do today in modern industry, is to have some flexibility on the job. If your back is bothering you, you do something else for a while. You have a variety of tasks that you perform throughout the day. Unfortunately, this is not the way most of our jobs are designed.  

NEMA: ...some common sense tips...  

DALTROY: the farther out you hold something from you, the more force it exerts... which is taken up by the lower back. So, holding things close to you. Not twisting, but rather turning on your feet can make a big difference. When you go into a bar...there’s that railing where people stand, and you can put one foot up? Having that type of footrest...like on an assembly line, can make a difference for your lower back.  

NEMA: Dr. Daltroy says ergonomics engineers may help your company have fewer on the job injuries, and fewer repeat injuries. I’m Steve Girard at The Heart of the Matter.