U.K. national statistics on handling accidents and lumbar injuries at work

Abstract

Data relevant to handling accidents and lumbar injuries at work which result in at least 3 days' absence have been extracted from the annual publications of two U.K. government organizations. The category descriptions used in the two publications were found to be general in nature; to vary between different industrial sectors and also to vary from year to year within the same sector which made a precise assessment of the problem difficult. Nevertheless, despite a downward trend in the total number of accidents each year the percentage of those relating to handling, or resulting in back injuries has remained constant.