Employee-rated job demands: Implications for prevention of occupational back injuries

This paper describes the application of the ability requirements approach to study the relationship between back injuries and job demands. The procedure used groups of active workers to construct profiles of job demands by rating physical abilities needed to perform various tasks in the job. Environmental demands were similarly rated. Profiles were developed for 25 high injury rate jobs in a mass transit company. Worker ratings of job demands were correlated with back injury rates. The results confirm that back injuries are associated with physical effort or work conditions in some jobs. Several abilities formed a single factor of physical effort while the present inventory of work conditions did not. A multidimensional job description of physical effort, environmental and organizational factors is proposed to explain adequately occupational back injuries in the public transportation, construction and utilities.