From The Ergoweb® Learning Center

Top 10 Back-Breaking Jobs

Aching back? Could be your job, particularly if you happen to work in one of the 10 occupations members of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) rated as the worst for causing back pain.

Back pain, notes the ACA, is one the most common work-related injuries in the United States, accounting annually for approximately one-quarter of all lost or unproductive workdays. While factors including working posture or workstation design can have an impact on any worker’s back, the ACA used an informal poll of its members to determine the 10 occupations that chiropractors in the United States felt were the most at risk for developing back pain.

Topping the ACA’s list are heavy truck and tractor-trailer driving, chosen because drivers are subjected to constant compression and vibration from the trucks as well as prolonged sitting.

Awkward positions, lifting and hammering put construction workers and shingle roofers on the list. Landscapers, whose jobs may require lifting of heavy rocks and dirt, and twisting and turning, were also considered to have one of the worst jobs for back pain.

Emergency personnel made the list