Body stress injuries are responsible for sidelining over 5,000 workers in South Australia each year, leading to average annual compensation costs exceeding $90 million. This injury category, which includes muscle strain from lifting or carrying objects and repetitive stress injuries, has made up 36% of all compensation claims with ReturnToWorkSA since 2018.
In 2023, South Australia recorded 6,035 body stress claims, an 8% increase from the five-year average of 5,603. These claims are more than double the combined number of claims for the next two most common injury categories — being struck by moving objects and slips, trips, and falls.
The healthcare and social assistance sector, accounting for 21% of total claims, experiences the highest number of body stressing injuries. Manufacturing (17%) and construction (10%) follow as the next most affected industries.
Males typically represent around 63% of body stress claims, with workers in their 50s most likely to file a claim.
The data from ReturnToWorkSA underscores the urgent need for more comprehensive risk assessments to identify hazardous manual tasks and implement effective control measures. Employers have a primary duty of care to identify, minimize, or eliminate risks that could lead to worker injury.
The Role of Health and Safety Representatives
HSRs play a critical role in protecting workers from body stress caused by manual tasks. Their responsibility is to advocate for safe work practices, identify risks, and recommend preventive measures. Here’s how HSRs can reduce body stress in the workplace:
Risk Assessment and Hazard Identification
Start by identifying manual tasks that may pose risks. Focus on tasks that involve lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, or repetitive motions. Look for risks such as heavy, awkward loads, uncomfortable postures, or long durations of repetitive movements. Once hazards are identified, HSRs can suggest solutions like workstation redesign, reducing manual handling, or introducing mechanical aids (e.g., trolleys or hoists).
Training and Education
A common strategy employed by many employers is to provide workers with generic “how to lift” training (e.g., bend your knees, keep your back straight) when they begin their employment and periodically throughout their time with the company. Employers often rely on workers to follow these “safe” techniques as the primary means of preventing injury. In many cases, this type of training is the sole control measure implemented.
However, this approach does not fully mitigate the risk of injury. Simply offering “how to lift” training does not address the underlying sources of risk. Research has shown that this type of training alone is not effective in significantly reducing injury rates.
South Australian Business Chambers offers a 2‑hour program to assist you in identifying some control measures to eliminate the risk associated with Hazardous Manual tasks.
