The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC)
IIAC Annual Report 2005/6
The annual report confirms the intention to publish a literature review and opinion on the prescription of occupational back pain and cervical spondylosis.
Comment
In response to a call for comments, the UK’s leading back pain charity, BackCare, indicated that prescription might reinforce unhelpful beliefs about non-specific back pain and the role of work. The best advice for those with non-specific back pain is to remain active and this includes going to work.
Expert reviews [e.g. in the development of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FOM) guidelines] have consistently concluded that non-specific back pain is not caused by work and neither is it prevented by following standard ergonomic recommendations.
Prescription would be possible if IIAC considered that work more than doubled the risk of back pain. More than 20% of the workforce has problems with back pain every year. The numbers involved are considerably larger than the numbers of whiplash claimants.
