Beyond the Back: How Overlooked Body Parts Put Manufacturing Workers at Risk of Ergonomic Injuries

Back pain is more than a pain in the back; it’s a serious safety concern for employers. Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of concern.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)* shows that back injuries resulted in 448,470 days, away restricted or transferred (DART) cases from 2021-2022, the most recent data available. Those injuries had a median requirement of 16 days to recover. Furthermore, there were 250,830 days away from work (DAFW) cases due to back injuries—twice as common as the next leading cause. Therefore, ensuring safety around the back is essential in any workplace.

In manufacturing environments, discussions of ergonomics are often exclusively directed at back injuries. However, this narrow focus can cause safety professionals, and even ergonomists, to miss a wide scope of issues. After all, people bring their whole selves—and all their muscles and soft tissues—to work, too.

These less prominent muscle groups and areas of the body are at just as much risk as the back when moving through the workplace. Without awareness, education and intervention, workers can easily develop musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) that affect their long-term quality of life, such as being able to care for loved ones or pursue past times, hobbies and other meaningful activities. In the workplace, that can translate to lost productivity, lower morale, poorer retention and increased costs, to name a few.

These underrepresented injuries that keep employees out of work cannot be ignored. Preventing these injuries can have a massive impact on worker safety and employers’ bottom lines. Every workplace, therefore, needs an ergonomics program that goes beyond the back.

The Broader Picture of Ergonomic Risk

Manufacturing tasks are physical, repetitive and performed in a wide range of environments. Effective safety programs require unique approaches for every workplace. These varied workplaces, with their shifting ergonomic demands, make it essential to understand every aspect of workers’ jobs.

To make matters more challenging, MSDs are a gradual strain. They develop over time as a result of awkward postures, repetitive strain and/or forceful exertions. Workers may experience shoulder, wrist, neck or knee discomfort that starts as mild strain but evolves into chronic pain or injury. These small issues compound over time.

A claim can be easily avoided with the right planning, awareness and involvement. Here are four areas of the body to pay close attention to.

1. Shoulders

After the back, shoulder injuries are one of the highest reported injuries found in the workplace that result in DAFW, according to the BLS.

The issue isn’t just how heavy an item a worker has lifted is. The injuries occur as a combination of weight, repetition, and where and how that weight is lifted. Many ergonomics programs focus on how much a worker can safely lift, but they overlook the location of the lift. Lifting a 20-pound object from shoulder height or above places far more stress on the body than lifting the same object from waist height.

The recommendation to “keep it in your power zone” means designing tasks so materials and tools are positioned between mid-thigh and shoulder height, where the body is strongest and most stable. Whenever possible, bring the work to the worker rather than forcing workers into unnatural positions to perform tasks. This can mean adjustments to the work tables or manufacturing line, or it could mean changing the standing surface of the workers.

2. Neck

One of the more surprising ergonomic concerns in manufacturing environments involves computer monitor placement. Many production floors use mounted screens for digital instructions, quality tracking or data entry. However, these screens are often placed too high and force workers to tilt their heads back repeatedly to view them.

For older workers who wear bifocals or progressive lenses, this problem is magnified. To see the screen clearly, they must tilt their heads even further back, creating chronic neck strain.

The same ergonomic principles that apply in an office setting also apply on the manufacturing floor. Mount monitors so that the top of the screen is at or slightly below eye level and make the monitors adjustable. This small, low-cost adjustment can dramatically reduce neck discomfort and improve visual clarity, particularly for an aging workforce.

3. Wrists

We see a lot of wrist injuries in environments requiring fine, repetitive motions, such as electronics assembly or laboratory work. However, wrist injuries are still frequent in heavy manufacturing. Manufacturing workers often grip tools, handles or parts for extended periods of time, thus resulting in increased risk of injury to the wrist.

Handles that are too large, too small or lack proper grip surfaces can force workers into awkward positions that fatigue the smaller forearm and hand muscles. Over time, this can contribute to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or other hand and wrist injuries.

Employers can encourage their employees to maintain neutral wrist positions by providing tools and handles that are designed for a power grip, where the whole hand wraps comfortably around the object and one is able to use the thumb in opposition to the fingers. This kind of grip requires less forceful exertions by the hand, wrist and forearm muscles. Adjusting the diameter of a handle is another simple fix that can improve workers’ comfort and reduce injuries.

While carpal tunnel syndrome is more often seen in fields that involve typing, the risk factors for this expensive MSD cannot be dismissed in manufacturing. From extreme pain to high costs, any effort you can make to move strain away from the wrist is a small step that can lead to a big improvement in building a culture of safety and care.

4. Knees

The “get it off the floor” rule really is as simple as it sounds. Plus, it’s incredibly important for workers in all manufacturing environments.

When employees are required to bend or kneel to pick up items, even light objects, they’re exposing their lower extremities and lower backs to repetitive strain. Over time, this can lead to joint pain, soft tissue injuries, or increased risk of slips and falls.

Eliminate floor-level lifts whenever possible by using lift tables, adjustable carts or racks that keep materials at waist height. If occasional floor lifts are unavoidable, ergonomists can create best practice materials to demonstrate proper kneeling, squatting or lifting techniques that protect joints and maintain stability as much as possible.

When Small Issues Become Big Problems

The most serious ergonomic issues result from a combination of factors: awkward posture, high force and repetition. A worker lifting moderately heavy items repeatedly while twisting or reaching is far more likely to be injured than someone lifting heavier weights infrequently while in neutral postures.

Ergonomists analyze these combined risk factors and help organizations create layered solutions that consider task frequency, posture and physical demand. This holistic approach is what differentiates effective ergonomic designs and programs from basic safety compliance. Addressing ergonomics in the workplace is not a one stop shop, where an off-the-shelf solution is readily available. From implementing workstation solutions as simple as increasing a handle diameter to creating an employee education program based around recognizing ergonomic hazards to brainstorming and implementing solutions to behavior based training, properly addressing ergonomic hazards in the workplace requires much more than a basic compliance program.

The Value of Awareness and Re-injury Prevention

For workers returning from injury, oversight of physical demands of the job becomes even more critical. Once the soft tissue is damaged, the likelihood of re-injury rises significantly if the root causes aren’t addressed. That’s why it’s important to have someone trained in ergonomics to evaluate specific tasks, identify risks and develop best practice materials or training that helps employees reenter work safely.

Implementing return-to-work strategies that emphasize proper body mechanics, modified duties, and task rotation helps prevent setbacks and reduces overall costs associated with injury recurrence.

The Intangible Side of Ergonomics

While the physical benefits of ergonomic improvements are measurable, the psychological benefits are just as important. When workers see that their comfort and safety matter, that leadership listens, observes, and invests in small changes, they feel valued.

Focusing on employees’ well-being in their physical workspace doesn’t just affect them physically; it affects their emotional and mental well-being, too.

Final Thoughts

Ergonomics in manufacturing goes beyond avoiding back injuries. It’s about designing environments where every movement, tool and posture supports workers’ well-being. The best ergonomic programs aren’t necessarily expensive or complicated, but they are intentional and multifaceted.

By adjusting how and where work gets done to align with optimal body mechanics and kinesiology, manufacturing leaders can prevent injuries, increase productivity and strengthen a culture of safety that benefits everyone.

*Editor’s Note: This data is available for download as an Excel spreadsheet from the BLS’s statistics page under table R2. Detailed industry by selected parts of body affected.