Manual rolling load and low back pain among workers in Japan: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Manual rolling of heavy objects remains in the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom recommends load weights of <400 kg in the rolling task. However, the association of rolling weights <400 kg with work-related low back pain (LBP) has not been sufficiently investigated. This study examined the effect of rolling loads weighing <400 kg on LBP among Japanese workers. Methods: A web-based survey gathered information from 15 158 workers in 2022. Among them, 15 035 did not handle loads, whereas 123 handled rolling weights <400 kg. Load weight was categorized into 4 groups: no-handling (0 kg) and rolling weights of <= 20, 20-40, and >40 kg. Multiple logistic regression analysis examined the association between the subdivided rolling weight and LBP. Results: No significant differences in odds ratio (OR) of LBP were found for workers handling <= 40 kg rolling weights compared with that for no-handling workers. However, workers handling >40 kg rolling weights had a significantly greater OR of LBP than those not handling loads. Conclusions: Rolling weights between 40 and 400 kg could place a high stress on the lower back. Implementation in Japan of the HSE recommendations regarding rolling load should be carefully considered.