Better backs or money back
October 1st 2008 Back-Track enables companies, including Linde, to identify employees facing increased risk of back injury and modify their behaviour – or your money back. Brendan Coyne reports
Back-Track Europe MD, John Pelling's
original back-saving idea was
sparked in 1994 by pens falling out
of his top pocket every time he bent over.
To stop the pens falling out, he had to use
the recommended method: knees not
spine. So he designed and built a 'posture
pen' concept, which would sense when the
user was bending over and sound an alarm.
But the idea was shelved until 2003, when,
with the advent of internet ubiquity and
more advanced, affordable electronics,
Pelling sensed its time had come.
After much work in HSE labs, input from
manual handling trainers and ergonomists,
the Back-Track launched earlier this year,
promising to 'drive stooping out of your
processes through behaviour change or
your money back'. Quite a claim, so how
does it work?
The hardware is a pager-sized sensor unit
that clips to the user's belt, detecting when
they are stooping then transferring this
information to the internet. A web-based
reporting function allows the data to be
viewed by a web browser – so managers
can see which employees risk of back injury
due to poor manual handling practice or
posture related issues. And to stop wearers
forgetting their training, it buzzes every
time they fail to bend correctly, reminding
them to change their behaviour.
But the system's application doesn't stop
there. After trialing the device with
Derriford Hospital, where many staff (for
example, surgeons) had posture related
issues arising from leaning forwards in
awkward positions for extended periods,
another parameter was added to the
device: Users can set it to vibrate after a
given period of time, reminding them to
straighten up, rest back muscles for a
moment to reduce the risk of strain injury,
and then carry on with what they are
doing.
Additionally, Back-Track can also be used
to manage and monitor staff returning to
work with an existing back condition.
The system is now being used by
companies such as Network Rail, Serco,
Linde Material Handling, and is currently
undergoing trials with one of the world's
largest soft drink manufacturers. According
to Pelling, those taking an interest in the
technology are currently large organisations
with a proactive behavioural safety
culture in place. "Back-Track
dovetails beautifully into those
organisations and larger firms
do perceive it as an agenda
item," he says.
Is that because larger firms, as
opposed to smaller companies too
busy firefighting, also have the human
resources to spend time analysing the
reports and taking action? "Not particularly.
The reporting system is very streamlined.
You log in and it quickly tells you what you
need to know – the top five per cent of
employees who are most at risk," says
Pelling. "It's certainly not an onerous task,
and it means that if the organisation has
100 employees, management can sit down
with the five employees most at risk and
work out whether the problem is task
related, or whether it's their technique.
Because with manual handling, people go
through the training, but training doesn't
change behaviour. We strongly believe that
to bring about positive improvement with
people's manual handling techniques you
need to fundamentally change their
behaviour.Training doesn't do that."
Hardly the kind of statement to win
friends and influence those in the manual
handling training industry, but Pelling
points to a recent study of 18,000 workers
published by the British Medical Journal for
verification. In the study, half of the
workers were given manual handling
training, and half were not. Its conclusion?
'There is no evidence to support use of
advice or training in working techniques with
or without lifting equipment for preventing
back pain or consequent disability. The
findings challenge current widespread
practice of advising workers on
correct lifting technique'.
"We have taken clients
from manual handling
training companies and they
are not happy," says Pelling.
"But that's business. You
stand on your own merits. We
make a claim that we can
change behaviour and make
people think before they lift.
Companies can decide which
product they think is most effective."
That may be true, but cost is always a
factor, regardless of how proactive a
company is in terms of behavioural safety.
Not with Back-Track, according to Pelling. "It
can cost as little as 10p per user per day. If
you lease the package, it is £4 per month
per user, and that includes everything:
warranties, device and software."
At that price, it's relatively
straightforward to achieve management
buy in, and Pelling says many companies
using Back-Track have made it part of their
PPE requirement. However, while manual
handling may be on management agenda,
it can be another story at supervisor level.
"For example, in a busy warehouse, the
supervisor has his plate full with day-to-day
issues. But Back-Track can force the manual
handling issue because every month a
report comes through that can be broken
down to an individual supervisor's area of
responsibility, and whether the workers in
their area are working safely or otherwise,"
Pelling explains. "We do work with one
company that is using it in that sense as a
KPI for their supervisors, so they have to
take manual handling seriously."
While the company is busy lining up
further trials, the largest of which could
prove lucrative, Pelling thinks the Back-
Track's lack of history is slightly hampering
full scale commercial take-up. However, he
believes the growth curve will steepen
sharply as companies, not to mention the
insurance industry, realise the absenteeism
savings and the protection from injury
claims it affords.
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