Evaluation of Low Back Pain and Duty Equipment Wear Configurations in Police Officers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Eisenberg, Judith S. ; Ramsey, Jessica G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from management representatives at a police department concerning low back pain and back injuries among police officers. They asked us to evaluate if the pain and injuries could be related to officers wearing their duty equipment around their waist on leather belts. During the visit, we observed work processes, practices, and workplace conditions
  
  held confidential medical interviews
  
  documented different belt and vest options used by officers
  
  reviewed uniform, equipment, and weapons policies
  
  and observed the annual physical ability testing. We found that nearly half of all officers in this department reported low back pain in the previous 3 months. None of the interviewed officers had missed work or required a change in duty because of low back pain. We determined that communication gaps existed between officers and management in several aspects of department operations including uniform policies specifying what equipment was required versus what was optional. This led to many officers carrying unnecessary weight. We found that back injury prevention training had been provided, but back injury prevention guidelines discussed were not specific to law enforcement duties or use of duty belts, and many officers could not recall if they had taken the course as they are required to take many online training courses in different subjects. We recommended the police department (1) develop policy that clearly states what equipment is required versus what is optional, (2) provide officers with examples of different wear configurations, and (3) clarify when a medical necessity waiver is required to obtain devices. Additionally, we recommended conducting a job safety analysis, developing a system to allow officers to see needed training as well as completed trainings, and ensuring that a formal procedure is in place for officers to report health and safety issues.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Law Enforcement Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Back Injuries Back Pain Duty Belts External Vests Law Enforcement Law Enforcement Officer Law Enforcement Workers LEO Low Back Disorders Low Back Pain MSD Musculoskeletal Disorders Musculoskeletal System Musculoskeletal System Disorders OSHA Region 8 Police Police Officers Police Protection Work Practices

  More +
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2017-0049-3367, 2020 Jan ; :1-23
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201700493367
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  23 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Asmat, Marita ; Booher, Donald E. ; Hamilton, Cheryl ; Moore, Kevin ; Tyrawski, Jennifer
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20058469
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2022-100262
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2020]. Evaluation of low back pain and duty equipment wear configurations in police ; officers. By Ramsey JG, Eisenberg J. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human ; Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety ; and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2017-0049-3367,
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2020
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922120 - Police Protection - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5340b3a52f58291f939a63e35aa259c11891fbcf8f676574f62dd4c468932c7815f45e497ccf9cf102c07a9df618ec1d2f82bd7bd678b17bf52f565bb8bdca7f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172331/cdc_172331_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 407.93 KB ]