EU directives on people's backs aren't sexy. Which is why they often remain unread - let alone not implemented - until an employee sues an employer for work-related backache or the Health and Safety Authority prosecutes a company for failure to comply with regulations.

Women have as great a risk of work-related back injury as men. For instance, pregnancy loosens women's ligaments leaving the lower part of the back more vulnerable to injury, according to Dr Dan Murphy of the Health and Safety Authority.

Some 30 per cent of female workers and 29 per cent of male workers in the EU suffer from work-related backache, according to the recent survey of working conditions by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

It found that 33 per cent of self-employed people and 29 per cent of employed workers were likely to suffer work-related backache. Most at risk were blue collar workers and people in the agriculture and construction sectors.

Those who believed work caused them back problems, included 49 per cent in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing; 44 per cent in construction; 31 per cent in hotels, restaurants, transportation and communication; 30 per cent in mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water; 26 per cent in wholesale, retail and repairs; 25 per cent in public administration; 20 per cent in finance, real estate and business; and 27 per cent in other services.

Despite the EU average of 30 per cent, only 13 per cent of workers in Ireland said that work caused them back problems. (Indeed only 29 per cent of Irish workers believed work affected their health in any way compared to a European average of 57 per cent.) Every employer is obliged to take appropriate measures "to avoid the need" for the manual handling of loads which involve risk to employees, according to the Irish regulations of 1993 which give effect to EU directive 90/269/EEC.

That's every employer "from Intel and Guinness to Mrs Murphy's corner shop", explains Mr Herbert Mulligan, editor of Health and Safety Review.

For example, a hospital manager should consider bringing treatment to a patient (rather than patients to the treatment) to reduce the risk of back injuries to hospital staff. Or a manager who purchases flour, grain, powdered chemicals, animal feedstuffs or cement should, if possible, alter arrangements so that bags or sacks don't need to be lifted; for instance by using cement silos on construction sites.

"Load" in the regulations means "any" risky object - including any person or animal - which one or more employees must transport, support, lift, put down, push, pull, carry or move. If manual handling cannot be eliminated, the regulations oblige an employer to reduce an employee's risk.

Every employer is obliged to assess the risk "particularly of back injury" at each workstation and to determine and implement control measures.

Factors to be considered in workstation risk analysis include: the weight or range of weights; whether a load is too awkward; the distance it needs to be carried; the duration and frequency of lifting; an employee's training and experience; each individual employee's capacity, including, age, strength, size, and the working posture required by the task.

Moreover, employers must ensure that workers are adequately trained in how to lift loads while employees have a right to be consulted about protective measures.

Employers can reduce the risk of staff suffering back injuries - and their own risk of prosecution - by doing the following:

make loads lighter (for example, by using smaller containers for packaging);

make loads more easy to grasp, less bulky, less unwieldy so that loads can be held closer to the body;

reduce holding time;

train staff to push or pull at waist level and stand while pushing or pulling; reduce the likelihood of the sudden movement of a load, for example, by securing contents likely to shift or by team handling;

use mechanical loading like forklift trucks, scissor lifts, trolleys, hoists, elevating conveyors or lifting tables; design workstations so employees don't need to perform extended horizontal reaches or have to twist the trunk, that is, keep materials within easy reach; raise the work level;

provide adjustable swivel chairs and adequate workspace to enable any employee to turn his or her whole body;

improve work area layout to reduce the need to handle loads, for example, relocate production and storage area.