The incidence of industrial accidents and in particular back injuries attributed to manual handling will be considered in relation to the age and occupations at high risk in two large industries. That the risk of industrial accidents and back injuries in particular is greater in the lower age group (17-30 years of age) in the Building and Construction Industry, and in the middle age group (31-48 years of age) for the P.O. Telecoms Engineers will be discussed in relation to acute and cumulative trauma with particular reference to work experience and long-term employment following such trauma. The risk to occupations within each industry will be related to the manual efforts required by those occupations and these data considered in light of age.

The radio pill methodology which enables an indirect measure of truncal stress to be made during physical activities, will be considered briefly. The paper will describe two preventative approaches as applied to back injuries arising from manual materials handling, the first being amelioration of existing industrial problems, the second being the establishment of design guidelines for future working environments. Such safe industrial contours have now been established for forces which can be applied by the hands within the human reach envelope. Examples will be given of these industrial contours, together with age variation and these discussed in light of the industrial epidemiological data. The need for similar data for female industrial workers will also be discussed.