Back Safety Tips to Save on Insurance According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than one million workers suffer back injuries each year. Back injuries account for one of every five workplace injuries with an even higher rate of problems taking place among construction crews, truckers and others that frequently are required to lift heavy objects. Learn how to keep workers safe and reduce Worker’s Comp. claims, health insurance pay-outs and keep business running on schedule. Fact: Anytime you bend or lean over to pick up something without bending your knees, you put a great deal of pressure on your lower back. Tip: Always bend your knees when lifting. Think of your back as a lever with the fulcrum in the center of the lever. It only takes ten pounds of pressure to lift a ten-pound object. If you shift the fulcrum to one side it takes more force to lift the same object. The waist acts like the fulcrum in a lever system and operates on a 10:1 ratio. That means lifting a ten-pound object actually puts 100 pounds of pressure on your lower back. Add the 105 pounds the average upper torso weighs, you can see that lifting a ten-pound object actually puts 1,150 pounds of pressure on the lower back. Now it is easy to see how so many back injuries occur.