Many patients who are admitted to CRP with spinal injuries have suffered work related accidents. Unsafe working practises are often the cause of avoidable spinal injury.

One of the most common and dangerous working practise is that of carrying heavy loads on the head. It is not unusual for loads to exceed 50kg. Should the load shift while being carried this can lead to serious and often irreparable cervical spinal damage. A load can shift easily if the carrier stumbles on uneven or slippery ground, for example when carrying a sack of rice down a gangplank of a boat and over slippery the mud of the river bank. It is common practise to carry loads on the head in Bangladesh, both for women and for men.

Work on construction sites is also fraught with danger. Heavy loads of cement or brick aggregate are often carried to upper floors using precarious bamboo ladders. Items such as wheelbarrows or hods for carrying bricks are rarely used.

Accidents while picking fruit are also common. Many spinal injuries are sustained falling while harvesting fruit from trees. Construction workers are also at great risk of falling from heights due to lack of safety equipment like harnesses or mechanical equipment which avoids workers subjecting themselves to high risk work.

CRP is conducting research into manual handling techniques in an effort to establish safer ways of handling and moving goods and promote the use of safer working practises in the country.