With tradies ranking third in the sexiest jobs scale according to news.com.au, it’s easy for Aussie tradies to think they are not only ‘hot’ but also indestructible.

With National Tradies Month about to draw to a close, one Aussie plumber is urging other tradies to stop thinking they’re supermen and start looking after their bodies, because ladies don’t want a broken tradie.

Safe Work Australia found that 34% of claims for compensation in the construction industry during 2008-2012 were due to muscular stress while handling a range of materials, tools and other equipment; and with National Tradies month falling in winter when bodies are colder, the message of taking care of the best tool a tradie has, his body, has never been more timely.

Plumbers, like all tradies, are often called upon to twist their bodies into S-bend shapes in order to squeeze into tight spaces, and New South Wales plumber Ben Rigby knows only too well the damage this can cause. After lifting a new toilet weighing 20kgs in and out of position several times, Ben had severe lower back pain that limited bending, sitting and his ability to work.

“I was leaning down making a downpipe and literally just stood up, and suddenly my back went clang,” says Ben. “At the time I didn’t pay enough attention to it, I tried to work through it and ended up making myself worse – to the point where I couldn’t put my socks on. I couldn’t work. I could barely walk.

“When you’re self-employed that’s an issue. If you can’t work, you can’t get paid. So I ended up going to Verona Chadwick from Get a Life Integrated Health and she did acupuncture and massage, and showed me easy exercises which helped me come good quick. I’ve got a few little stretches I use each morning that Verona’s shown me just to loosen up. Since then it’s happened once and with Verona’s help I managed to get through a lot quicker because I knew what I needed to do to recover properly,” Ben explains.

Leading pain specialist Verona Chadwick is urging tradies to understand they’re not indestructible, “Plumbers like Ben are often required to work in awkward positions when digging drains; and working inside cupboards or under the house, often bending and twisting their bodies whilst they are under load. Tradies are expected to do a hell of a lot and they’re not supermen. It can happen to anybody no matter how strong and how muscular you are because there is a weak link in the spine that is only as strong as the muscles that are around it. Those muscles are put under stress through every day work, but there are simple exercises plumbers can do each morning to warm up and strengthen, and just like Ben they could be pain free afterwards,” Verona explains.

According to WorkSafe and Safe Work Australia:
• At least 10 tradespeople are injured every day at work, with 17,000 injuries recorded by the watchdog between 2007 and 2013
• The most common injury (22% of all injuries) for plumbers working in the construction industry is to the back
• Between 2007 and 2013, tradesmen injury claims cost almost $1 billion

When asked what advice he would share with other plumbers and tradies in general for National Tradies Month, Ben said, “There’s no prizes for being a hero trying to lift something that you can’t.”

For more information on the everyday dangers of working in the plumbing industry and what plumbers can do to protect the ‘weak link’ in their spine, phone Kate Engler on 0412 526 851.