Foreword

By R. S. MINSKER Alton, Illinois

During the past decade, the problem of low back pains, the old enigma that repeatedly has haunted the departments of medicine, safety, insurance and compensation has created the need for a new approach by industry.

The purpose of Industrial Medical Service is to treat the minor injuries and the few major cases which occur. In addition, it must apply preventive medicine to keep the worker on the job and at 100% efficiency. This benefits both the employee and employer.

The task of determining the origin or cause and ascertaining whether the case is industrial or non-industrial in itself has proven insurmountable. Actually it placed a premium on the patient being dishonest in order to obtain compensation. The direct financial cost has at times been staggering. In addition, the worker seldom has been able to return and perform his work at full production pace; usually a light duty slip is given. In many cases it is necessary to transfer the individual to an entirely different type of job with economic loss to both the worker and the company.

On the above premises and because of the magnitude of proportions to which the problem had grown, I requested Dr. George Has-sard and Mr. Charles L. Redd to take a positive approach and direct any action of any kind whatsoever they felt expedient to solving this serious matter.

The results obtained have been successful and rewarding. The program has been in effect fifteen months. Compensation statistics reveal that in the fifteen months prior to beginning the program $20,969.91 was paid out and 1203 man days were lost due to low back troubles. Since its inception, $2,448.88 has been paid out and 119 man days lost. Significantly, this is only Compensation cases; non-industrial cases run at least a five to one ratio higher, according to our Safety Director. Likewise no lost time injury due to low back trouble has been charged since the program was initiated.

Dr. Hassard and Mr. Redd have compiled the following booklet, a resume of theory and procedure, in the hope that if those interested will apply the same principles as outlined with sincere and intense purpose, they will, as we, be astounded and gratified by the results obtained.

 "It should be understood that the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, its administrative policies and its personnel are in no way involved in this book. The writing is strictly a medical treatise. Intentionally, the company was not consulted nor officially informed of the purposes of this clinical evaluation. It has never approved nor disapproved the concepts herein elucidated; such is foreign to the realm of a manufacturing company. Likewise this Foreword is the personal reflection of the writer as an interested humanitarian, not as a company official."  

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