[Occupational back injury risks for sanitary personnel in hemodialysis]

This study is based on Spanish Law 31/1995 regarding the Prevention of Risks in the Workplace, on the specialty of ergonomics and psycho-sociology as well as on the official royal decrees which have been annexed to this law. Ergonomics is a multidisciplinary technology which gathers together and organizes knowledge in order to apply that knowledge to means, designs and working places having as an objective to optimize the efficiency of the system, and the comfort, safety and satisfaction of workers. It searches for the adequateness of men to their work. Its prime objective is to improve those conditions, while its final goal consists in harmonizing an individual's physical and psychological capacities. The number of patients who need this treatment while undergoing hemodialysis increases every year; therefore, these units should be progressively adapted to this demand. Be it due to the time required to carry out an adequate working environment, of to adapt personnel to this new situation, workers' needs always wind up in second place.