Nursery and landscape workers push through back pain to keep pace
Dunleavy K, Gurka KK, McCormick Blythe J, Beneciuk JM, Vanegas M, Hu B, Radunovich H.
Urban Ecology
If you've ever hired a landscaping crew or bought plants from a nursery, the person who hauled those root balls and pruned those hedges is likely working through chronic back pain without telling anyone.
Researchers interviewed nursery owners, supervisors, and field workers and found that back pain is treated as just part of the job. Workers keep working through pain because their pay depends on how much they get done, and formal training on lifting and injury prevention barely exists, it's mostly picked up informally on the job. The study argues that any fix has to work around the realities of outdoor seasonal labor: bad weather, tight harvest windows, and pay tied to output.
Key Findings
14 in-depth interviews with consultants, owners, supervisors, and workers revealed back pain is widespread but rarely discussed openly, including risks of opioid use.
Owners and consultants were hesitant to keep Naloxone on site despite awareness of opioid risks among workers self-medicating for pain.
Non-modifiable factors (weather, seasons, business model) and modifiable ones (training, workplace culture, supervisor involvement) both shape how prevention programs could be designed.
chevron_right Technical Summary
A study of nursery and landscape workers found that back pain is common but usually ignored, with workers pushing through pain and relying on over-the-counter medication rather than reporting or treating injuries. Researchers say training needs to fit around unpredictable weather, seasonal work, and piece-rate pay structures that punish workers for slowing down.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Back Pain Among Horticulture Workers - Need for Prevention Strategies.
<h4>Objectives</h4>Although back pain is common among horticulture workers, effective prevention and management strategies are lacking. The first phase of a study using the Exploration, Preparation...
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