Sissel M. Rasmussen
He bends down, but straightens his back. The old manhole covers are very heavy. It must be lifted correctly.
Thomas Eliassen (41) loves physically heavy and manual work. Before, when he was young and vain, he did strength training at the gym.
– But it’s really boring. Nobody likes the gym, he says.
Eliassen is an operations technician at the Norwegian Water and Wastewater Agency (VAV) in Oslo municipality. The work requires both strength and endurance. No two days are exactly the same.
The job gives Thomas more than enough training.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Physically demanding work
His working day is filled with heavy lifting, with a lot of bending and lifting. Eliassen and his colleagues like to handle heavy machinery, lift and carry heavy materials. Using the body in the right way is important to avoid injuries.
Training after work is not relevant for Eliassen. He is probably right not to, it turns out.
Elin Ekblom Bak is a lecturer and researcher at the Swedish Gymnastik- och Idrottshögskolan (GIH). Her research group has collected, mapped and analyzed data and surveys on public health and physical activity. In several large studies, they see that people with physically heavy work have poorer health, have a greater risk of illness and are in poorer condition. The researcher explains this by email to LO-Aktuelt.
EXCAVATED: After the asphalt, ice and concrete have been spiked up, the fixing for the lid must be excavated.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Elin Ekblom Bak refers to some studies which conclude that if you have a physically exhausting job, it can lead to a state of overtraining, if you also start strength training or running. The body must be allowed to recover.
The research has previously been featured in the Swedish Kommunalarbetaren.
Restitution most important
Because recovery when the body is tired is very important, it turns out.
Research shows that if you are not in good enough condition in relation to the workload, your blood pressure increases.
Ekblom Bak points to various surveys where participants have, among other things, had their blood pressure measured around the clock. The results showed that people with heavy physical work, stressful and repetitive tasks, had elevated blood pressure while at work, when they got home and while they were sleeping.
It can also mean an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in the longer term.
Workers in health and cleaning are particularly vulnerable. It is therefore necessary to take into account that the body needs rest.
STARTING DIFFICULTIES: The work team must change the batteries on the “pigger’n”.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
To exercise or not to exercise?
So shouldn’t they train anymore, those who work hard? Elin Ekblom Bak says that exercise is still important, but the body must get the rest it needs.
It is important to find the balance between recovery and activity, regardless of whether it is work or training that wears you out.
It is not a given that a cleaner or a health worker, who walks the entire working day, who performs heavy lifting and repetitive movements, benefits from pushing the body even more after work, she believes.
UP: All equipment, tools, soil, gravel, both new and old, must go into the car.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Going for a quick walk a couple of times a week is still recommended, but be sure to get yourself in before heading out. The body has to endure. If, on the other hand, you feel that you are well and feel good with exercise and trips, it may be that you have found a good balance for your body, emphasizes the researcher.
Fixed manhole covers
At Vestlia in Oslo, Thomas Eliassen and partner Knut-Egil Jensen (65) will replace a manhole cover. The job must be done, summer and winter. Today, they had to spike the old fashioned way, with a battery-powered chisel hammer. The asphalt cutter was prone to technical failure and would not cooperate.
Usually such a job takes an hour, but today it took longer. Actually, you shouldn’t continue with the pricking for more than 20 minutes. The vibrations wear on the body. But on the ground, it turns out that it’s not just asphalt that holds the manhole cover in place, it’s also rock-hard concrete.
After a while, colleague Willy Fostervold arrives and helps with the work. The old manhole cover weighs up to 100 kilos, while the new ones weigh less than half that. The difference is big when the lids have to be handled and moved.
NEW LID: A new ring for the attachment has been added and the new lid with Oslo’s city coat of arms must be bolted into place.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Feel good
Eliassen carries all equipment and materials back and forth. Manhole covers, buckets with spiked pulp, machines, asphalt bags, shovels and hoes. Fortunately, the car has a lifting member, but Eliassen knows well that he has worked when the session is over.
Thomas Eliassen has only worked out in the “light team” for a couple of years. Light team means that they are only two men in the team, and that they have a light truck. But the work is not particularly easy. He has been the main shop steward for the Trade Union of Water and Wastewater Management (VAV) in Oslo municipality for 12 years, the last seven or eight years full-time.
– It’s the only office job I’ve ever had. Then it was time to get out, he laughs.
But now he has started to think about the future.
– I am thinking ahead. How long does the body last in such a job? I have the license for a heavy vehicle, so I am considering taking a vocational certificate as a professional driver. Then I have more legs to stand on, says Eliassen.
Partner Knut-Egil Jensen is betting on holding out until retirement age, despite wear-and-tear injuries to his knees and back. There will be little training now. His knees protest and he feels too tired. Ever since the age of 17, he has had physically heavy work. Maybe there will be knee surgery eventually, but the blood pressure is fine.
PRE-MIXED ASPHALT: They bring with them ready-mixed asphalt that must be pressed and worked down to attach the manhole cover.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Worse condition
The political will to raise the retirement age is increasing. But not everyone will be able to hold a full-time job for that long, the researchers believe. The Norwegian Working Environment Institute (Stami) has investigated the difference between the burden on older and younger workers in physically demanding occupations. The study showed, among other things, that older people who work in construction and in the nursing and care sector were as strong as their younger colleagues, but they had poorer fitness.
Suzanne Merkus, postdoctoral researcher at Stami, was surprised that the two groups came out equally, but suspects that those who were not as strong had already dropped out of working life.
“HOPPETUSSE”: Finally, Willy Fostervoll vibrates and compresses the asphalt in place, so that it sticks.
Sissel M. Rasmussen
Elin Ekblom Bak refers, among other things, to research from the World Health Organisation, which shows that physical activity in the context of work does not have the same health effects as physical activity in leisure time.
Cowboy stretch
Thomas Eliassen visits the office premises where various operational parts of the Water and Wastewater Agency in Oslo are located. The working people come here to have a lunch break when they have time.
– It often happens that I throw myself down on a sofa here during the lunch break. Just ten minutes of rest helps a lot. I feel it well when I don’t get that stretch. Then I’m usually more tired when I get home, says Eliassen.
And according to Elin Ekblom Bak’s research, this is the very best he can do.
When the working day is over, there is a shower and change before Eliassen goes home. He walks briskly to and from work, about 1.6 km each way. Thus, he gets a health benefit from his work.
But after dinner he does what people did in the past when the working day was over: He takes half an hour on his ear. Exercising is out of the question. But he plays hoop soccer and hoop hockey with his daughters.
It holds up well, says Thomas Eliassen.
