ENVIRONMENTAL Health Officers are urging Bolton employers and employees to join forces to tackle work-related back problems.

The call comes during the European Week for Health and Safety.

It is estimated that strains and sprains -- including back injuries like slip discs -- cost employers something like £335 million a year.

Bolton Council is pointing out that employers have a duty to prevent or reduce the risks of injury due to manual handling.

The Good Health is Good Business campaign, run by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities, has reached its fourth and final phase.

Inspectors will now be actively visiting high risk companies to find out what they have been doing to reduce the dangers of back injury within the workplace.

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "During this week we want employers and employees to focus their minds on this serious issue and initiate action.

"It is no longer acceptable to think that if you do certain jobs you will end up with a bad back.

"Employers must prevent lifting and, where this is not possible, must reduce the risks of injury."

He added: "We have examined our accident data base and will be contacting companies who have reported manual handling injuries.

"Our brief is to determine whether they should be doing more to prevent injuries in the future and giving advice on the best way to bring this about."

Free booklets and advice on manual handling in the workplace are available on Bolton Environmental Health Service's back pain hotline -- 01204 336531.