Hi all OH experts in the list,

I need your help. I am junior OH doctor & GP from Malaysia.
I have one patient, employee of POST OFFICE Courier service, who has
chronic low backvpain for almost 4 months with left sciatica. He came to
see me last month and requested my recommendation for trasnfer from his
current work section.
He had seen Orthopaedic Surgeon and was confirmed to have L5S1 Disc
prolapsed with radicular symptoms. The orthopaedic Surgeon planned
Discectomy for him soon.
He worked with current section for 2 years.
I have gone to his workplace to assess his work process. He works at the
CARGO section dealing with carpets and furnitures. Only 2 workers work
at this section every day for 12 hours. In the morning, they collect the
cargo from different shops in the town using big truck. Depending on
amount of cargo, they will have few trips. They bring the cargo to the
Post office Courier section for weighing. Then around 7 pm they will
send the cargo to the airport for despatch throughout Malaysia. His job
at this section is mainly by manual handling involving lifting, twisting
and bending.

My questions:

1. Does he need work transfer?
2. If yes, is it on permanent or temporary basis?
3. Does surgery predict his future lifting capacity?

All expert feedbacks are highly appreciated.

Dr Aini B Murni,
MD (USM) PG Diploma in Occ Health (Malaysia)
GP and OH dcotor