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Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common work-related health problem in Europe, affecting millions of workers. Across the EU, 25% of workers complain of backache and 23% report muscular pains.
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are impairments of the bodily structures such as muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves, or localised blood circulation systems that are caused or aggravated primarily by the performance of work and by the effects of the immediate environment where the work is carried out.
MSDs are caused mainly by manual handling, frequent bending and twisting, heavy physical work and whole-body vibration. The risk of MSDs can increase with the pace of work, low job satisfaction, high job demands and job stress. There is also a strong interrelation between nervous and muscular systems: MSDs affect other aspects of workers’ health, and other health conditions can trigger MSDs. MSDs are the biggest cause of absence from work in practically all Member States. In some states, 40% of the costs of workers’ compensation are caused by MSDs, and up to 1.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country itself. They reduce company profitability and add to the social costs of the government.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help provide information to people involved with occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work says that many MSD related problems can be prevented or greatly reduced through employers complying with existing safety and health law and following good practice. However, there are specific actions it says have to be taken if MSDs are to be tackled effectively.
Lighten the load is the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s 2007 campaign to tackle MSDs in the workplace. It is backed by the EU Presidencies of Germany and Portugal in 2007, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European social partners.
Lighten the load, supports an integrated management approach with three key elements. First, employers, employees and government need to work together to tackle MSDs. Secondly, any actions should address the ‘whole load on the body’, which covers all the stresses and strains being placed on the body, environmental factors such as cold working conditions, and the load being carried. Thirdly, employers need to manage the retention, rehabilitation and return to work of employees with MSDs.
Announcing the launch of Lighten the load in Brussels EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimír _pidla said: ‘Tackling MSDs is a priority for the EU if we are to create more and better jobs in Europe. Given the demographic change, people will probably have to work longer and this makes it even more imperative that we tackle this problem now. It is essential if European workers are to enjoy not only better quality jobs but a better quality of life and a higher standard of living. We can increase productivity and therefore prosperity in the EU if we manage to improve the situation of days lost to MSDs’.
The price of MSDs to workers, employers and governments is huge. For the employee, they cause personal suffering and loss of income; for the employer, they reduce business efficiency; and for the government, they increase social security costs.
‘There is a strong correlation between workers’ health, wellbeing and quality of work on the one hand, and economic prosperity,’ says Jukka Takala, Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. ‘Although weekly working hours are decreasing, the pace of work is increasing.
Painful or tiring positions, working at very high speeds and to tight deadlines and the increasing use of machinery and even working with computers results in high levels of work-related MSDs and stress. For these reasons, there is a need to implement prevention strategies and programmes to combat staff health problems.
These strategies must place the worker at the centre of organisational changes and redesign of the workplace, the agency claims.
Lighten the load culminates with the European Week for Safety and Health at Work from 22 to 26 October 2007, with a range of activities and events across Europe. The European Week is an annual information campaign designed to raise awareness and help make Europe a safer and healthier place to work
The campaign also features the Good Practice Awards which recognise organisations that have made outstanding and innovative contributions to tackle MSDs. The Agency will announce the winners at the campaign’s closing event in March 2008.
For more information, see the campaign website at http://ew2007.osha.europa.eu/
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work invites nominations for the eighth European Good Practice Awards in occupational health and safety.
The 2007 award scheme will recognise companies or organisations that have made outstanding and innovative contributions to promote an integrated management approach to tackle musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) embracing prevention of MSDs, and the retention, rehabilitation and reintegration of workers who already suffer from MSDs.
Good practice examples are implemented solutions to promote the effective management of occupational safety and health risks in the workplace, and prevention measures to reduce the incidence of MSDs, and to support those who have suffered MSDs.
Good practice examples are invited from all EU Member States. They can be submitted by individual enterprises or by intermediary organisations such as chambers of commerce, trade and professional organisations, trade unions, and by others providing assistance, support and information at workplace level.
The Agency will announce the winners at the campaign’s closing event in March 2008 in Bilbao.
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