Musculoskeletal Disorders

Painful disorders of muscles, tendons, and nerves that develop over time from tasks that repeatedly cause stress and injury to tissues

Common causes

• Material handling: injuries due to repeated lifting, pushing and pulling
• Workstation: furniture, layout, job design and keyboarding
• Repetitive motion injuries: risk factors due to job design, awkward body motions, and tools
• Inadequate job design: pace of work, production pressure, lack of sufficient time to recover from overwork

Symptoms

MSDs do not happen overnight. Watch for signs.

• Pain
• Joint stiffness
• Muscle tightness
• Redness
• Swelling of the affected area
• Numbness
• "Pins and needles" sensations
• Skin colour changes

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most frequent type of lost-time injury and the single largest source of lost-time costs in Canada.

What employers can do

Hazards are best eliminated at the source. Employers should focus on avoiding repetitive patterns of work through job design changes:

• Mechanization - automate tasks
• Job rotation - moving between different tasks
• Job enlargement - increasing the variety of tasks
• Team work - distributing work more evenly

If elimination of repetitive patterns of work is not possible, prevention strategies can focus on:

• Workplace design - fitting the workstation to the worker
• Tool and equipment design - providing proper tools that decrease the force and avoid awkward positions
• Assistive devices - using carts, hoists, or other mechanical handling devices
• Work practices - training workers, allowing rest periods, and giving workers more job control

Being aware of the causes and developing a prevention program is essential. Inform and train workers, encourage early reporting of symptoms, and identify and control job-related risk factors.