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.