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 design: poor match between worker and furniture, equipment, and layout
• Repetitive motion injuries: risk factors due to awkward body motions, and tools
• Inadequate job design: pace of work, production pressure, lack of sufficient time to recover from work

Watch for symptoms

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

What workplaces can do

Hazards are best eliminated at the source. Focus on eliminating repetitive patterns of work through job design changes:

• Automating tasks
• Increasing the variety of tasks
• Moving between different tasks
• Distributing work more evenly

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

• Workplace design: fitting the workstation to the worker
• Tool and equipment design: providing tools that decrease the force needed and do not require 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

Be aware of the causes and develop a prevention program. Educate and train workers, encourage early reporting of symptoms, and identify and control job-related risk factors.