Understanding Musculoskeletal Disorders
Whether employees do data entry at a computer workstation, carry trays of food and dishes in a restaurant or haul freight in and out of a warehouse, their jobs require them to move.
Perhaps they do only small amounts of physical activity but make the same movements over and over throughout the day. Or perhaps they do heavy-duty physical work - lifting, pushing and pulling - for some or all of their workday.
Most of the time, the way people move at work comes naturally. They probably don’t even think about it - until something goes wrong. Maybe someone has that “pins and needles” sensation in her hand or a nagging pain in his lower back.
Chances are, that individual has developed a Musculoskeletal Disorder, or MSD. MSDs include a group of conditions caused by repetitive motion and stress. And together, these conditions make up the fastest-growing category of workplace injuries.
Given the increase in MSDs, ergonomics has become a critical factor in workplace safety. Ergonomics is the science that seeks to adapt tasks and tools to fit the person, not the other way around. And one of the main principles of ergonomics is working in neutral: keeping the joints in their strongest, most stable and least stressful positions while performing work activities.
By understanding MSDs and how to work in neutral, everyone can do their jobs in ways that reduce the risks for injury, control the costs associated with injuries and increase safety in the workplace.
The Blueprints for Safety© Understanding MSDs Program is designed to provide a step-by-step approach to developing an MSD program for your company. It can also be used by organizations with existing ergonomics programs to provide training in MSDs.
The outcomes of your MSD program will be:
- To understand MSDs
- To inform employees about common MSDs and their MSD signs and symptoms
- To inform employees about the kinds of risk factors likely to cause MSDs and how to eliminate or control them
- To ensure that employees know how to report MSDs and the importance of early reporting
- To establish an MSD management process
- To be able to identify the MSD risk factors in your workplace
- To be able to analyze jobs for the hazards they pose and take measures to control or reduce those hazards
