Musculoskeletal disorders at work

Employers must protect workers from the risks of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) being caused or made worse by work. MSDs include injuries and conditions that can affect the back, joints and limbs. You:

  • can do things to prevent or minimise the risk of your workers (and others who may be affected by what they do) developing MSDs
  • cannot prevent all MSDs, so early reporting of symptoms, proper treatment and suitable rehabilitation are essential

The parts of the body most likely to be affected by MSDs are:

Workers can have different kinds of MSDs at the same time.

Manage the risk

You must manage the risk of MSDs in your workplace. If these risks exist, you must consider both the requirements for a general risk assessment[82] and specific assessments of other risks, for example, from:

Causes of musculoskeletal disorders

There are risk factors causing MSDs in many types of work, so you should think about the risks of various tasks, depending on the work you do:

  • bending, crouching or stooping
  • lifting heavy or bulky loads
  • pushing, pulling or dragging heavy loads[87]
  • stretching, twisting and reaching
  • repetitive work, particularly using the same hand or arm action
  • sustained or excessive force
  • carrying out a task for a long time
  • work with display screen equipment
  • working with hand-held power tools for a long time
  • driving heavy vehicles, long-distance driving or driving over rough ground

Or the risk factors can be to do with the work environment or organisation:

  • poor working environment (including temperature and lighting)
  • poor work organisation (including work pressure, job demands and lack of work breaks). Stress[88] and other psychosocial factors[89] can contribute to the risk of developing MSDs

Or they can be to do with the workers themselves:

  • a recent or existing injury or health condition may make them more vulnerable
  • individual differences (some workers are more affected by certain risks)
  • vulnerable groups[90], for example, young people, disabled workers, pregnant workers, those new to the job
  • working beyond their capability
  • working when physically tired

Talk to your workers

You must consult with your workers or their elected representatives[91] on health and safety issues. They know what they find difficult and often know how to improve things. Talking to them about how to improve health and safety will also make it easier to agree changes. Workers will be more likely to follow procedures they have helped design.

Make sure your workers know how to report any injuries or work-related health problems to you or their health and safety representative. Encourage them to do this early. Body mapping[92] may help with this. This is a technique you can use to collect evidence about the effects of work on the body. You can use it to:

  • identify clusters of problems you may need to investigate further
  • encourage workers to think about solutions to the problems they report

An occupational health provider can give advice on a worker's fitness for work and any restrictions or adaptations to their work.

People with MSDs usually recover completely if the problem is recognised early and treated appropriately.

The law

There are several laws[93] relating to musculoskeletal disorders (other laws may also apply in your industry).

Musculoskeletal disorders in specific industries

For more details about controlling MSDs in particular industries, look at their web pages.  The industries with the most reported incidents of MSDs are agriculture[94], construction[95], health and social care[96] and transport and logistics[97]. There is also specific information on MSDs in, for example food and drink handling [98]and MSDs in food and drink[99], catering[100], woodworking[101], motor vehicle repair[102], cleaning[103], air transport[104], ports and docks[105], printing[106], textiles[107] and waste and recycling[108].

Link URLs in this page

  1. MSDshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/msds.htm
  2. Back painhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/backpain/index.htm
  3. Upper limb disordershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/index.htm
  4. Lower limb disorders https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/lld/index.htm
  5. Display screen equipment (DSE)https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/dse/index.htm
  6. Manual handling at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/manual-handling/index.htm
  7. Overview - MSD toolkithttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/toolkit.htm
  8. Overview - MAC toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/index.htm
  9. Introduction to MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/introduction.htm
  10. Developmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/development.htm
  11. Score sheethttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/scoresheet.htm
  12. Overview - Liftinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftintro.htm
  13. Lifting from pallet videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftvid1.htm
  14. Lifting creels of wire videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/liftvid2.htm
  15. Lifting control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance01a.htm
  16. Overview - Carryinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryintro.htm
  17. Carrying from conveyor videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryvid1.htm
  18. Carrying task in pastry factory videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/carryvid2.htm
  19. Carrying control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance02a.htm
  20. Overview - Team handlinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamintro.htm
  21. Team handling pallet videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamvid1.htm
  22. Team handling container videohttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/teamvid2.htm
  23. Team handling control measureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/guidance03a.htm
  24. Psychosocial risk factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/psychosocial.htm
  25. Individual differenceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/individuals.htm
  26. MAC assessment tipshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/tips.htm
  27. MAC FAQhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/faq.htm
  28. Overview - V-MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/index.htm
  29. Advantages and limitationshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/1-advantages-limitations.htm
  30. What you need to knowhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/2-what-you-need-to-know-before.htm
  31. How to use the V-MAChttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/3-how-to-use.htm
  32. Which jobs and workers to assesshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/4-which-jobs-workers-to-assess.htm
  33. Entering datahttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/5-entering-data.htm
  34. What does the V-MAC tell you?https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/6-what-does-vmac-tell-you.htm
  35. Values in the summary tablehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/7-summary-tables.htm
  36. Recording and usinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/8-recording-and-using.htm
  37. Worked exampleshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/9-worked-examples.htm
  38. V-MAC FAQshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/mac/vmac/10-faqs.htm
  39. Overview - ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/index.htm
  40. What is the ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/whatis.htm
  41. Overview - Learning to use the ART toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/learning.htm
  42. Preparationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/preparation.htm
  43. Risk factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/riskfactors.htm
  44. Observationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/observation.htm
  45. Overview - Making an assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/assessment.htm
  46. Task descriptionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/task.htm
  47. Overview - Assessment guidehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/assessguide.htm
  48. A. Frequency and repetition of movementshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/freqrep.htm
  49. B. Forcehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/forceassessment.htm
  50. C. Awkward postureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/awkpostures.htm
  51. D. Additional factorshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/addfactors.htm
  52. Score sheethttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/score.htm
  53. A walkthroughhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/walkthrough.htm
  54. Overview - Try it outhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/try.htm
  55. Book bindinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/bookbinding.htm
  56. Jogging sheetshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/jogging.htm
  57. Collating papershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/papers.htm
  58. Whisky carton assemblyhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/cartonassembly.htm
  59. Croissant curlinghttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/croissant.htm
  60. Overview - Analysis and actionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/analysis.htm
  61. What the scores meanhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/scoresmean.htm
  62. Analysing task rotationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/rotation.htm
  63. Overview - Taking actionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/action.htm
  64. Repetitionhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/repetition.htm
  65. Forcehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/force.htm
  66. Posturehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/posture.htm
  67. Durationhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/duration.htm
  68. Physical environmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/environment.htm
  69. Psychosocial issueshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/psychosocial.htm
  70. Art Tool Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/resources.htm
  71. Frequently asked questionshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/art/faq.htm
  72. Overview - RAPP toolhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/index.htm
  73. Push/pull riskshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/risks.htm
  74. Push/pull risk assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/assessment.htm
  75. The lawhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/legislation.htm
  76. Health monitoringhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/health-monitoring.htm
  77. Workershttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/workers-msds.htm
  78. Resourceshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/resources.htm
  79. the lower backhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/backpain/index.htm
  80. shoulders, forearms, wrists and hands, as well as the neckhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/index.htm
  81. the hips, legs, knees, ankles and feethttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/lld/index.htm
  82. general risk assessmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/index.htm
  83. manual handlinghttp://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/manual-handling/index.htm
  84. repetitive work and awkward postureshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/uld/index.htm
  85. display screen equipmenthttps://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/dse/
  86. vibrationhttp://www.hse.gov.uk/vibration/index.htm
  87. pushing, pulling or dragging heavy loadshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/pushpull/risks.htm
  88. Stresshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/
  89. psychosocial factorshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/msd/mac/psychosocial.htm
  90. vulnerable groupshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/vulnerable-workers/index.htm
  91. consult with your workers or their elected representativeshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/involvement/
  92. Body mappinghttps://officialpublisher.tso.co.uk/body-mapping/
  93. lawshttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/legislation.htm
  94. agriculturehttp://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/manual-handling.htm
  95. constructionhttp://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/physical-ill-health-risks/manual-handling.htm
  96. health and social carehttp://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/moving-handling.htm
  97. transport and logisticshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/logistics/manual-handling.htm
  98. food and drink handling http://www.hse.gov.uk/food/handling.htm
  99. MSDs in food and drinkhttp://www.hse.gov.uk/food/musculoskeletal.htm
  100. cateringhttp://www.hse.gov.uk/catering/msd.htm
  101. woodworkinghttp://www.hse.gov.uk/woodworking/manualhandling.htm
  102. motor vehicle repairhttp://www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/topics/manual.htm
  103. cleaninghttp://www.hse.gov.uk/cleaning/backpain.htm
  104. air transporthttp://www.hse.gov.uk/airtransport/topics/manualhand.htm
  105. ports and dockshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/ports/msd.htm
  106. printinghttp://www.hse.gov.uk/printing/manual/index.htm
  107. textileshttp://www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/textiles-and-manual-handling.htm
  108. waste and recyclinghttp://www.hse.gov.uk/waste/msd.htm
  109. Manual handling at work: A brief guidehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg143.htm
  110. Managing upper limb disorders in the workplacehttps://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg171.htm
  111. Manual handling assessment charts (the MAC tool) https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg383.htm
  112. Risk assessment of pushing and pulling (RAPP) tool https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg478.htm
  113. Assessment of repetitive tasks of the upper limbs (the ART tool)https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg438.htm
  114. Display screen equipment (DSE)https://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/dse/index.htm
  115. Manual handling at workhttps://www.hse.gov.uk/MSd/manual-handling/index.htm

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2024-11-12