Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) represent one of the most prevalent and costly safety challenges facing employers today. These injuries affect not only your bottom line but also the quality of life of your employees and the productivity of your organization.
In this post, we’ll examine what employers can do to help prevent MSDs and keep their workforce safe on the job.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), MSDs are conditions that affect the muscles, nerves, blood vessels, ligaments, and tendons. Workers across various industries face exposure to MSD-related risk factors, including lifting heavy items, bending over, reaching overhead, pushing and pulling heavy loads, working in awkward body postures, and performing repetitive tasks.
These disorders fall into two primary categories:
“These stresses/strains can be due to repetitive microtasks, or even the accumulation of static postures,” said Todd Peterson, VP, Health Risk Management at Captive Resources. “It’s all about the cumulative mechanical forces applied to tissues, whether that’s the constant force of gravity when sitting or the repeated force of repeated tasks, no matter how large or small.”
The numbers tell a sobering story. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), overexertion and bodily reaction injuries ranked second among occupational injuries involving days away from work in 2021-2022. The median time away from work for MSDs reaches 14 days, compared to nine days for other work-related injuries.
Workers aged 45 to 64 face the highest risk from overexertion injuries, with the back representing the most frequently injured body part. The transportation and warehousing industry experiences the highest incidence rates. Falls, slips, and trips — which ranked third among occupational injuries involving days away from work in 2021-2022 — commonly result in sprains, strains, and tears. These injuries most frequently affect workers aged 55 and over, particularly in the transportation, warehousing, and agriculture sectors.
“We start to lose muscle in our 30s and 40s, and by the fifth or sixth decade of life, our capacity to manage and recover from the forces placed on our tissues diminishes,” said Peterson.
Ergonomics examines the efficiency of interactions between workers and the tools they use to perform their jobs. However, this field encompasses far more than many realize.
“Too often, people think of ergonomics as postures or lifting positions, but that neglects the dynamic aspects of those interactions with objects, whether it’s as simple (yet repetitive) as typing on a keyboard or as demanding as utilizing heavy machinery,” said Peterson.
The goal of an ergonomics program is to prevent discomfort and injuries caused by work conditions. An effective program enables companies to detect problems early and develop targeted solutions before they can escalate into costly injuries.
The benefits extend throughout your organization. You can prevent losses in productivity, quality, and profit while lowering absenteeism and lost-time injury rates. An effective program can also reduce Workers' Compensation (WC) insurance costs, creating a positive impact on your bottom line.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a comprehensive seven-step approach:
Assess your workplace for activities and conditions that contribute to the development of MSDs.
Build buy-in across all organizational levels and provide thorough training on ergonomic principles.
Track injury data to identify patterns and areas of concern.
“Collecting data on the stamina of your workforce and their capacity to handle the mechanical stresses of their required tasks is paramount,” added Peterson. “Utilizing that data when assigning roles and tasks is necessary to avoid injury.”
Implement solutions based on your findings.
Measure effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
Support employees who are dealing with injuries by providing them with appropriate accommodations and care.
Sustain your program through ongoing leadership support and worker engagement.
Research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) emphasizes the importance of designing work environments that accommodate employees' physical capabilities and limitations. This approach proves effective across diverse industries, including construction, food processing, firefighting, office settings, healthcare, transportation, and warehousing.
Focus on three key environmental elements: tools, lighting, and equipment. By applying ergonomic principles to these areas, you can substantially reduce the number and severity of MSDs your employees face.
An ergonomic process represents more than a safety initiative — it demonstrates your commitment to employee wellbeing while protecting your organization's productivity and profitability. The investment your company makes in prevention today can save significant costs in injuries, lost time, and reduced efficiency tomorrow.
