Incidence and suspected cause of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, United Kingdom, 1996–2001

Occupational Safety and Health Staging Framework for Decent Work

The 2030 United Nations Goal 8 for sustainable development focuses on decent work. There is utility in identifying the occupational safety and health aspects of Goal 8, as they pertain to the four pillars of decent work: job creation, social protection, rights of workers, and social dialogue. A workgroup of the International Commission on Occupational Health and collaborators addressed the issue of decent work and occupational safety and health (OSH) with the objective of elaborating a framework for guidance for practitioners, researchers, employers, workers, and authorities. This article presents that framework, which is based on an examination of the literature and the perspectives of the workgroup. The framework encompasses the intersection of the pillars of decent (employment creation, social protection, rights of workers, and social dialogue) work with new and emerging hazards and risks related to various selected determinants: new technologies and new forms of work; demographics (aging and gender); globalization; informal work; migration; pandemics; and OSH policies and climate change. The OSH field will need an expanded focus to address the future of decent work. This focus should incorporate the needs of workers and workforces in terms of their well-being. The framework identifies a starting point for the OSH community to begin to promote decent work.

Prevalence and incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in secondary industries of 21st century Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

Over the course of the twenty-first century, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are still persisting among blue collar workers. At present, no epidemiological overview exists. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis was performed on the epidemiology of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) within Europe's secondary industries.

METHODS

Five databases were screened, yielding 34 studies for the qualitative analysis and 17 for the quantitative analysis. Twelve subgroups of WMSDs were obtained for the meta-analysis by means of predefined inclusion criteria: back (overall), upper back, lower back, neck, shoulder, neck/shoulder, elbow, wrist/hand, leg (overall), hip, knee, and ankle/feet.

RESULTS

The most prevalent WMSDs were located at the back (overall), shoulder/neck, neck, shoulder, lower back and wrist WMSDs with mean 12-month prevalence values of 60, 54, 51, 50, 47, and 42%, respectively. The food industry was in the majority of subgroups the most prominent researched sector and was frequently associated with high prevalence values of WMSDs. Incidence ratios of upper limb WMSDs ranged between 0.04 and 0.26. Incidence ratios could not be calculated for other anatomical regions due to the lack of sufficient articles.

CONCLUSION

WMSDs are still highly present among blue collar workers. Relatively high prevalence values and low incidence ratios indicate a limited onset of WMSDs with however long-term complaints.

[Factors related to the one-month retention of 8507 employees declared medically unfit in Hauts-de-France companies between 2014 and 2018]

BACKGROUND

Given the low rate of retention in a company after an employee has been found unfit for the job, our aim was to determine the factors related to employees being kept by their company one month after being declared unfit for the job due to either a musculoskeletal disease (MSD) or a mental health disorder (MHD).

METHODS

This study was based on all employees declared unfit for the job by the occupational physicians in the "Unfitness" survey in the French "Hauts-de-France" region between 2014 and 2018. For each of the two groups of workers, factors related to the employees being kept by their company one month after being declared unfit for the job were studied by logistic regression.

RESULTS

Only 6.9% of the 5352 workers declared unfit for the job due to MSD were kept in their company whereas 3.6% of the 3155 workers declared unfit for the job due to MHD were kept in theirs. For the two groups of workers, the proportion of employees kept by their company decreased with female gender (OR=0.63 95%CI [0.47-0.84] for MSD and OR=0.50 [0.32-0.78] for MHD for female vs. male), long sick-leave (OR=0.26 [0.18-0.40] for MSD and OR=0.22 [0.11-0.45] for MHD for sick-leave>6 months vs. no sick leave), small size of the company (<50 employees) and working in the construction field or services sector (vs. industry or administration). Concerning the employees declared unfit due to MSD alone, the proportion of employees kept by their company decreased for seniors (>50 years old) and for those with low seniority (<5 years).

CONCLUSION

"Retention in a company" as a tool for "maintenance of employment" is a little-discussed subject, lending further credence to the current recommendations for reduction of inequalities in working conditions and vocational training of employees according to age and socio-occupational category, and also for reduction of inequalities in occupational pathways according to gender.

Incidence of ill-health related job loss and related social and occupational factors. The "unfit for the job" study: a one-year follow-up study of 51,132 workers

Objective

The analysis of ill-health related job loss may be a relevant indicator for the prioritization of actions in the workplace or in the field of public health, as well as a target for health promotion. The aim of this study was to analyze the medical causes, the incidence, and the characteristics of employees medically unfit to do their job.

Methods

This one-year prospective study included all workers followed by occupational physicians in an occupational health service in the south of France. The incidence of unfitness for work have been grouped according to the main medical causes and analyzed. We performed a multivariate analysis in order to adjust the observed risk of job loss based on the age groups, sex, occupation and the activity sectors.

Results

A total of 17 occupational physicians followed up 51,132 workers. The all-cause incidence of being unfit to return to one’s job was 7.8‰ (n = 398). The two main causes of being unfit for one’s job were musculoskeletal disorders (47.2%, n = 188) and mental ill-health (38.4%, n = 153). Being over 50 years old (Odds ratio (OR) 2.63, confidence interval 95% CI [2.13–3.25]) and being a woman (OR 1.52, 95% CI [1.21–1.91]) were associated with the all-cause unfitness, independent of occupation and activity sector.

Conclusions

Identification of occupational and demographic determinants independently associated with ill-health related job loss may provide significant and cost-effective arguments for health promotion and job loss prevention.

Work, Health, Safety and Well-Being: Current State of the Art

This introductory chapter will present a review of the current state of the art in relation to employee health, safety and well-being (HSW). The work environment and the nature of work itself are both important influences on HSW. A substantial part of the general morbidity of the population is related to work. It is estimated that workers suffer 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million occupational diseases each year. The chapter will first define HSW. It will then review the current state of the art by outlining key HSW issues in the contemporary world of work, identifying key needs. It will then discuss the evolution of key theoretical perspectives in this area by linking theory to practice and highlighting the need for aligning perspectives and integrating approaches to managing HSW in the workplace.

Ill Health-Related Job Loss: A One-Year Follow-Up of 54,026 Employees

INTRODUCTION

The diagnoses of workers being unfit to work may be a relevant health indicator. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the one-year incidence of an unfit to work diagnosis.

METHOD

This one-year prospective study included all workers undergoing annual work medical examination from occupational health services in Troyes, France.

RESULTS

Twenty-one occupational physicians followed 54,026 employees. The all-cause incidence of being unfit to return to work was 0.772%. The two main causes of being unfit to work were musculoskeletal disorders (61%) and psychopathologies (24%). The relative risk (RR) of being unfit to work, independent of the cause, was higher when employees were aged over 50 years (RR = 2.51), and female (RR = 1.51).

CONCLUSIONS

Prospective results from occupational physicians' medical records may provide significant and cost-effective directions to prioritize actions and target health promotion in the workplace.

Musculoskeletal problems and fluoride exposure: A cross-sectional study among metal smelting workers

Frequent and repetitive activities in job and awkward postures are shown as major contributors of musculoskeletal problems in most of the occupational health studies; however, efforts to explore newer risk factor are important to plan interventional measures. In this backdrop, this study examined contribution of fluoride exposure to musculoskeletal complaints. A cross-sectional interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted involving 180 randomly selected subjects from a metal smelting industry. Clinical examination of the subjects was also performed to assess their health status and morbidity details. Assessment of personal exposure to particulate and gaseous fluoride at workplace was conducted. Urinary fluoride level was also examined in post-shift samples collected from study subjects. The mean age of the study subjects was 39.1 (±6.7) years. Majority of the workers (42.5%) were engaged in pot room. About 54% workers were suffering from backache and 66% subjects had joint pain. Exposure of workers to both particulate and gaseous fluoride and post-working shift urinary fluoride level was significantly higher in pot-room workers in comparison with all other workers. It was observed that age (odds ratio (OR): 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18-2.34), drinking untreated water (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.03-2.76), working in pot room (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.13-1.91) and urinary fluoride level (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 1.81-3.75) had significant effects on musculoskeletal complaints. This study concludes that along with other predictors such as nature of work, posture at work and age of worker, exposure to fluoride also has significant role in the occurrence of musculoskeletal morbidity.

Annual incidence of non-specific low back pain as an occupational disease attributed to whole-body vibration according to the National Dutch Register 2005-2012

Non-specific low back pain (nLBP) is the second most important reason for sick leave in the Netherlands, and more than 50% of the workers on sick leave attribute these complaints to their work. To stimulate recognition and prevention, an occupational disease (OD) registration-guideline was implemented for the assessment of the work-relatedness of nLBP in the Netherlands in 2005. The aim of this study is to present the annual incidence of nLBP as an OD and specifically for whole-body vibration (WBV) including patient characteristics such as age, sick leave and actions initiated by the occupational physician (OP). The data were retrieved from the National Dutch Register for 2005-2012. Each year about 118 OPs reported 509 cases (SD 139) of nLBP as an OD in a Dutch working population of 7.5 million workers (8% of all annual reported ODs). Less than 1% of these cases were attributed to WBV: 94% were men, 45% were between 51 and 60 years and 35% were on sick leave for more than 2 weeks. Most initiated actions were ergonomic interventions (35%).

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY

The number of notified cases of nLPB as an occupational disease attributed to whole-body vibration is low with less than 1% of all cases in the Netherlands. An explanation is that other work-related risk factors for nLBP such as lifting are more frequently occurring, more visible and have a higher attributable risk than WBV. However, continuing attention for WBV remains warranted given a higher percentage of cases with sick leave of more than 2 weeks.

Risk perception and risk communication for training women apprentice welders: a challenge for public health nursing

This research has aimed to identify the perceptions of women apprentice welders about physical, chemical, biological, and physiological risk factors to which they are exposed and evaluate the identification of health disorders self-reported for women apprentice welders before and after implementation of a nursing socioenvironmental intervention. A quantitative study was performed with 27 women apprentice welders (first phase) and before and after an intervention with 18 women (second phase) in Southern Brazil in 2011. The data were analysed using SPSS 19.0. The participants identified the following risk types: physical (96.2%), chemical (96.2%), physiological (88.8%), and biological (62.9%). The results show a significant difference of the pre- and posttest averages for the musculoskeletal system and a posttest average increase for the integumentary, respiratory, and auditory system. A correlation of the women apprentices' ages and the identification of health disorders were made. It was understood that the perception of women apprentices regarding a particular set of occupational risks is essential for public health nursing to develop an effective risk communication as a positive tool for teaching and learning.

Risk communication as a tool for training apprentice welders: a study about risk perception and occupational accidents

The present study has aimed to identify the perceptions of apprentice welders about physical, chemical, biological, and physiological risk factors to which they are exposed; identify types of occupational accidents involving apprentice welders; and report the development of a socioenvironmental education intervention as a tool for risk communication for apprentice welders. A quantitative study was performed with 161 apprentice welders in Southern Brazil in 2011. Data collection was performed via structured interviews with the apprentice welders about risk perception, occupational accidents, and time experienced in welding. The data were analyzed using SPSS 19.0. The participants identified the following risk types: physical (96.9%), chemical (95%), physiological (86.3%), and biological (51.5%). In this sample, 39.7% of apprentice welders reported occupational accidents and 27.3% reported burning. The inferential analysis showed that the frequency of risk perception factors increases with the length of experience, and apprentice welders who have experienced accidents during welding activity perceive a higher amount of risk factors than those who have never experienced them. It is concluded that apprentice welders perceive risks and that they tend to relate risks with the occurrence of occupational accidents as an indicator of the dangerous nature of their activity.

A multivariate analysis of factors associated with early offer and acceptance of a work accommodation following an occupational musculoskeletal injury

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors associated with offer and acceptance of work accommodation.

METHODS

In 401 claimants with musculoskeletal injuries, two logistic regressions identified individual and workplace factors associated with work accommodation offer and acceptance.

RESULTS

Unionized status, strong disability management policies and practices, low supervisor support, and pink collar occupation were associated with work accommodation offer. Job tenure over 1 year and lighter physical work were associated with acceptance. Younger age and more repetitive physical work demands were positively associated with both outcomes. Pink-collar status was positively associated with offers, but negatively with acceptance. Gender, mental health, pain, job satisfaction, firm size, people-oriented culture, safety climate, and ergonomic practices were not significant predictors.

CONCLUSIONS

One month post-injury, workplace factors and age are determinants of offer and acceptance of work accommodation, while individual health factors play no significant role.