European good practices to help cut workplace illness for millions

“Musculoskeletal disorders are the number one workplace illness in Europe, affecting millions of workers and costing the economy up to 1.6% of GDP. We can no longer afford to waste Europe's potential and have to "lighten the load" on all workers suffering from MSD,” said Vladimír Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. “This campaign has helped to raise awareness of this huge issue and the good practices will help us prevent future suffering.”

The ‘Lighten the Load’ campaign aimed to promote an integrated approach to tackling MSDs while also helping workers affected by them continue in work. It complements the EU's new strategy for health and safety at work (2007–2012) which targets occupational ill health and aims to cut by a quarter work-related accidents across the EU.

Marjeta Cotman, Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs representing the Slovenian EU Presidency, added: “The recent campaign has focused on the promotion of a comprehensive approach to addressing the issue of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), covering both prevention and efforts to enable workers affected by these diseases to stay in companies and to take care of the rehabilitation of these workers and their reintegration into the work environment. We firmly believe that this year’s European campaign has contributed to improving the work environment of the European worker, making it better, less stressful and healthier, and that the joint European campaign will contribute to reducing the levels of work-related injury and professional disease.”

Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, pointed out that the Agency’s ‘Prevention Report’ gives many clues about how to tackle MSDs at the workplace. “It suggests, for example, that the introduction of additional breaks into repetitive work will significantly decrease MSDs and may be achievable without loss of productivity. It also emphasizes that only a multidisciplinary approach – including organisational, technical and personal measures – will succeed in effectively preventing MSDs. Workers, employers and occupational safety and health professionals must work hand in hand.”

More than 500 delegates, including European Union policy-makers, social partners and leading safety and health experts, gathered at the Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao, Spain on 26 February. The summit was the culmination of the ‘Lighten the Load’ campaign, which promoted an integrated management approach to tackling MSDs, embracing prevention and the retention, rehabilitation and reintegration of workers. In 2007, several hundred events were organised by EU-OSHA, its focal point network and other organisations across Europe.

At the summit, the delegates attended three parallel workshops on statistics, MSD prevention in the workplace and reintegration of workers with MSDs. Afterwards, nine organisations from six EU Member States received the European Good Practice Awards; an additional 11 entries were commended.

Among the winners were projects that

• eliminated MSD problems experienced by handling heavy wooden pallets;
• developed an ergonomically designed sewing workstation;
• introduced a load moving system to reduce manual handling in a greenhouse.

More details on the winners.

• ‘Lighten the Load’ campaign 
• Good Practice Award Booklet 2007
• Work-related MSDs: Prevention Report
• Community strategy for Health and Safety at work (2007–2012)

International press: Birgit Müller, Press Officer   European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Bilbao, tel. +34 94 479 35 52

Brussels: Brenda O'Brien, Brussels Liaison Officer, NCI Business Centre, Rue Wiertz 50, 1050 Brussels, tel. +32 2 401 68 59

Bilbao and Spanish press: Marta Urrutia,   Project Manager, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Bilbao tel. +34 94 479 57 46

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain,

Fax: +34 94 479 4383

was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

are the most common work-related health problem in Europe, affecting millions of workers. Across the 27 EU Member States, 25% of workers complain of backache and 23% report muscular pains.

MSDs are not restricted to older male workers in manual jobs. Physically demanding tasks such as working in awkward positions, handling heavy loads, prolonged standing and sitting, and repetitive work appear to be common among young workers which mean that they are at considerable risk of developing MSDs. It is estimated that nearly 4 million young workers in the EU under the age of 25 have backpain.

If MSDs do not respect age, they do not respect gender either. According to recent surveys, in the health care sector for example, an estimated 6 to 7 million women lift or move people and 3-4 million report backpain. In the retail sector, about 4-6 million women have to carry or move heavy loads, and about 10-11 Mio women are exposed to prolonged standing or walking.

MSDs are impairments of the bodily structures such as muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves, or localised blood circulation systems that are caused or aggravated primarily by the performance of work and by the effects of the immediate environment where the work is carried out.

While they may be traditionally associated with manual workers, MSDs affect millions of Europeans in all employment sectors, with the highest rates found in agriculture and construction.

They take a high toll on individual companies, workers and their families, and on society at large. The cost of MSDs to business is reflected in medical and social security expenses, compensation payments and lost productivity. But MSDs also cause personal suffering to many workers and their families.