Preventing musculoskeletal disorders in practice

OSH in figures: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the EU - Facts and figures

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) remain the most common occupational disease in the European Union and workers in all sectors and occupations can be affected. Recent figures, for example from Austria, Germany or France, also demonstrate an increasing impact of musculoskeletal disorders on costs. This latest report, following on from the Agency’s previous research, aims to give an updated overview of the current European situation as regards musculoskeletal disorders, the trends over the years since the first campaign in 2000, and a detailed insight into the causes and circumstances behind MSDs. The report highlights the main issues and aims to provide a well-founded evidence base, helping policy makers, actors at enterprise and sector level, as well as researchers and those who record, prevent and compensate occupational diseases in the European Union to set the agenda for the next years.

Factsheet 89 - Safe maintenance – For employers Safe workers – Save money

Maintenance is carried out in every workplace and in all industry sectors. Considering the wide range of hazards and risks associated with maintenance, it may be necessary to include it in the comprehensive management system of the company. Allocating sufficient time and resources, ensuring training and competence of the maintenance staff, putting in place safe systems of work based on an appropriate risk assessment, effective communication between production and maintenance staff are key issues.

The occupational safety and health of cleaning workers

This report provides an overview of the most important issues related to occupational safety and health (OSH) for cleaning workers in terms of working conditions, risks and prevalence of exposures and health outcomes, and identifies information gaps and challenges. Cleaning includes a broad range of activities performed in different work environments across all sectors. The risks to which cleaners are exposed therefore depend on the tasks they perform and the premises they work in. As most of the cleaning work is performed as contract cleaning, employers sometimes face difficulties in controlling the OSH conditions in the "host companies" where their staff work. Accessing information on occupational accidents and diseases remains challenging as cleaning workers are spread over different sectors and it is therefore difficult to put monitoring systems in place. In addition, a significant part of the cleaning workforce is undeclared, especially in private households, which also complicates data collection. Studies on work-related diseases indicate that MSDs, respiratory diseases, including asthma, skin diseases and mental ill health are the most common work-related health effects found in cleaners, and suggest a higher prevalence of health problems in cleaning workers than in other sectors.