This case study looks at how participatory workshops for childcare workers can help them to identify, analyse and find solutions to MSD-related risks. Occupational safety and health advisors and a research team in Denmark co-developed a participatory ergonomics intervention project.

The work of some 600 older support staff at University Hospital Vienna, the largest hospital in Austria, is physically strenuous. A new work environment designed to accommodate this ageing workforce was needed. With the involvement and participation of workers, the hospital introduced measures such...

In 2020, MSDs were responsible for about a third of absences at Siun sote – Joint municipal authority for North Karelia social and health services. The Finnish organisation produced a comprehensive ergonomics expertise action plan for care and support work. This ergonomics model emphasises MSD...

The UK legislative framework addressing MSDs has been in place for nearly 40 years, and the policy approach is to inform and enable employers, encouraging them to address risks. The strategy under discussion is the latest in a series of initiatives stretching back 20 years. MSDs are addressed under...

This technical note on prevention aims to summarise the Dotte method, which is designed to facilitate the mobilisation of patients and dependent persons or those with limited mobility, thus minimising MSDs.

This discussion paper reviews the literature on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in healthcare workplaces. It presents an overview of MSDs and their prevalence in the healthcare sector, reviews the risk factors and discusses effective interventions to prevent, reduce and manage MSDs in healthcare...

This articles presents MSDs as the leading cause of work-related health problems in the healthcare sector. The effects for staff, organisations and society include sickness absence, injuries and disability, increased costs, higher employee turnover, lower productivity and staff leaving the...