Participatory ergonomics and preventing musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace

This discussion paper provides an introduction to participatory approaches to ergonomics and looks at their effectiveness in preventing work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Participatory ergonomics interventions involve the people who actually do the work in designing solutions to reduce associated ergonomic risks. The paper explains how it works, looks at some of the advantages of these approaches, and explains why it can be difficult to evaluate their success. It also presents practical resources, further reading and a number of case studies on using participatory ergonomics to reduce musculoskeletal disorder risks in the workplace.