Abstract
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are the most common source of occupational health problems in Western countries. In Spain, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) can be reported either as accidents or occupational diseases. When reported as an occupational disease, a full diagnosis is performed, as the compensation system needs the approval of the social security authority and a mandatory investigation has to be performed. Although many methods are available for investigating the causes of occupational accidents, occupational diseases have not been analysed with the same depth, and there is a lack of investigation methods. This paper aims to analyse the role of 43 occupational investigations of causes of musculoskeletal diseases in the prevention cycle. This study is based on the occupational investigations performed by workplaces’ occupational health and safety specialists when musculoskeletal diseases are reported. The analysis of the data involves descriptive statistics and the Φ coefficient. Based on administrative data, 68 workplaces employing 15,260 workers were surveyed and 41 workplaces with 13,201 workers submitted valid questionnaires to be analysed. The most frequent cause of reported musculoskeletal disease, in terms of primary risk, is repetitive movement. The only proposed measure with a significant association to the exposure by repetitive movements is job rotation (alternating workers between tasks within a job or between activities as a means to vary different levels of exposure). The investigation of occupational diseases has been useful in most of the cases for proposing preventive measures. Most of the workplaces surveyed have performed investigations and adopted preventive measures, but the managers of some workplaces were not aware of any disease notification regarding their workers when surveyed. More research is needed to provide tools for this important task.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) continue to be a major source of disability and lost work time [1]
The importance of MSDs in the European Union has been analysed by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work [2], showing that MSDs are by far the most significant occupational health problem
The cost of MSDs is considerable to the social security systems of Spain and most Western countries [3,4]
Summary
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) continue to be a major source of disability and lost work time [1]. The importance of MSDs in the European Union has been analysed by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work [2], showing that MSDs are by far the most significant occupational health problem. The cost of MSDs is considerable to the social security systems of Spain and most Western countries [3,4]. These facts justify the need for a better understanding of the causes of MSDs and possible interventions to prevent them, including the need for a holistic approach [5]. Public Health 2019, 16, 1682; doi:10.3390/ijerph16101682 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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