Abstract
Occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals have a key role in supporting the health and work ability of employees, including preventing and handling musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at workplaces. MSDs are the leading cause of work disability, productivity loss and sickness absence in Europe. This may be due to limited consensus on use of effective OHS practices as facilitation of evidence-based practices increases quality of provided services. This study explored consensus of OHS professionals’ practices and examined OHS professionals’ request for development of evidence-based guidelines for prevention and handling of MSDs at workplaces. This was done by 1) field observations and interviews with OHS professionals working with ergonomics or MSDs at workplaces, 2) development and pilot testing of a panel survey, 3) a three-round expert panel survey and 4) workshop with OHS stakeholders within the OHS organisations in Denmark. The findings indicate limited consensus of OHS practices and a request for development of practice- and evidence-based guidelines for prevention and handling of work-related MSDs in Denmark. The study also presents an end user involving process for increased uptake and implementation of guidelines.
Highlights
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) represent a considerable eco nomic burden and are the leading cause of work disability, productivity loss and sickness absence in Europe (Bevan, 2015)
The results revealed that there was great variation in Occupational health and safety (OHS) challenges encountered by the OHS professionals and limited consensus on OHS practices related to prevention and handling of work-related MSDs
The findings of this study showed that there is limited consensus among a sample of OHS professionals for OHS practices re lated to prevention and handling of MSDs at workplaces in Denmark
Summary
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) represent a considerable eco nomic burden and are the leading cause of work disability, productivity loss and sickness absence in Europe (Bevan, 2015). It is estimated that the total cost of lost pro ductivity attributable to MSDs among people in the working age in EU are up to 2% of the gross domestic product (Cammarato, 2007). A recent systematic review indicated that OHS activities such as the introduction and enforcement of legislation and workplace in spections are effective in reducing injuries and improving compliance with OHS regulation, and it is recommended to strengthen and improve these OHS activities for improving safety and health at workplaces (Andersen, 2018). The review found a major research gap with respect to the effect of OHS regulation tar geting psychosocial work environment and MSDs (Andersen, 2018)
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