Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
January 3, 2011 | Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
Jobs which entail doing the same activity, often in awkward positions over and over again can lead to musculoskeletal disorders. These disorders can be painful and can cause much concern as the body muscles, tendons and ligaments are commonly affected.
Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD’s) are commonly related to the upper parts of the body like the neck, shoulders, hands and wrists since these are typically used in manual type work, although the lower body regions can equally be affected including the back.
Since WMSD’s is not a specific disease it has no clear classification but sometimes is referred to as –
- Repetitive strain injury, repetitive motion injury.
- Trauma disorder or occupational cervicobrachial disorder.
- Soft tissue disorder and overuse syndrome.
Risk Factors Associated with WSMD’s.
The assembly line kind of job typically involves body movements such as bending and straightening up, grasping, gripping, and clenching. Which all necessitate much arm and hand movement.
It is not so much the actual individual movement which brings on the effects of WSMD’s but that the movements involve speed and much repetition with hardly any time between each movement for the muscle involved to recover. Work situations like the following can easily induce WSMD’s in the worker –
- Repetitive movement carried out continually.
- Carrying out such movements in a restricted space.
- The speed of the assembly operation allows no time for recovery between movements.
- The same body part is in use all of the time.
Repetitive movement is by far the greatest risk factor in bringing on WSMD’s, However it is by no mean the only cause, as other factors are equally involved such as body position. If the repetitive motion requires the neck and shoulders to be held in the same position continually then strain will be felt in these areas.
If the repetitive task involves the application of muscular force, this can increase the risk of WSMD’s also. The greater the force needed to complete each individual action the greater the fatigue factor becomes, since there is no recovery time allowed by the repetitive motion.
There are three main types of injury associated with WSMD’s –
- Injury to muscles.
- Tendon injury.
- Injury to the nerves.
WSMD’s are a major cause of down time in labor intense industries. They are neither beneficial to the worker or to the economics of the employer. Serious consideration must be given by job planners in ensuring a good work layout, along with adequate tooling and equipment. The well being of the man doing the job is as equally important as the profitability of the company!