A new MSDs

While searching for information about Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) a new item came up:  Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs).  The US National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in response to a charge from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the National Institutes of Health to conduct a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on the relationship of work and the workplace to musculoskeletal disorders of the low back and upper extremities.

The report from a panel of experts indicates that, in the US alone, Musculoskeletal disorders account for nearly 70 million physician office visits in the United States annually and an estimated 130 million total health care encounters including outpatient, hospital, and emergency room visits.  In 1999, nearly 1 million people took time away from work to treat and recover from work-related musculoskeletal pain or impairment of function in the low back or upper extremities.  Conservative estimates of the economic burden imposed, as measured by compensation costs, lost wages, and lost productivity, are between $45 and $54 billion annually. 

On a recent factory visit in Cambodia the issue of potential MSDs injury was clear for the more than 5,000 mainly female clothing workers.  Perhaps two thirds of the workers sewed at fixed work stations sitting on stools with no back rest and no adjustment.  Many had adopted very poor postures as they worked in cramped conditions.  During the Trainer training course the importance of adjustable seating was demonstrated by lining up the twelve participants.  If the seat (with a sturdy back as recommended by ILO) should be the height at which the feet can be firmly on the floor then with fixed seating all knees must be at the same height.  It was clear, even from a group of 12 participants, that there were significant variations in height.  There were about 8 cms difference from smallest to tallest.

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