How to Manage Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders
Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions can cause pain across the body, which can make it difficult for employees to carry out their regular responsibilities.
In fact, here in the UK, musculoskeletal conditions accounts for almost one-fifth of sick days between 2022 and 2023. As such, looking for ways to prevent or support MSK injuries is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of long-term sick leave within the workforce.
In this article, we’ll look at what musculoskeletal are, how work-related musculoskeletal disorders impact the work environment, and how musculoskeletal disorders can be prevented.
What is MSK?
MSK stands for ‘musculoskeletal’, which refers to the health and performance of the locomotor system in the body – your muscles, bones, joints, and connective tissues.
In full, your locomotor system is made up of your skeleton, skeletal muscles, ligaments, tendons, and cartilage as well, and injuring this system can lead to acute or chronic pain. For example, an MSK injury such as a fracture may result in sudden and intense (acute) pain, where as pre-existing MSK health conditions, such as arthritis, can cause more long-lasting pain.
However, many MSK injuries have acute and chronic pain patterns. You may have a consistent pain that feels like a muscle ache but experience regular or irregular painful acute spells that can be quite debilitating.
In addition to physical pain, musculoskeletal conditions can also cause the following symptoms:
Fatigue.
Pain in the bones.
Stiff and inflamed joints.
Muscle spasms or cramps.
Pain in tendons or ligaments.
While musculoskeletal conditions can generally be treated or managed with medications or physiotherapy, they may lead to difficulties with day-to-day tasks, such as work, shopping, or cleaning.
What does WRMSD stand for?
Certain work environments can exacerbate or even cause MSK issues, which is known as work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WRMSD).
Common examples of WRMSD conditions include carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, and tension neck syndrome. These are caused by repetitive actions which lead to strain in the area over time.
There are also some WRMSD conditions that are caused by accidents in the workplace. For example, lifting, carrying, pulling, or pushing a heavy item incorrectly can put excess pressure on the muscles, which can strain or even sprain them.
For employees, it’s important to discuss adjustment plans with your manager should you suffer an MSK injury. Similarly, employers should make themselves available for discussion, if an employee needs help with pain from an injury related to WRMSD or pre-existing musculoskeletal conditions.
How can employees be impacted by musculoskeletal conditions?
There are two common types of WRMSD – musculoskeletal strain in the neck and musculoskeletal strain in the lower back. Both types of strain can feel quite intense and can often be accompanied by muscle spasms too.
While any occupation has the potential to cause WRMSD, it is more common within manual labour, construction, warehouse workers, health workers, and office jobs.
As a result, an employee may need time off to recover from MSK pain resulting from a WRMSD. Even when they are in work, they may not be able to carry out their usual tasks and responsibilities in the same capacity, impacting productivity. In fact, WRMSDs are one of the most common reasons for sick leave in the NHS, costing more than £7 million in sickness leave costs.
What can I do to reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders?
Whether from a strain at work or through daily wear and tear, it’s estimated that 1 in 10 employees in the UK have a musculoskeletal injury – and then 1 in 3 employees will not inform their employer about their condition.
While it may seem difficult, especially if people don’t come forward, it is important to make sure musculoskeletal disorders are prevented or minimised within your workforce. Not only will prevention help reduce the amount of sick leave, it helps foster a healthy workplace as well.
You can try these five simple tips to help reduce the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders for your people:
1. Offer proper training
Providing your workforce with proper training on how to conduct their roles safely is one of the best ways to minimise the risk of WRMSDs.
For example, an office worker may experience musculoskeletal strain in the neck from not sitting at their desk properly. During their onboarding, and within annual training, it’s important to give them Display Screen Equipment (DSE) training, so they know how to sit at the desk properly to avoid this MSK injury. Similarly, if there is any heavy machinery used within the role, providing detailed operational training is vital to keep them safe.
2. Be aware of risk factors
Considering the risk of your employees’ roles is essential to minimising the impact of WRMSD on your workforce.
When risk factors are not monitored, it can lead to a worsening of already-present symptoms of musculoskeletal conditions or even cause a MSK injury in itself. The top three risk factors that contribute to MSK injuries are:
Force: This includes heavy lifting, pulling or pushing an object, squeezing a hand tool, or excessive typing.
Improper posture: Common examples of ‘improper posture’ include slouching forward to look at a computer screen, leaning on a desk, or sitting too far back in an office chair.
Repetition: Both force and improper posture can lead to or exacerbate musculoskeletal conditions when the action is repeated frequently.
While these are the three primary risk factors to be aware of, it’s useful to consider any further risk factors that may be specific to your line of work. For example, vibrations from heavy machinery may be a risk factor on a construction site, as whole body vibration (WBV) exposure can cause or exacerbate musculoskeletal conditions.
3. Create a safe environment
Fostering an environment where employees feel safe to come forward about WRMSD pain is crucial to reducing the impact of them.
You can do this by raising awareness on what WRMSD is and how your workforce can look to minimise the risk. Encouraging those who may be struggling with WRMSD to share their experiences, could also help highlight and tackle common musculoskeletal risks your workforce may experience.
Having a well-planned health and wellbeing strategy is also crucial when trying to prevent or tackle WRMSD issues effectively. Start by talking to your employees to understand what they need for health and safety, which will help inform the strategy you present to any senior management teams. Once approved and launched, make sure to regularly check in with your workforce to ensure the strategy is working and help make any necessary changes to it.
4. Encourage regular breaks from desks
Sitting at a desk for extended periods of time can worsen some WRMSD conditions, so it’s important to encourage everyone to take regular breaks from their desks.
You can do this by setting up lunch time walking groups, where colleagues can leave the office and engage in some physical activity together, should they choose to. Where possible, it’s also beneficial to offer walking meetings to help get people moving throughout the day.
Additionally, it’s typically recommended to stand up from a desk for about 5 to 10 minutes every hour. Try encouraging everyone to take a brief walk around the office to grab some water or make a cup of tea, so they can stretch their legs and help stave off WRMSD pain.
5. Provide proper equipment
Whether operating an in office, work from home, or hybrid working environment, it’s important to provide your employees with proper equipment to avoid causing WRMSD.
For example, in an office environment, it’s key to make sure all your people have a suitable desk and chair set-up. Their chair should be suited to their size to ensure it encourages their natural posture, so make sure to check whether an employee needs an adjusted seat, such as a petite desk chair.
Other examples of right equipment could include step ladders for warehouse workers, as well as lifts or trolleys for moving and carrying heavier loads.
For hybrid or full-time work from home positions, it’s vital to ensure your employees have a safe at-home set-up. This means helping them with laptop risers, additional screens and separate mouse and keyboard if necessary.
How are MSK injuries treated?
Musculoskeletal treatments typically involve a combined holistic and medical approach, while extreme cases may require surgery to reduce the pain.
For example, acupuncture and therapeutic massages can help with musculoskeletal strain in the neck and lower back. Anti-inflammatory medication may also be prescribed by your general practice clinicians, or pharmacists to reduce any swelling in ligaments and muscles. Additionally, you may be offered pain management injections to help alleviate MSK pain caused by work.
While some cases of MSK injuries can go away in time, they can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to treat, depending on the severity of the injury. However, pre-existing musculoskeletal conditions are different and flare ups may mean the individual needs additional time off or support to recover.
You should work alongside your employees to provide amended duties or extended sick leave should they be dealing with an MSK injury or MSK condition. This will help keep them comfortable and relatively pain free when they are in work.
To keep your workforce safe and reduce the need for employee downtime from sick leave, it is important to stay on top of preventative measures. For example, always encourage employees to speak to a medical professional should they be experiencing MSK or WRMSD pain, as appropriate treatment can help minimise time off from pain and illness.
How can Benenden Healthcare for Business help?
Benenden Healthcare for Business can help you provide affordable and effective health care solutions to your employees. With Benenden Health, members can access to 24/7 GP and Mental Health helplines, as well as request a telephone or video call with a physiotherapist who will assess them to find out if they are likely to benefit from the physiotherapy we offer.
Now you know what MSK and WRMSDs are, as well as ways to prevent them, you may want to explore other ways to support the health and wellbeing of your people. Alternatively, read our handy guide on understanding the health needs of different generations in the workplace to learn more about physical, mental and financial health needs of your multigenerational staff.
