MSDs - facts and figures
from the EU and from EU
Member States
Dr. Elke Schneider,
European Agency for
Safety and Health at Work
This presentation:
o The Agency and its European risk observatory
o The problem
o Risk observatory data – only some to stimulate
debate: Women, young workers, healthcare,
temporary agency workers, teleworkers
o Issues to be considered - conclusions
European risk observatory
 Provide an overview of OSH/MSDs in Europe (no
benchmarking or country comparisons)
 Highlight trends on OSH/MSDs outcomes and risk
factors
 Provide early identification of newly emerging risks
in the workplace
 Identify areas/issues where more information
needed
http://riskobservatory.osha.europa.eu/
MSDs affect……
 Muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves in the
back, neck, shoulders and upper/lower limbs
 The risk factors, working alone or in combination,
include:
o physical - force, repetitive movements, vibration,
awkward postures
o organisational - low autonomy/job satisfaction, repetitive
work at a high pace
o individual - medical history, physical capacity, age
Most common recognised occupational disease in Europe
(% of total ODs , EODS 2002-2005. EU15, except Germany, Greece and Ireland)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
59,0
52,953,055,2
35,034,736,338,1
20,9
17,918,419,0
0,90,80,60,5
Infections
13,113,913,712,8
14,3
13,714,515,6
Diseases of
sensory organs
Respiratory
diseases
4,54,75,25,1
Cancers
Neurologic
diseases
2002
2003
2004
2005
11,110,78,0
7,1
Skin diseases Musculoskeletal MSD + carpal
diseases
tunnel
EU data – Recognised occupational diseases by gender
(% of total ODs , EODS 2002-2005. EU15, except Germany, Greece and Ireland)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
82,184,8
77,377,4
1,1 1,01,1 0,7
0,70,6 0,70,8
Infections
Cancers
Neurologic
diseases

45,3
43,6
43,345,2
37,039,6
33,834,1
0,9 1,11,1 0,8
4,24,7 3,83,5
Diseases of
sensory organs
Respiratory
diseases
2002
2003
2004
15,615,1
11,19,3
Skin diseases
Musculoskeletal
diseases
MSD + carpal
tunnel
2005
42,846,0
41,841,8
32,234,5
31,130,7
18,619,819,518,7
0,8 0,70,4 0,4
Infections
6,2 6,67,3 7,2
Cancers
10,711,2
10,611,6
Neurologic
diseases
21,019,8
18,119,0
9,1 8,76,6 5,9
Diseases of
sensory organs
2002
2003
Respiratory
diseases
2004
2005
Skin diseases
Musculoskeletal
diseases
MSD + carpal
tunnel

EU data - MSDs (EODS 2002-2005)
 Trends:
o MSD + carpal tunnel sdr increased by 32% from
2002 to 2005 (by 39% among women)
o MSD + carpal tunnel sdr accounted for 59% of
all recognised disease covered by EODS in
2005 (about 85% of all ODs among women)
 Focuses mainly on upper-limb disorders
o mostly three diseases: hand/arm tenosynovitis,
epicondylitis of the elbow and carpal tunnel
syndrome
MSDs – occupational diseases data from Member States
are variable, but indicate that it is an important issue
 UK- MSDs most commonly reported type of workrelated illness, with an estimated 1,012,000 people
affected
 Spain: The number of MSD has fluctuated since 2000
between 12 884 to 20 489 (83,3% to 86,4% of the
total of occupational diseases)
 Germany: The highest number of working days lost
due to MSDs (2002: 26%, 2004: 24,3%)
 Poland: cases of vibration syndrome are the most
common chronic musculoskeletal disease
Costs due to MSDs (source: eurogip)
Groups at risk - Trends in employment (2004 data)
 More than 66% of the workforce is employed in
the services industry
 Biggest employers manufacturing industry (19%),
wholesale and retail trade (16%), health (10%)
and education (7%)
 In 2003, among the jobs created in newly born
enterprises in that year, about 72 % were within
services and 17 % in construction.
 Employment has also risen substantially in the
elementary occupations and in “service workers
and shop and market sales workers”
+
+
-
MSDs in service sectors increasing
Spain - occupational diseases - MSD
EVOLUTION OF MSD
(% TOTAL OF THE SECTOR)
90,0
85,0
AGRICULTURE
80,0
FISHING
75,0
INDUSTRY
70,0
CONSTRUCTION
65,0
SERVICES
60,0
TOTAL
55,0
50,0
2000
2001
2002
2003
Source: Occupational Diseases File
Spain – body part affected by MSDs by sector
Source: VI Encuesta Nacional (2006)
Spain, main postures at workplaces
60
52,5
50
40
42,144
36,5
28
30
20
Agriculture
16,2
31,7
Industry
Construction
20,3
18,2
15,7
6,2 7,7
10
14,5
10,5
4,6 4,5
Services
0
Standing,
rarely walking
Standing,
frequently
walking
Sitting,
without
getting up
Sitting,
getting up
Source: VI Encuesta Nacional (2006)
Gender dimension
 activities where the majority of the EU-27 workforce
were women in 2006:
o textiles,clothing, leather + footwear manufacturing
o retail trade and repair
o hotels and restaurants
o financial services
o health care and social work
Recognised MSDs – EU data by gender
(absolute number of MSDs and carpal tunnel sdr, EODS 2002-2005. EU15,
except Germany, Greece and Ireland)
30000
25458
23145
21951
20232
25000
20000
15000
10000
8748
7885
7064
6617
6901
6113
5861
5033
6397
5821
5721
5153

5000
85 84 82 76
657662721621
Arthrosis of
the elbow
M eniscal
lesions
345312315307
1258119612571197
7338889871123
Bursitis of
elbow
Bursitis of
knee
M edial
epicondylitis
35163 64 88
0
25000
Carpal tunnel
sdr
Hand or wrist
tenosynovitis
20000
2002
2003
2004
Lateral
epicondylitis
Arthrosis of
the wrist
Total M SDs +
23588
carpal tunnel
20542
18694
17026
2005
15000
10000
10996
9243
8236
7420
5516061
6
5385
4994
5402
4414945
9
4031
5000
4 6 5 5
36 32 30 51
A rthro sis o f
the elbo w
M eniscal
lesio ns
35 26 25 178
79 73 90 93
396510682776
B ursitis o f
elbo w
B ursitis o f
knee
M edial
epico ndylitis
31 7 6 26
0
Carpal tunnel
sdr
Hand o r wrist
teno syno vitis
2002
2003
2004
2005
Lateral
epico ndylitis
A rthro sis o f
the wrist
To tal M SDs +
carpal tunnel

Spain – Health problems of workers by body part and gender
Neck ache significantly more frequent in women than men (32 vs.24 %)
24,0
Nape/Neck
32,2
Base:
Total of
workers
10,0
10,7
12,5
11,4
Should ers
Arms/Forearms
1,5
1,2
Elbows
6,8
7,5
Hands/Wrists/Fingers
25,2
Upper Back
Male
29,6
Female
40,9
40,6
Lower Back
4,6
4,4
Buttocks/Hips
1,2
1,0
Thighs
4,5
Knees
7,2
12,7
Legs
16,6
6,0
6,7
Feet/Ankles
0
5
10
15
20
25
% workers
30
35
40
45
Source:
National
Survey of
Working
Conditions
(published
2007)
Groups at risk – women in manufacturing
(EU data from EWCS 2005)
80
73,1
70
62 62,3
60
50,3
50
40
30
42
27,7
22,324,7
26
66
59,6
56,1
45,5
30
25,8
20,522,5
20,822,8
24,2
20
10,1
10
0
Backache
Muscular
pains
Tiring/painful
positions (at
least 25% of
the tim e)
Fem ale Manufacturing
Overall
fatigue
Repetitive
hand/arm
m ovem ents
(at least 25%
of the tim e)
Fem ale Total EU27
Work at very
high speed
(at least 25%
of the tim e)
Total EU27
Vibration (at
least 25% of
the tim e)
Health care sector, Europe
 About 78% are female.
 + 10% from 2000-2006 in the EU-27 as compared to
the total: 8.6% to 9.5 % of all workers
 Within the female working population it has increased
from 15 to 17%.
 About 3 % of the EU working population (or 6.8
million) are women who work in the health care
sector and who have to lift or move people.
 In the health care sector, an estimated 6-7 million
women lift or move people and 3-4 million report
backpain
Health care workers carry more than construction
workers (Germany, BAuA survey, published Nov.2007)
 2 in 3 have to carry heavy loads (compared to 1 in 2 for
construction workers)
 93,8% have to do their work standing
 36% have to work in unfavourable postures (kneeling,
bending, squatting, etc.)
 71% have to do more than one task at a time
 More than ¾ (76%) work shifts
 More than half work nights (51%)
 Almost all work Saturdays, Sundays and holidays (94%,
91,5%)
Health care workers carry more than construction workers
(Germany, BAuA survey, published Nov.2007)
 57% men and 64 % women have back pain
 66 % women and 54% men have pain in neck and
shoulders
 37% of the women have pain in the legs
 > 40% suffer from high emotional load (compared to 11
% on average)
 More than 1 in 4 feel that they hardly cope (27 vs 16.6
%)
 Twice as many as on average have sleeping problems
(37% vs. 19%)
Groups at risk –Young workers
 Physically demanding tasks common among young
workers which means that they are at considerable risk
of developing MSDs.
 ES: > 75% newly declared occupational diseases of
young workers in 2004 MSDs
 estimated 4 million young workers in the EU under the
age of 25 have backpain
 BE: In a study of 716 healthcare and distribution workers
(aged 25-29) 13 % had developped back pain lasting > 7
days within 1 year
Groups at risk – young workers in manufacturing
(EU data from EWCS 2005)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
87,7
78,7
76,2
72,9
66,1 62,3
69,9 67,3
59,6
51,9
41,9
35
Carrying/m oving
heavy loads (at
least 25% of the
tim e)
Standing/w alking
(at least 25% of the
tim e)
<=24 Manufacturing
Repetitive
hand/arm
m ovem ents (at
least 25% of the
tim e)
<=24 Total EU27
Work at very high
speed (at least 25%
of the tim e)
Total EU27
Vibration exposure notable for women and young workers
(EU data from EWCS 2005 (for YW) and 2000/2005)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
87,7
78,7
76,2
72,9
66,1 62,3
69,9 67,3
59,6
51,9
YW
49,3
41,9
35
26,1 24,2
20
18
16
13
14
Carrying/m
oving
12
heavy
loads (at
10
8
least 25% of the
6
4 tim e)
2
0
1995
18
13,9
Standing/w alking
(at least 25%
8 of
the tim e)
Repetitive
9,2
hand/arm
m ovem ents (at
least 25% of the
tim e)
2000/2001*
<=24 Manufacturing
2005
Work atEU15
very high Vibration (at least
speedNMS12
(at least
25% of the tim e)
25% of the tim e)
<=24 Total EU27
Women
Total EU27
Temporary Agency work – an example
(Germany, SUGA 2006)
 Most of the jobs are in manufacturing, unskilled labour, eg.
in construction, and service jobs, including retail and lowskilled office work – increasing trend (x 3 1995-2006)
 About half of these workers have contracts with a duration
between 1 week and 3 months
 Working conditions of temporary agency workers
o
o
o
o
o
o
More standing (76% vs. 57%)
More carrying of heavy loads (37 vs. 24 %)
More unfavourable postures (19 vs. 16%)
More noise, unfavourable climatic conditions, PPE use
More paced work (39 vs. 32 %)
Less job control (31 vs. 25 %)
Temporary Agency work – an example
(Germany, SUGA 2006)
 Health problems of temporary agency workers
o More:
• pain in hands and arms (32 vs. 22%)
• pain in legs and feet (29 vs. 22%)
• pain in the knees (25 vs. 19%)
• tiredness, exhaustion (48 vs. 43%)
o Less satisfied with
• physical working conditions (26 vs 16 %)
• training opportunities (46 vs. 30%)
• type and content of work (21 vs. 7%)
• opportunity to apply skills (24 vs. 13%)
Teleworkers - UK-horizon scanning
 Currently, 8% of the
workforce are teleworkers.
 It is suggested that by
2015, 70-80% of workers
could be, at least partially,
working from a remote
location.
 mainly increase in people
working in different places
using home as a base,
rather than working from
home, levels of which have
remained relatively stable.
Points for consideration and discussion
 Include groups normally not at focus of attention (young
workers, women, temporary agency workers)
 Consider changes in employment patterns (move from
industry to service professions, working at home, home carers,
working from a remote location, temporary agency work, shortterm contracts)
 Include workers on shift work, night and weekend work,
and part-time workers – working time patterns are changing!
 Include exposure to vibrations
 Detailed monitoring is necessary, and important, also to
assess gender differences
 Look closer at risks involving lower limbs
 Addressing the “whole load on the body” — i.e. all the strains
 Tailor rehabilitation policies to include all groups
National policies - how Member States address MSDs
Examples
 UK-horizon scanning, issues for OSH: agency
workers, use of keyboards and of mobile devices,
increased wireless use (e.g. ‘BlackBerry Thumb’),
 Austria: 2007 programme and new OSH stategy:
for health sector and transport
assessment of MSDs risk factors, training of labour
inspectors and development of tools to monitor
exposure for inspection and for the enterprise level
 Germany: OSH strategy has identified the decrease in
MSDs as one of its main strategic goals
Where to find out more
 There is more help and advice on how to stay
safe and healthy at work on the Lighten the
Load website - http://ew2007.osha.europa.eu
 And the MSDs Single Entry Point http://osha.europa.eu/topics/msds
 And the Risk observatory Webpage:
http://riskobservatory.osha.europa.eu/
Thank you
for your
attention!