The term workplace musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) refers to various disorders related how work is performed. WMSDs are the main cause of lost time from work.

These disorders cause considerable cost to employers, employees, and society as a whole.

WMSDs carry direct and indirect costs. Direct costs include higher workers’ compensation insurance premiums and medical services . Indirect costs, which tend to be four times higher than direct costs, include increased absenteeism and turnover and disruption of workers’ lives. WMSDs may also impact a company’s productivity, product quality, and employee morale. In extreme cases, the public image of a company may suffer if problems go unaddressed.

Why do workers get WMSDs?

Workers may become fatigued or uncomfortable when they use excessive force to do their jobs or work in awkward positions. The next step beyond fatigue or discomfort is damage to bones, muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels.

WMSDs develop over a period of time—weeks, months, or even years. In early stages, medical tests may not indicate any problems. By the time the disorders show up on medical tests, irreversible damage may have already occurred.

Workers’ abilities to perform physical tasks vary greatly. Where different workers do the same task, some may develop WMSDs while others do not. Among those who do develop disorders, symptoms and severity may differ.

Non-work activities that involve excessive force, repetitive motion, or awkward postures –like sports and hobbies–can contribute to musculoskeletal disorders. Personal factors such as general health, diet, exercise, and weight can affect the development of such disorders. Some conditions, including arthrities, diabetes, pregnancy, and previous trauma can contribute to the likelihood of developing a WMSD. Certain features of a job, like stress level, job security and satisfaction, and amount of autonomy, can impact WMSDs.

Symptoms of WMSDs

As mentioned earlier, symptoms often differ from person to person. Common symptoms include:

• Pain or discomfort
• Numbness or tingling in extremities, especially in the fingers at night
• Decreased range of motion or grip strength
• Joint swelling
• Fatigue

Types of WMSDs

WMSD is a term for a collection of disorders. Specific types of disorders included under the umbrella WMSD include:

• Tendonitis: Inflammation of a tendon
• Tenosynovitis: Inflammation of a tendon and its sheath
• Carpal tunnel syndrome: Swelling and entrapment of the medial nerve in the ‘tunnel’ in the wrist
• Thoracic outlet syndrome: Squeezing of the nerves and blood vessels between neck and shoulder
• Sciatica: Bulging or ruptured disk in the lower back with pain extending down a leg
• Osteoarthritis: Wear and tear on the spine, joints, disks, and vertebrae

Prevention and Treatment

Ergonomics, which involves fitting the demands of a job to the people who do the job, is the best way to prevent or reduce WMSDs. Using ergonomics, employers consider the capabilities of the workers in the design of equipment, processes, and work environment.

Symptoms that go unrecognized can turn into painful and costly disorders. That’s why preventing WMSDs through appropriate ergonomic design is so important.

Without a doubt, the cost of prevention is much less than the cost of treatment.

In a nutshell, when we are in pain, we are not at our best at work and our health and performance suffer. By integrating a comprehensive workplace health and wellness program your staff can get access to the best remedial therapists there are locally to get them out of pain as quickly as possible.