The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is running a Europe-wide campaign from 2020 to 2022 to raise awareness of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and the importance of preventing them. The objective is to encourage employers, workers and other stakeholders to work together to prevent MSDs and promote good musculoskeletal health among EU workers.
Why it is so important to prevent work-related MSDs and to promote good musculoskeletal health among EU workers?
- Key for EU workers’ quality of life and for sustainable work, productivity and social security systems.
- Work-related MSDs remain the most common work-related health problem in the EU and one of the most common causes of disability and sick leave.
- Work-related MSDs result in huge costs that fall on the workers, employers, health services and the wider society and economy.
- MSDs are preventable and manageable. So high costs related to MSDs can be reduced. The return on investment for workers’ quality of life at work, businesses and social security systems is worth the effort.
- Taking into account the need for an ageing EU workforce to remain healthy and productive, it is urgent for organisations to implement MSD policies to prevent and reduce work-related MSDs.
- As well as the prevention of new disorders, rehabilitating workers with MSDs and integrating them back into work should also form an integral part of any workplace MSD policy.
All info sheets and other campaign materials are available to download from EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign website (https://healthy-workplaces.eu).
“Ergonomists are committed to creating safe and healthy workplaces with the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders.” The Federation of the European Ergonomic Societies submitted the application to be the official campaign partner of the upcoming Healthy Workplaces – Lighten the Load 2020-2022 campaign organized by European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).