• Employers need to provide a safe and healthful workplace for their employees, which includes applying ergonomic principles to prevent injuries.

Employers must provide a safe and healthful workplace for their employees. The number and severity of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) resulting from physical overexertion, and their associated costs, can be substantially reduced by applying ergonomic principles.

Essentially, implementing an ergonomic process can be effective in reducing the risk of developing MSDs in high-risk industries as diverse as construction, food processing, manufacturing, office jobs, healthcare, transportation and warehousing.

Key definitions

These terms, as defined here, are useful concepts when learning about ergonomics.

• Awkward postures: Positions that place strain on the body, in most cases affect the muscle groups that are involved in physical activity. Awkward postures include repeated or prolonged reaching, twisting, bending, kneeling, squatting, working with hands or arms overhead, or holding fixed positions.
• Force: The amount of physical effort required to perform a task, such as heavy lifting or pushing/pulling, or to maintain control of equipment or tools. The amount of force depends on the type of grip, the weight of an object, body posture, the type of activity, and the duration of the task.
• Forceful exertions: Tasks that require the worker to use significant force.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome: A disorder affecting the hands and wrists, involving the compression and entrapment of the median nerve where it passes through the wrist into the hand in the carpal tunnel. Symptoms include numbness, tingling, burning, and pain. In severe cases, there may be wasting of the muscles at the base of the thumb, a dry shiny palm, or clumsiness of the hand.
• Contact stress: This occurs when the body is pressed against a hard or sharp edge, resulting in placing too much pressure on nerves, tendons, and blood vessels. For example, using the palm of the hand as a hammer can increase a worker’s risk of suffering a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD).
• Degenerative disc — Damage to the gel-like cushions between the bones in the spine. Released gel presses on the nerve. Symptoms include numbness, pain, and weakness, usually in the leg and hips, but sometimes in the arms and upper back.
• DeQuervain’s disease: A disease in which the tendon sheath of the thumb is inflamed.
• Epicondylitis: Irritation of the tissue that connects the forearm muscle to the elbow.
• Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs): Injuries and disorders of the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and cartilage) and nervous system of the upper and lower limbs, neck, and lower back that are caused, precipitated or exacerbated by sudden exertion or prolonged exposure to physical factors such as repetition, force, vibration, or awkward posture.
• Raynaud’s syndrome: A condition that occurs when the blood vessels of the hand are damaged as a result of repeated exposure to vibration for long periods of time. The skin and muscles are unable to get the necessary oxygen from the blood and eventually die.
• Repetition: The action of performing the same motions over and over again, placing stress on the muscles and tendons. The severity of risk depends on how often the action is repeated, the speed of movement, the number of muscles involved, and the required force.
• Sprain: Injury or tearing of a ligament. Ligaments attach one bone to another or support organs.
• Strain: Injury to muscles that have been stretched or used too much. Symptoms include muscle irritation, pain, and discomfort.
• Tendinitis: Tendon inflammation that occurs when a muscle or tendon is repeatedly tensed from overuse, vibration, or unaccustomed usage of the wrist and shoulder. With further exertion, some of the fibers that make up the tendon can actually fray or tear apart. Symptoms include burning pain or dull ache, swelling or puffiness, and snapping or jerking movements.
• Tenosynovitis: Inflammation or injury to the synovial sheath surrounding the tendon.
• Trigger finger: A disorder caused when a groove is worn into the flexing tendon of the finger.
• Vibration: Being exposed to vibration means operating tools or equipment that typically have high or moderate vibration levels, such as sanders, grinders, chippers, routers, drills, and saws. This can lead to nerve damage.