Health and Safety Professional
MSD Hazards in the Workplace
There is strong evidence that physical factors in the workplace greatly increase a person’s chance of developing a Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) and make worse an existing MSD on return to work. Despite this evidence, it is common to ignore the contribution of the workplace and blame a worker’s low back or shoulder pain on individual factors such as “gardening”, “susceptibility” or “genetics” instead. This argument does not take away from the substantial and separate contribution of work to the development and worsening of MSD.
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Find all the available resources on the MSD prevention website, including posters, videos, and links to relevant websites.
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Our guideline selector will ask you a few questions to help determine which guideline will be the best fit for your organization. Each guideline follows the same structure, making it easy to switch between them as needed.
MSD Guidelines
Quick Start Guide: General
The guide includes a folder and posters that include information on common MSD hazards and solutions to control hazards in many workplaces.
Quick Start Guide: Office
The guide includes a folder and posters that include tips for setting up computer-based workstations and best practices for MSD prevention.
Basic Guideline
The Basic Guideline is best for organizations that have a Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC); have a person or persons with knowledge, experience, and responsibility for Health and Safety; have policies and procedures for health and safety addressing most hazards but want to improve their MSD prevention activities.
Comprehensive Guideline
The Comprehensive Guideline is best for large organizations that have a formal management framework; have a management system for Health and Safety; have policies and procedures for health and safety that address most hazards but want to improve their MSD prevention activities.
Assessments
Preliminary Assessments
These tools typically contain a list of questions with either yes/no or multiple-choice style responses to note the presence or absence of an MSD hazard and some of its characteristics.
Detailed Assessments
Detailed assessments include observational evaluations and comprehensive analyses.
Hazard Controls
The hierarchy of controls is a system developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) that ranks hazard controls from most effective (elimination) to least effective (personal protective equipment). Learn more about the Hierarchy of Controls.
Elimination
Removes the source of the MSD hazard to eliminate exposure.
Substitution
Replaces with another approach that reduces the risk of MSD.
Engineering
Modifies the design of the physical workplace to remove or block the MSD hazard from the worker by machinery, tools or equipment.
Administrative
Changes to the work organization and work practices to reduce exposure to MSD hazards, such as job rotation, pace of work, training, breaks, etc.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
Barriers between the worker and the hazard that are worn by the worker.
Additional Resources
See All Resources for Health and Safety Professionals
View a curated collection of resources in the resource library.