Preventing MSIs: Step 3 - Identify and control risks
Risk identification
In consultation with your joint committee or worker health and safety representative, ensure you identify factors in the workplace that may expose workers to a risk of musculoskeletal injury (MSI).
Start with these effective employer practices:
- Review first aid reports and injury statistics to identify where MSIs are occurring in the workplace and establish priorities for risk control.
- Review past incident investigations and workplace inspections to see what and where problems may exist in the workplace.
- Engage a representative sample of workers who perform the work to share concerns and ideas about specific tasks.
- Use discomfort surveys to get an idea of the body parts most affected by specific tasks.
- During workplace inspections, use an ergonomics checklist to guide observations of work activities.
- Break jobs into smaller tasks when identifying MSI risk factors (see below).
- Explore MSI trends in similar industries or operations to understand risks that may also exist in your workplace.
MSI Risk factors
- Physical demands of work activities
- Force required
- Repetition
- Duration
- Work postures
- Local contact stresses
- Aspects of the layout and condition of the workplace or workstation
- Working reaches
- Working heights
- Seating
- Floor surfaces
- Characteristics of objects handled
- Size and shape
- Load condition and weight distribution
- Container, tool, and equipment handles
- Environmental conditions, including cold temperature
- Characteristics of the organization of work
- Work-recovery cycles
- Task variability
- Work rate
Risk assessment
When factors that may expose workers to a risk of MSI have been identified, the employer must ensure the risk to workers is assessed. As part of the assessment, the employer must consult workers with signs or symptoms of MSI, and workers who do the work being assessed.
The person(s) performing the risk assessment needs to have a good understanding of the following:
Start with these effective employer practices:
- Conduct a risk assessment (see the list of methods listed in OHS Guideline G4.48)
- Document findings from the risk factor assessment
- Use assessment tools for body postures such as the Rapid entire body assessment (REBA) or the NIOSH lifting equation
- Some useful resources include:
Risk control
The employer must eliminate the identified hazards or, if that is not practicable, minimize the risk of workers developing an MSI by implementing controls.
If implementation of permanent control measures will be delayed, the employer mustput interim control measures in place immediately.
Start with these effective employer practices:
- Ensure risk control measures are developed using the hierarchy of risk controls
- Begin at the top of the hierarchy to understand if hazardous activities can be eliminated or re-designed to lower risk to workers
- Consult material from safety organizations for your industry, including from other jurisdictions, to help identify additional ways to reduce risks of MSI
Training
The employer must ensure that a worker to be assigned to work that requires specific measures to control the risk of MSI is trained in the use of those measures.
Start with these effective employer practices:
- Train workers to use the risk control measures implemented
- Decide on intervals for refresher training
- Some useful resources include:
- Manufacturer instructions that can be used as part of worker training
- WorkSafeBC’s online resources such as the video library (you can refine this list by selecting a topic and/or industry)
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