In last week’s article, we introduced a new literature review identifying barriers and challenges to successful musculoskeletal disorder prevention. The barriers to successful MSD prevention were:

1. Lack of time
2. Lack of resources
3. Lack of communication
4. Lack of management commitment, support, and participation
5. Lack of knowledge and training
6. Resistance to change
7. Changing work environment
8. Scope or activities
9. Lack of trust, fear of job loss or loss of authority
10. Process deficiencies
11. Difficulty implementing controls

Sound familiar? It does to me. Most of our clients come to us because they’re facing these challenges. So if you’re having difficulty with one (or many) of the challenges listed above, you’re not alone.

Fortunately, there is hope. The literature review also identified three facilitators of successful MSD prevention and a strong recommendation for overcoming the barriers identified through a management system approach.

It has been our experience that most worksites can overcome MSD prevention frustrations by implementing the following best practices.

Three Facilitators of Successful MSD Prevention

The literature review identified the following three themes that facilitate the successful implementation of an MSD prevention process.

1. Training, knowledge, and ergonomists’ support
2. Communication, participation, and support
3. Effective implementation process

The study also noted that in successful programs these best practices were followed most closely when implemented as part of a management process. 

Facilitator 1: Training, Knowledge, and Ergonomists’ Support

Clearly, knowledge of how to incorporate ergonomic innovations into one’s work and work routine facilitates the implementation process of any intervention to prevent MSD. The literature review found that adequate education, training and ergonomist support play a large role in the development of this knowledge.

I would add that an experienced trainer not only increases knowledge of ergonomics and MSD prevention interventions, but empowers the workforce at all levels with increased skills development to assess risk, plan improvements, measure progress, and scale solutions. The objective has to be workplace improvement, and that objective is only accomplished through activities that require skill and expertise. Best practice ergonomics and MSD prevention training must transfer both knowledge and skills to be effective and sustainable.

Facilitator 2: Communication, Participation, and Support

The literature suggests that strong communication between workers, supervisors, and management will significantly increase the chance of a successful MSD prevention activity. Workers communicating their opinions and suggestions for ergonomic improvements, and support from the managerial level, are essential elements.

It is helpful to assign an “MSD Prevention Champion” to achieve this level of communication, participation, and support from all stakeholders. This point person has the hard work of building relationships and gaining the trust of many stakeholders – from the boardroom to the shop floor – to achieve a highly functioning coalition of stakeholders all invested and aligned in the MSD prevention process.

Facilitator 3: Effective Implementation Process

According to the study, “Before any organization can introduce an intervention program, it is essential to establish a plan for the execution of an effective implementation process. The review of the literature suggests that for the implementation of any prevention program to be successful, it must be specific, practical, have broad benefits and have real impacts in the workplace.”

Incorporating MSD prevention activities into a broader management framework has been suggested to facilitate the implementation process to make effective changes. As suggested by multiple authors, the most effective way to ensure the long-term sustainability of ergonomics is by incorporating ergonomics and MSD prevention into continuous improvement processes.

Sustain MSD Prevention with a Management System Approach

According to the study, prevention efforts must be incorporated into a broader framework and strategy to ensure a more visible and streamlined process. This is a way to overcome your MSD prevention challenges:

Ergonomics and MSD prevention interventions should be tied to an established management system that is already familiar to your organization. Examples include ISO 45001, OHSAS 18001, Six Sigma, the Toyota Production System, and many others. 

These management systems are based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) concept of continuous improvement rooted in the scientific method and pioneered by Walter Shewhart.

According to ISO 45001 documentation:

“The PDCA concept is an iterative process used by organizations to achieve continual improvement. It can be applied to a management system and to each of its individual elements, as follows:

1. a) Plan: determine and assess OH&S risks, OH&S opportunities and other risks and other opportunities, establish OH&S objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organization’s OH&S policy;
2. b) Do: implement the processes as planned;
3. c) Check: monitor and measure activities and processes with regard to the OH&S policy and OH&S objectives, and report the results;
4. d) Act: take actions to continually improve the OH&S performance to achieve the intended outcomes.”

By tying ergonomics and MSD prevention efforts to your existing management system, you can align MSD prevention with the goals and objectives of the larger organization. This goes a long way to alleviating many of the aforementioned MSD prevention challenges (lack of time, resources, training, support, etc).

You’ll also gain a framework for continuously improving your process until you have finally overcome all of your MSD prevention challenges.

Need help?

Sometimes it helps to have an expert in your corner. Get in touch with an ErgoPlus injury prevention specialist to get clarity and organizational alignment with a customized MSD prevention process designed for your worksite.