Preventing pain in the workplace
As of April 2019, municipalities across Ontario will be undergoing review and inspections from ministry ergonomists. Recently, the Ministry of Labour implemented – with the goal of being proactive – a municipal health and safety initiative focusing on early identification and prevention of musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risks in the workplace.
The ministry launched Phase One in April 2018, introducing initiative outreach meetings, information webinars, etc., with a focus on compliance, support, and prevention education. Phase Two began on April 1, 2019, and is set to operate until March 2020.
At the 2019 Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association (OMHRA) Spring Workshop in Niagara Falls, Patricia Clausen, Public Service Health and Safety Association (PSHSA) Director, provided tools and resources municipalities can use to develop an MSD prevention program. In addition, Brian McInnes, Provincial Ergonomist for the Ministry of Labour, addressed questions about Phase Two of the initiative. For more information on the ministry’s health and safety initiative, visit Understanding ergonomics and pain in the workplace.
5 Simple Steps to Developing and Implementing a Workplace MSD Prevention Program
MSDs are a disorder of the musculoskeletal system (i.e., muscles, tendons, nerves, blood vessels, joints, discs, ligaments, etc.). Municipalities oversee 40 percent of all loss-time injuries reported in Ontario, 34 percent of which occur, Clausen reported, in the public works department. Clausen also noted MSDs cost most employers more than half a billion dollars every year.
Developing and implementing an MSD prevention program is an essential part to ensuring the health and safety of municipal employees. Creating such a program can be done in five simple steps.
1. Secure senior management commitment
For the successful implementation of an MSD prevention program, an endorsement from senior management is mandatory. They will then appoint a program leader, with the authority to effect change and is accountable to senior management. They will also develop an MSD prevention committee and a front-line “change team.” The committee oversees the implementation of the program and acts as a go-between for management and the change team. The change team itself acts as the lead implementers of the prevention program.
2. Assess program needs
The program requires the creation of a template to track action points. This can be as simple as a chart that outlines the issue, the action(s) required, the due date to complete them, and the person responsible for completing them. The first step to creating an action plan is to start with a checklist to identify any gaps. The next step is to measure the current state of your preventive program by using a cultural assessment tool to sample staff from each department. Such a tool can also evaluate the program and measure its success in the future by obtaining a baseline measurement from before implementation.
Next, review internal documents and records related to MSDs. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Where are your MSDs occurring in the organization?
- What are the trends in injury demographic reports / company injury stats?
- Which departments, jobs, tasks, times, genders, and ages are most affected?
The last step is to update the action plan with all findings and share it with both senior management and the joint health and safety committee (JHSC).
3. Develop program components
After consulting with front-line staff and other stakeholders, write the MSD prevention policies and procedures. (The gaps identified in the check list can be used as a guide in developing policies and procedures.) Train staff on MSD, including general awareness, as well as the organization’s specific policies and procedures. The company’s commitment statement and policy, roles and responsibilities, procedures for inspections and assessments, reporting and investigating, purchasing of equipment, and program evaluation are all possible policies and procedures.
4. Implement the program
Choose one small area to implement the MSD program as a pilot project – preferably an area that will see the greatest likelihood of success. Once the pilot area is identified, develop an MSD change team comprised of mostly front-line staff and a supervisor from the chosen area. The team will then undergo:
- a discomfort survey to identify personal discomforts and pains;
- an MSD inspection checklist;
- a hazard id tool to identify tasks that are potential MSD risks and may require further assessment; and
- a risk assessment to determine if any tasks identified as potential MSD risks actually pose a risk to MSD (and if so, which controls should be put in place to mitigate the risk of injury to workers).
After the risk assessment, the change team and MSD committee develop solutions (controls) to the MSD risks and submit their recommendations to management, who implements them. The controls should be evaluated and monitored for success.
5. Evaluate program and continuous improvement
The program should be evaluated annually using the cultural assessment tool used in Step 2. Successes should be recognized and staff congratulated.
For access to an extensive resource library, focusing on MSD prevention and risk assessment, visit https://www.msdprevention.com/. MW
✯ Municipal World Insider and Executive Members: You might also be interested in Jeff Pajot’s article: Health and safety in municipalities: Emerging issues and trends. Note that you can now access the complete collection of past articles (and more) from your membership dashboard.
Cassidy Meath is Assistant Editor for Municipal World. After receiving their graduate certificate in Publishing: Book, Magazine, Electronic from Centennial College, Cass gained experience in editing, proofreading, and fact checking through their work with John Wiley & Sons and tbk Creative.
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