MANAGING MSDs

With Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) being the most common kind of work-related illness in the UK (NI Direct, 2015), their appropriate treatment and management should be increasingly important to organisations. Dr Alan Black, Director of one of Northern Ireland’s longest established occupational health providers, Blackwell Associates Limited, outlines what employers need to know. 

The term ‘MSD’ refers to any injury of the joints, or other soft tissues in the limbs or the back.

Spinal and muscle/joint pain accounts for over half of all reported work related illnesses in Northern Ireland, with around 20% of all reported injuries related to sprains associated with manual handling. In addition, almost 33% of all absences from work in Northern Ireland councils are due to back and neck problems, with the average duration of such absences around 2 weeks (NI Direct 2015). 

What are the main causes?

While it’s easy to assume that these disorders only affect those engaged in labour intensive roles, MSD doesn’t discriminate. From the young to the elderly, sedentary to physically active - anyone can experience musculoskeletal pain and it is most often caused by an injury to the bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, or nerves. 

The disorder can be caused by a number of activities including repetitive and heavy lifting, bending and twisting, working in an uncomfortable position, repeating something too often, and using the wrong tools for a job. 

However, there are a number of other causes which are perhaps less obvious. Working long hours without breaks, or even working in environments that are consistently too hot or too cold, can contribute to employees falling victim to this illness. 

Even the way employees sit at their desks can trigger MSDs. For example, 63% of office workers complain of aches and pains at their work station which more often than not, can be alleviated by adopting an improved posture and utilising a range of ergonomic solutions such as providing chairs with lumbar support (CIPD, 2014).

How can companies identify employees with MSDs?

As with many workplace illnesses, MSD may not be immediately visible. However, due to the primarily physical nature of MSDs, there are some symptoms employers can look out for in their workers. 

For instance, has there been an increase in the number of injuries to backs or limbs in the last few months or years? Have managers reported that their teams have made such complaints?

If you are in manufacturing or production, ask yourself, has overall product quality, or productivity, reduced? 

If you take a walk around the premises, are you noticing employees resorting to DIY improvements to counteract uncomfortable working environments, such as padding on seats, wearing bandages or splints?

How can companies mitigate the risk?

The first step is to identify which tasks present a serious risk of chronic injury. For instance, do any of your employees have a role which requires frequent bending or lifting? This risk assessment should be carried out across the entire organisation, from the head office to the factory floor. 

Employers may wish to also engage safety representatives directly with employees or trade unions to understand first hand what workers experience on a day to day basis.

Where changes are possible and practical, these should be introduced and clearly communicated to your employees. However, where mechanisation is not possible, other reasonable measures should be taken. For example, in the case of a physical role, frequent job rotation to a different work station area will reduce the risk of a worker repeating an action (such as lifting) too often. 

Your occupational health provider can assist with any risk assessments to ensure that the correct questions are asked and that any issues can be correctly identified and addressed. They can also manage the recovery of employees by ensuring correct diagnosis and development of a return to work plan.

The team at Blackwell Associates Limited are strongly positioned to work with you to ensure that all workplace illnesses, including MDS’s, are appropriately identified and managed. Call 028 9065 6131 to speak to a member of the team or email enquiries@blackwellassociates.co.uk

ADDRESS THE STRESS

Stress is an increasingly topical issue when it comes to the workplace with a reported one in five people suffering from this invisible illness (NI Direct, 2015). With each case of work-related stress leading to an average of 24 working days lost (HSENI, 2014), it’s a problem employers can’t afford to ignore.  Dr. Alan Black, Director of occupational health providers, Blackwell Associates Limited, outlines what work-related stress is and how employers can combat it by adopting a ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach.

WHAT EXACTLY IS WORK-RELATED STRESS?

Simply put, work-related stress is the negative reaction that occurs when demands at work exceed one’s ability to cope. It can also be caused by other problems at work, such as feeling inadequate, bullying and harassment, or having poor working conditions.

Stress should be viewed as a ‘process’, where intense emotional and mental pressure - caused by excessive work demands - leads to physical and psychological impairment.   

A GROWING PROBLEM

A Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD, 2014) report found that just over two-fifths of organisations have noticed an increase in reported mental health problems (such as anxiety and depression) among employees.

Stress has significant and profound implications for individual and organisational performance, meaning that no matter what size the company, all employers need to pay attention to this workplace epidemic.

Employees under increasing mental strain tend to take more sickness leave. This may lead to gaps that need to be filled by employing casual or agency staff, while also increasing overtime and longer working hours for other employees - leaving a significant footprint on your bottom line and resources

While the CIPD found that currently workload is ranked the most common cause of stress, followed by management style and relationships, identifying the underlying causes of it should remain a continued priority for all employers. 

SPOT THE SIGNS

As stress affects people in different ways with no two cases ever being the same, employers need to be vigilant in terms of looking out for every member of staff and be proactive in terms of evaluating the workplace environment as a whole.

Some symptoms may be more evident to managers or colleagues than others, for example changes in behaviour,heightened emotions or difficulty concentrating. On the other hand however, difficulty sleeping, lack of appetite and chest pains are not so easy to spot.

In fact, a recent report by Axa (2015) found that only 39% of employees admitted to the problem if they had to call in sick because of stress, anxiety or depression, making it even harder for employers to identify the  issues involved.

OUTSIDE SUPPORT

Due to the wide-ranging considerations that employers need to bear in mind when it comes to workplace stress, it often proves beneficial to appoint an occupational health provider. 

A provider can deliver a company’s risk assessment, with stress being one of the hazards examined. 

They can also develop any policies required to ensure that senior managers and team leaders are clear about what the company procedure is when it comes to dealing with instances of work related stress - and that employees know their well-being is considered.  

Finally, an occupational health provider can also provide advice and support to staff members experiencing the effects of stress, including guidance on how to return to work after periods of absence as a result of work related ill health.

The team at Blackwell Associates Limited are well positioned to provide expert occupational health services and advice. For more information, please contact the team on +44 28 9065 6131 or enquiries@blackwellassociates.co.uk

RISKY BUSINESS

Running any company involves identifying obvious risks which need to be continually reviewed and managed. Yet, there are a number of other potential threats that should  be assessed on an ongoing basis, but are often forgotten. Dr Alan Black, Director of occupational health specialists, Blackwell Associates Limited, outlines why evaluating your current approach to employee health and wellbeing should be high on your priority list.

A REAL RISK

Most of us work in companies that have clear documentation in place to outline everything from  grievance procedures to IT policies. A high proportion of employers, however, don’t have a clearly defined and measured health and wellbeing policy. 

With the growing prominence of costly sickness absence becoming an increasing concern for businesses in Northern Ireland, it’s surprising that more companies are not taking a proactive approach. 

For example, an Assembly report published in March this year found that absence rates in the Northern Ireland civil service remain higher than in Great Britain, costing the tax payer £37m. In addition, it’s estimated that sickness absence costs a company over £600 per employee per year (CIPD, 2014).

It’s clear that not addressing the health and wellbeing requirements of your workforce can potentially have a major impact. 

Failure to ensure that clear policies and provisions are in place for your employees can not only lead to reduced morale and increased absenteeism, but in some cases litigation too, as employees can argue an irresponsible approach was taken towards their health needs. 

By appointing the services of an occupational health provider, such as Blackwell Associates, an employer should be able to significantly reduce these risks, while optimising productivity levels and reducing health related costs.

THE REALITY OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Occupational health is often a misunderstood term. Some believe it’s there to prepare a worker for returning to the workforce after a long period of absence, while others assume it’s simply there to identify the baseline health of a new employee. 

While these assumptions are partially correct, the reality is that occupational health providers deliver a full spectrum of services to minimise the impacts of health risks to the business.

NOT JUST A SERVICE PROVIDER

There are a number of activities an occupational health provider will deliver on a day to day basis. These include identifying the legacy of impairment or disease in new employees, assessing fitness for work and carrying out annual medicals. 

What’s more, the advice occupational health companies provide is highly valuable too. With the microscope firmly trained on how businesses deal with their employees (whether healthy, ill or disabled), it’s crucial that companies have clear procedures in place to ensure a consistent approach is taken across the board.  

ADVICE IS CRITICAL

Your occupational health provider should work closely in partnership with you to ascertain that your company’s approach to workforce wellbeing is as watertight as possible. 

For example, by making employers aware of the adjustments required to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act, the risk of potential claims being brought against the company will be mitigated. 

Another role of an occupational health provider is to ensure each client complies with health surveillance, and where required, advise on statutory reporting of work-related disease.

At Blackwell Associates we take a proactive approach by advising on how to prevent and minimise  work-related illnesses, as well as identifying work-related disease, to facilitate early intervention and treatment, cost-containment and avoiding legal challenge.

For many employers this can be a minefield. Continually evolving guidelines can often lead a company to unintentionally expose themselves to legal action if they haven’t taken the right steps to ensure their health policies and procedures are reflective of the current legislation.

The team at Blackwell Associates are highly qualified, experienced and well positioned to evaluate your occupational health requirements. 

For further information, please visit www.blackwellassociates.co.uk or contact the team on +44 28 9065 6131