Abstract:
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Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) is currently not only a
health problem in enterprises across six European regions which are Catalonia (ES),
Lombardy (IT), South-West Bohemia (CZ) Upper Austria (AU), Estonia (EE),
Provincie Noord-Brabantv(NL), but also impacts negatively on productivity and on
the competitiveness of enterprises. This project, granted by Innovation 4 Welfare
(I4W), will provide a high value to enterprises in the participating regions.
However, although EU-legislation has established new and highly innovative
technical standards the area of “physical ergonomics, specifically aimed at
protecting the “working population” from biomechanical and organizational risks for
WMSDs, it is still not easy for users to find a suitable tool or strategy for identifying hazards and assessing risks for purposes of WMSDs prevention effectively.
Additionally, there are no criteria or guidelines for teaching users how to select the best method for a specific case. Hence, this project proposes to develop a set of
toolkits to help users find the most suitable and effective solution to the problem at hand. Developing toolkits based on a collaborative platform for preventing WMSDs will not only help companies improve and maintain healthy and safe working
conditions, but will also promote the creation of new solutions in the field of WMSD and injuries prevention. As a result, it will significantly enhance worker health, life quality and productivity, as well as reduce sick leave absences and economic/social costs connected to work-related muscular disorders and injuries. This paper seeks
to illustrate the methodology of developing toolkits for hazard identification, risk
assessment and prevention of WMSDs based on a collaborative platform. In order
to demonstrate this, the paper presents an analysis of the approaches and the
implementation plan for toolkits development. Additionally, the paper closes by suggesting that an essential element for successful prevention of WMSDs is the
interaction between the workers and the policy makers, knowledge providers |