Euroweek to lighten MSD load

News | HSW
12.10.2007

Several training events on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are planned for next month to mark the 2007 European Week for Safety and Health, which runs from 22 to 26 October.

This year's campaign, Lighten the Load, aims to support employers, workers, safety representatives and other stakeholders in improving MSD prevention.
The HSE is working with the TUC to provide safety representatives with regional training sessions, together with web-based MSD checklists, during European Week itself.

The training will cover the assessment of manual handling risks using the Manual Handling Assessment Chart tool and upper-limb disorder (ULD) risks. The training ties in with the HSE's ongoing Better Backs initiative.

MSDs are the most common form of ill-health disorder at work, in the UK and across Europe. Work-related MSDs affect a million people each year in Great Britain alone. Problems include back pain, work-related neck disorders and ULDs (including repetitive strain injuries) and lower-limb disorders.

More information about the training events will be available on the HSE's European Week events page at www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/
euroweek/events.htm