Ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders: overview

Musculoskeletal disorders continue to be a major source of disability and lost work time. Understanding their causes, and especially those that are work-related, remains the key to primary prevention. This set of in-depth reviews considers the problem from a number of systems needs and viewpoints. Assessing the exposure of workers to known risk factors is essential and appropriate methods are reviewed. Similarly, a consideration of psychosocial factors thought to contribute indirectly to the problem has also been explored. Contemporary ergonomics stresses the importance of a participatory approach to prevention and solution finding, and evidence in support of this is presented. The final review considers the application of ergonomics knowledge to understanding musculoskeletal disorders amongst those using computer technology.