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The Ontario Ministry of Labour has launched what it calls a “prevention toolbox” to combat musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) in the workplace. The MSD Prevention Toolbox is an information package for safety managers, employers and workers offering valuable resources to help prevent MSD and other ergonomic-related injuries, which account for 40 per cent of lost-time injury in the workplace. MSDs include injuries to the muscles, nerves and tendons
that develop over time. These types of injuries are a significant workplace
health and safety issue, according to the Ministry of Labour, adding that the
effect of these types of injuries cost the economy more than $19 billion
between 1996 and 2006.
The MSD Prevention Toolbox provides information on how to conduct MSD risk
assessment in the workplace, set up an MSD prevention program and enhance a
company’s existing MSD prevention practices.
The toolbox outlines workplace MSD hazards with information
on how to get started on an MSD prevention framework, recognizing specific jobs
at risk of MSD, in-depth risk assessment methodologies, and identifying and
selecting appropriate MSD hazard controls.
The toolbox is the third installment from the ministry’s MSD
Prevention Series aimed at providing a comprehensive resource for addressing
MSD-related injuries in the workplace.
“We are working with our partners to provide workers and
employers with the information they need to prevent injuries, stay safe and
ultimately increase the productivity of our economy,” says Ontario Minister of
Labour Brad Duguid in a statement.
The ministry developed the toolbox in partnership with
members of the Occupational Health and Safety Council of Ontario, including the
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and the Institute for Work and Health,
with additional support from the University of Waterloo’s Centre of Research
Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders. The ministry says it also consulted with labour
organizations, employers’ associations and individual employers and workers.
The MSD Prevention Series is part of the Ontario
government’s Pains and Strains campaign that includes six objectives: increase
education and awareness of MSDs and their prevention; focus on MSD prevention
during inspections; enhance training for inspectors on MSD prevention; provide
new resource materials; improve tracking of ergonomics-related inspections;
and, increase the province’s ergonomics expertise.
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