Quick Start Guide General: Folder

Work shouldn’t hurt

Back and shoulder pain, tennis elbow and other Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) are a major cause of workplace pain, discomfort, disability and costs.

Help workers in pain now – and avoid it in the future – by improving your workplace. Eliminating MSD hazards is one part of creating a safe workplace.  
Small changes can make a big difference! A workplace  free of MSD hazards protects workers now, allows injured workers to return to their jobs more easily, and allows more people to perform those jobs: male or  female; old or young; tall or short. This folder contains workplace fixes to help keep workers’ backs, shoulders, necks and hands happy & healthy!

Note: Employers have a legal responsibility to provide a safe workplace under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. This includes improving the workplace and putting in place measures to protect workers from all hazards, including those related to musculoskeletal disorders.

Making a Start

Starting is the most important part of reducing back pain, shoulder tendinitis, tennis elbow and other Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD). This package will give you a good start. Some of the ideas may seem very simple, but you can substantially reduce MSD hazards by applying these ideas throughout your workplace (and home). The mini-posters give you the general idea behind the fix. For example, STORE IT OFF THE FLOOR shows how to store objects. It’s the same rule for storing boxes in an office, moving parts in manufacturing, or setting up stands and work surfaces for heavy tasks in construction.

Actions

• Jump straight in. Start using these posters in your workplace inspections and toolbox talks and make changes to remove or reduce any hazards.
• Follow the steps on the facing page for a more systematic approach.

Need more help?

This guide was primarily written for small businesses and its goal  is to provide basic information to encourage firms to get started on preventing MSD. Larger organizations may also find it useful for training or safety talks. It is part of a larger resource: The MSD Prevention Guideline for Ontario (www.msdprevention.com).  The  website includes a wide range of resources to help organizations  of all sizes prevent MSD. 
 

• For office work, a Quick Start Guide: Office is available at: https://www.msdprevention.com/Quick-Start-Guide.htm.
• The Ontario Ministry of Labour has partners in many sectors who can provide resources and can answer your questions: www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/websites.php
• The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has pages dedicated to the prevention of MSD:  www.ccohs.ca/topics/hazards/ergonomic
• The Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE) is a bilingual, professional association of individuals and organizations with a common interest in advancing ergonomics and human factors knowledge and practice: https://ergonomicscanada.ca/en
• Contact a Canadian Certified Professional Ergonomist: https://ergonomicscanada.ca/en/our-profession/certification
• The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) recently published a new guide. Office ergonomics - An application standard for workplace ergonomics. It can be accessed through a public library system or purchased from CSA.

Authorship: This document has been written by the Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) in collaboration with multiple researchers and workplace stakeholders. (www.CRE-MSD.uwaterloo.ca) 
Disclaimers: The information provided is based upon best current knowledge and is intended to help workplaces reduce MSD. The information and opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of CRE-MSD, the Ministry of Labour or the Province of Ontario.

For more information and an accessible version of this folder, download this resource.