Joint measures by occupational health services and the workplace can significantly facilitate the restoration of the employee's productivity to normal levels compared to conventional medical treatment of ULDs alone. When regular treatment was combined with an improvement of work ergonomics, ULD-related decrease in productivity was halved.
Upper limb disorders – in particular, shoulder disorders – significantly reduce functionality, often leading to prolonged sick leaves. “However, the majority of employees suffering from ULDs do not need a sick leave. Measuring the productivity provides insight into the financial impacts of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace and allows us to consider how the effects of these disorders could be alleviated through measures at the workplace,” says Kari-Pekka Martimo, the occupational health specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
The institute‘s study involved 177 hospital, office and warehouse workers who had seen their occupational physician within one month of the onset or aggravation of ULD symptoms. One criterion for participation was that workers did not require a sick leave. In the study, the workers were asked to provide a quantitative and qualitative assessment of their previous working day. Over half (56%) estimated that the ULD symptoms reduced their productivity by 34% on average compared to normal productivity, which corresponded to approx. 2.5 hours of lost working time.
Workers who visited the occupational physician were randomized into two groups, both of which were offered conventional medical care. In addition, with the workers of one of the groups, the physician contacted the supervisors with the worker’s consent to discuss the possibility of changing the worker’s duties. Then, approximately two days later, an occupational physiotherapist visited the workplace and, together with the worker and the supervisor, designed ergonomic measures to help alleviate the symptoms. After 12 weeks following the visit to the physician, only one in four (25%) in this group felt that the ULD symptoms were still restricting his/her productivity, while the corresponding figure in the control group was 51%. In addition, the decrease in productivity was lower (7%) in the group whose workplace was visited than that of the control group (18%). However, workplace measures did not benefit those who had reported a significant decrease in productivity at the beginning of the study (over 20%).
The study provides new information on the effectiveness of occupational health services and on how workplace measures can help to remedy ULD-related decrease in productivity. “A worker who is scared of the pain may work slower or avoid certain tasks, which leads to decreased productivity. However, when the symptoms are addressed at an early stage, it is possible for occupational health services and supervisors to work together to find ways to help the worker maintain productivity despite ULD symptoms,” Martimo says.
The study was funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund.
Publication: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, No. 1, 2010
Further information:
Occupational Health Specialist Kari-Pekka Martimo, kari-pekka.martimo@ttl.fi, tel. +358 (0)50 566 5797
Research Professor Eira Viikari-Juntura, eira.viikari-juntura@ttl.fi, tel. +358 (0)30 474 2511