Where a job poses a significant risk of a musculoskeletal injury (MSI) that cannot be eliminated, as an employer, you must provide equipment and/or safe work procedures to reduce or control the risk so far as is practicable. “Practicable” is defined in the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation as “that which is reasonably capable of being done.”
Controlling the risk means eliminating the risk to workers, and if that is not practicable, you must minimize the risk.
Engineering controls — making physical changes to the work environment — are the most effective controls you can put in place to reduce the risk of MSIs.
When engineering controls are not possible, you can use administrative controls to minimize exposure to the risk. Common administrative controls include job rotation or enlargement (adding other tasks that involve different movements). With administrative controls like job rotation, the rotated tasks need to involve different muscle groups in order to reduce risk.
In addition, it’s good practice to consider the overall design of the work activity. You can achieve an improvement in the injury rate by changing “big picture” aspects, such as workplace layout, workload, staffing allocation, and shift rotations. These changes often result in increased quality and production, along with reduced risks.
Personal protective equipment can be used as a risk control only if engineering or administrative controls are not practicable.
What do control measures look like?
WorkSafeBC provides a number of examples of control measures in its chart of common MSI risk control options (PDF).
Source: WorkSafeBC
