An executive summary of the Ontario Ministry of Labour survey on musculoskeletal disorders for small businesses
The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) operates a “Summer Student Outreach Program” whereby a team of students visits small businesses to conduct a survey about their awareness of MOL’s regulations, safety practices and their information needs. This year, CRE-MSD, which is currently engaged in the development of the new Ontario prevention guideline for musculoskeletal disorders, collaborated with the Ontario MOL on this survey.
After asking general information about the business and the individual completing the questionnaire, three remaining sections focused on Occupational Health and Safety Awareness of regulation and training, workplace harassment, musculoskeletal disorders/ergonomics and information needs. The section on MSD began examining the respondents’ ability to recognise a range of physical demands in their workplace. This lead naturally into questions concerning their beliefs about whether these physical demands could lead to MSDs. They were then asked about MSD hazard recognition, assessment and development of controls. A question on desired formats of MSD related information followed. CRE-MSD hired two summer co-op students to mirror the methods employed in the MOL’s study and administer the survey in small businesses in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.
The most common physical demands reported in the workplace were frequent back bending (60%), remaining in one position for long periods of time (60%), and repetitive work (57%). On being given more information about physical demands with examples from their own workplace, respondents’ recognition of the hazards increased. 45% of businesses felt physical demands could not cause injuries. Some acknowledged that more physically demanding business sectors could result in injury, although they did not believe that their workplace demands posed a risk. Over 40% of businesses did not know or were unsure how to identify physical demands in their workplace. In those that stated they could, they identified physical demands by monitoring the workplace for concerns and had employees voice concerns about workplace tasks. A majority of survey participants (79%), were confident they had the knowledge to reduce injury risk due to high physical demands in the workplace. Multiple businesses explained one way to reduce the injury risk is to “…instruct all employees to practice safe lifting”. Other approaches included taking breaks as required; using preventative equipment such as a dolly when lifting; ergonomic office furniture; or correcting the posture to which the task is being done. The most commonly preferred format for information on MSD prevention included posters and videos at 30% and 18%, respectively, followed by a step-by-step instruction checklist (17%); web based materials (13%); email (7%); and a one or two-page flyer or brochure format (14%).
In terms of the needs of small businesses to undertake MSD prevention, the survey and interview revealed that many businesses were not able to identify potentially problematic tasks in their workplace and were equivocal on the ability of such demands to lead to MSD. Controls were dominated by administrative controls and lifting properly but also included some workplace modification such as using dollies. The small businesses surveyed focused primarily on a reactive prevention approach such as seeking medical attention, frequent breaks, personal protective equipment; typically, only taking action after an injury occurred. The businesses preferred vehicle for MSD prevention information concentrated on more traditional media such as posters, checklists, with only a small number opting for online sources as their primary resource.
The semi-structured interview revealed that although the questions on physical demands were written in non-technical language, respondents found them difficult to answer. Respondents needed site-specific information to better “see” the demands. Interpretation of questionnaires for small business asking about MSD should be treated with caution due to the low familiarity with some issues and terminology.