Sharon's Soapbox - Treating MSI’s like SARS?
June 2004

A friend of mine was working at one of the key hospitals in Toronto during the height of SARS last year. She had to use monumental precautions to ensure that she did not become infected nor transmit the disease to others. She couldn’t even eat in the same room as her husband.

It got me thinking about the disease we call musculoskeletal injuries (I am loosely using the definition of disease here: “a state in which a function or part of the body is no longer in a healthy condition” from www.germology.com/glossary.htm). Of course, SARS is a life threatening illness and I do not mean to trivialize it in any way. MSI's rarely actually threaten anyone's life, but MSI’s can cause permanent impairment, loss of effective use of body parts. This kind of injury can have a life long impact on a persons’ physical well-being, yet, we consider it a normal part of work.

When I am asked to evaluate entire departments in an office, it is not uncommon to find that over 50% of the workers experience some level of discomfort by the end of the day. Extrapolating from that finding, I would estimate that over half the working population might be affected.

If we gave MSI's the same kind of attention we gave SARS, millions of people would require medical attention. The media would have a field day. And the public would not tolerate it – there would be an outcry for reform. There would be official inquiries into how this happened and why workers’ health was allowed to reach this state.

Yet, the disease of musculoskeletal injuries remains. Every day, people go home from work to put ice on their aching muscles and joints, and take pills to tolerate the pain and reduce the inflammation. They are not productive at work any more. And they can’t do the activities that they once enjoyed. So what do we need to do?

We need change the attitude of the employers – to create a corporate culture that reflects the desire for every employee to be have the tools and equipment that they need to do their job to the best of their physical and mental ability. We need to change the attitude of worker – to take responsibility for using the equipment properly. This applies to the tool called the human body as well as the external tools that are used in the course of the work. And, we need to change the attitude of the public – to have the legislative backing to make these changes.

If we gave this epidemic of MSI’s the care it deserves, we (employers, unions, the public and each of us) might have to take some responsibility to prevent injuries.

Sharon

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