[Prevention of work-related muscular-skeletal disorders of upper limbs: a social challenge and economic obligation].
Work-related muscular-skeletal disorders of upper limbs (WRMSDul) represent 66% of all occupational injuries and diseases (OD). The total number of cases has multiplied by 8 over the past eleven years, and in 2002 there were 21126 OD incidents recorded. Although OD statistical data are not necessarily a truly precise reflection of the reality of associated risks, examination of these trends shows that over the past 10 years the most serious diseases, like rotator cuff tendonitis, have increased more rapidly than have the totality of WRMSDul cases as a whole. It is likely that the number of injured workers will continue to increase over the course of the coming years. An evaluation of indirect costs also demonstrates that there are significant social consequences associated with these diseases and which put into question the employability of the affected workers, who are often aged between 40 and 60 years old. This paper therefore brings to the surface the importance of prevention principles and proposes an ambitions prevention plan. This emblematic occupational health risk will constitute, along with professionally related cancers, one of the major challenges for prevention in the coming years.
Aptel
M
M
Laboratoire de Biomécanique et d'Ergonomie, Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France.
Aublet-Cuvelier
A
A
D000328:Adult; D001134:Arm Injuries / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003363:Cost Control; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016272:Occupational Health; D012307:Risk Factors; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries