Making an investment in health and safety

In the health-care sector, there is moderate evidencethat ergonomic and other MSD prevention programsare worth undertaking for economic reasons. There were 11 studies in this category. Four were of medium quality, and the rest were of low quality. Most of these studies looked at the use of mechanical ceiling lifts. These lifts are used to move and transfer patients as a way of preventing injuries in health-care workers. Some studies examined other approaches to reducing backinjuries, such as lifting teams, ergonomic training on techniques to move and transfer patients manually, or exercise programs to increase back strength.

Also in the health-care sector, we identified five occupational disease prevention interventions. Three were of medium quality and two were of low quality. One type of intervention was needle-stick injury prevention programs. The other was the replacement of powdered latex gloves with powder-free gloves. There is moderate to limited evidence that such interventions are worth undertaking for their financial merits.

We identified eight studies of ergonomic and other MSD prevention programs in the administrative and support services sector. Two evaluations were of high quality, one was of medium quality, and five were of low quality. This translates into moderate evidence that such programs are worth undertaking based on their financial merits. The benefits may be due to a decline in how often injuries occur or how severe they are. This ultimately results in reduced costs and productivity improvements.

There is strong evidence that ergonomic and other MSD prevention programs are worth undertaking in the manufacturing and warehousing sector. There were nine interventions in this category. Three were of high quality, two were of medium quality, and the rest were of low quality.

Also in this sector, there is limited to mixed evidence of negative findings for multi-faceted programs. There were a total of four interventions, with two of medium quality, and two of low quality.

The last area with evidence was ergonomic and other MSD prevention programs in the transportation sector. There is moderate evidence that such interventions result in improved economic returns. In this category there were three interventions. One was of high quality, and two were of medium quality. Interestingly, each was undertaken in a different country, namely the Unites States, the Netherlands and Australia.