Preventing Musculoskeletal Disorders at Work: What Measures Should Be Put in Place?
30 September 2026 · 4 min reading time
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Musculoskeletal disorders can develop gradually through repetitive movements, manual handling or awkward working positions. Preventing them therefore involves both adapting workstations and improving work organisation and equipment. Employees, including temporary workers, also have a role to play by reporting difficulties they encounter in their daily work.
MSDs: what risks should be prevented at work?
Musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs, affect areas such as the muscles, tendons and nerves. They commonly affect the shoulders, elbows, wrists and back. Carpal tunnel syndrome and certain types of tendinitis are among the conditions concerned. Work can contribute to their development, maintain them or make them worse.
Manual handling is one risk factor, but it is not the only one. Handling small parts for several hours or regularly working with the arms raised can also put significant strain on the body.
What matters is the accumulation of constraints: the intensity of the effort, the frequency of movements, the time spent in the same position, the pace of work and the amount of recovery time available.
Working conditions therefore play an important role. A sustained pace, limited autonomy, cold temperatures or vibrations can increase physical strain. To understand where the main difficulties lie, it is often necessary to look at the entire working day rather than one isolated task.
What measures can help prevent MSDs?
Prevention relies on several complementary measures: adapting workstations, reducing manual handling, organising tasks and providing training.
Before making changes, it is important to understand how the work is actually carried out. Employees can, for example, explain why they need to bend down repeatedly, why a tool is rarely used or why certain tasks become more difficult when the pace increases.
Adapt workstations and tools to the tasks performed
A container placed too low forces workers to bend down. A tool stored behind the workstation leads to repeated twisting movements. These may seem like small details, but when repeated throughout the day, they can create significant strain.
To improve workstation ergonomics, it may be useful to place frequently used items within easier reach, adjust working heights or provide more room for movement.
Equipment should also be chosen according to the activity. Its weight, grip and maintenance all influence the level of effort required to perform the job.
Before equipping an entire workshop, having the people who will actually use the equipment test it can make it easier to identify limitations or difficulties that are not always obvious on paper.
Reduce manual handling and repetitive effort
Manual handling can be reduced by limiting unnecessary movements and avoidable lifting.
When manual handling remains necessary, some equipment can help reduce physical effort, such as trolleys, conveyors, lifting tables or other handling aids suited to the loads and the workplace.
For a warehouse operative, where products are stored also matters. Boxes placed on the floor or in hard-to-reach areas create the same physical constraints every time they are handled. Adjusting pickup and drop-off heights can therefore be just as useful as changing equipment.
Equipment also needs to remain easy to use. A trolley with damaged wheels or a cluttered passageway can quickly become less effective. Maintenance and good housekeeping are therefore part of prevention too.
Organise work to allow sufficient recovery time
Repetitive movements also depend on how tasks are distributed.
Rotating tasks can be useful if the movements and physical demands genuinely change. Moving from one workstation to another does not necessarily reduce strain if both tasks involve the same wrist movements or postures.
Recovery time should also be considered according to the type of activity. It is closely linked to workload, staffing levels and the pace of work.
An occasional break is not enough to compensate for excessive physical effort throughout the day.
Periods of high activity require particular attention. In hospitality or warehousing, a surge in orders can significantly reduce opportunities for recovery. These periods should also be taken into account when organising work.
Train employees based on their actual workstation
Training is more useful when it is based on situations employees genuinely encounter.
It can cover how to adjust equipment, how to use a handling aid or how to report a task that requires excessive effort.
PRAP training, focused on preventing risks related to physical activity, helps employees observe their work, identify risks and suggest improvements.
Advice on movements and posture can be useful, but it should complement changes to equipment and work organisation. It does not replace action on the underlying causes of the problem.
How can these measures be applied depending on the job?
Risks vary from one sector to another. A warehouse picker, a production operator or a room attendant will not face the same constraints.
| Sector | Situation encountered | Changes to consider |
|---|---|---|
| Logistics | Repeatedly picking up and putting down boxes | Review storage heights, avoid unnecessary movements and provide handling aids |
| Industry | Assembling parts with the arms held away from the body | Bring parts and tools closer, adjust the work surface and review task allocation |
| Hospitality and catering | Carrying containers and working on surfaces that are too low | Provide trolleys, review storage and consider adjustable work surfaces |
| Hotels | Making beds and moving laundry | Consider equipment to raise beds, choose trolleys suited to the premises and keep passageways clear |
These examples provide possible approaches, but solutions should always be adapted to the workplace and tested with the people concerned.
How can a prevention approach be implemented in the company?
The process starts by identifying risky situations and then selecting the measures that should be prioritised.
It is based on the employer’s assessment of occupational risks. Risks linked to MSDs are recorded in the single occupational risk assessment document (DUERP) and should lead to appropriate preventive measures.
Difficulties reported by employees, workstation observations, accidents or absences can help identify situations that require prompt action.
When several employees report the same discomfort during a particular task, for example, this may justify reviewing the activity without delay.
The action plan should then specify the planned changes, the timetable and the person responsible for implementing them.
The occupational health and prevention service, Carsat or Cramif may also support the company.
Once measures have been introduced, it is important to check that they are actually working. Equipment that is rarely used may be poorly positioned, difficult to adjust or unsuitable for certain tasks. Feedback from employees can help identify what needs to be changed.
What should be checked at the start of a temporary assignment?
A new workplace always requires a period of adjustment, even for an experienced employee.
At the beginning of the assignment, the temporary worker should understand the tasks they have been given, the safety instructions and how the equipment works. They should also know who to contact if a difficulty arises.
The temporary employment agency and the user company prepare the assignment in advance by discussing the risks and the skills required.
At the workplace, the user company is responsible for induction and the safety training relevant to the job. Enhanced training is mandatory for temporary workers assigned to positions involving particular health or safety risks.
If an instruction is unclear or a load seems difficult to move using the equipment available, it is better to ask the person in charge for clarification.
Are warm-ups and stretching enough?
Warm-ups and stretching can support a prevention approach, but they do not replace changes to the workstation, equipment or work organisation.
Physical exercises may sometimes be introduced with support from the occupational health and prevention service. Their usefulness depends on the activity and the employees concerned.
A warm-up session cannot correct a poorly designed workstation, excessive work pace or excessive physical effort.
What should you do at the first signs of pain?
Recurring pain, tingling or loss of strength should not be ignored.
Speaking to a GP or occupational physician can help identify the cause and determine whether working conditions need to be adapted.
The GP can investigate the cause of the symptoms and suggest appropriate treatment. The occupational physician can assess whether there may be a link with the employee’s work and recommend adjustments.
Before the appointment, it can be useful to note which movements trigger the discomfort, when it occurs and whether it continues after work.
The issue can also be reported to the manager so that the task concerned can be reviewed. For a temporary worker, informing the employment agency also makes it possible to discuss the conditions of the assignment with the user company.
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