With October and Safe Work month coming to an end, there has rightly been a heavy focus on workplace psychosocial factors and its influence on psychological injury, mental health and wellbeing.
Safe Work Australia defines a psychosocial hazard as “anything that could cause psychological harm (e.g. harm someone’s mental health)” providing examples such as job demand, job control, support, job clarity.
On top of causing psychological harm, psychosocial hazards can contribute to physical injury and is a critical factor in rehabilitation after an injury (physical or psychological).
Historically much of the emphasis on reducing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD’s) has centered around addressing physical factors such as lifting, repetitive or forceful movements, and sustained or awkward postures. This approach has failed to make a substantive impact on the burden of workplace MSD’s.
Here are some important points to consider in the connection between psychosocial risk and MSD’s:
- There is clear evidence that psychosocial risk factors play a causal role in the development of MSD’s [i][ii]
- It is not possible to relate psychosocial factors in isolation to specific MSD’s
- Negative associations between psychosocial factors and MSD’s can work both ways where psychosocial factors can materially contribute to the causation of MSD’s and having an MSD can exacerbate or accentuate the perception of psychosocial factors
There are many theoretical models depicting the connection between factors that contribute to MSD’s. The below is taken from APHIRM toolkit [iii]
Whilst I am encouraged by the large strides being made to identify and mitigate psychosocial risk factors where psychological injury is a threat, it is equally important that an integrated approach is taken where psychosocial considerations is simply part of the WHS framework. In developing action, it should be remembered that, as well as possibly contributing to the problem, psychosocial factors can also provide part of the solution
Considering the interrelationship between workplace and individual factors influencing MSD risk, interventions that tackle these in silos and fail to connect to the broader business management system may weaken outcomes and result in an opportunity lost.
[i] Taibi Y, Metzler YA, Bellingrath S, Müller A. A systematic overview on the risk effects of psychosocial work characteristics on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, and workplace accidents. Appl Ergon. 2021 Sep;95:103434. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103434. Epub 2021 Apr 28. PMID: 33932689.
[ii] Matsudaira K, Konishi H, Miyoshi K, Isomura T, Takeshita K, Hara N, Yamada K, Machida H. Potential risk factors for new onset of back pain disability in Japanese workers: findings from the Japan epidemiological research of occupation-related back pain study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Jul 1;37(15):1324-33. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182498382. PMID: 22246538.
[iii] Jodi Oakman and Wendy Macdonald, “The APHIRM Toolkit: An Evidence-Based System for Workplace MSD Risk Management,” BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 20 (December 2019): Article 504, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-019-2828-1