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What are work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)?

By , Physiotherapist, CEO and co-founder of Precure

Published

What counts as an MSD?

EU-OSHA defines work-related musculoskeletal disorders as health problems that are mainly caused or aggravated by work. They affect the muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, joints and other soft tissue of the back, neck, shoulders, arms and legs.

You will meet several names for the same thing:

  • MSD, musculoskeletal disorder, used by EU-OSHA and most English sources
  • MSK, short for musculoskeletal, common in UK health services
  • MSB, muskel- og skeletbesvær, the Danish term
  • Repetitive strain injury (RSI) or overuse injury, for problems caused by repeated movements

Typical examples are low back pain, neck and shoulder pain, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel syndrome. Most develop slowly. They start as discomfort at the end of a shift and become pain that stays.

How common are MSDs?

MSDs are the most common work-related health problem in Europe:

  • In the 2024 European Working Conditions Survey, 52.6% of workers reported pain in the upper limbs and 52.4% reported backache (EU-OSHA).
  • In 2020, 6.0% of EU workers had bone, joint or muscle problems caused or made worse by work. That is more than half of all reported work-related health problems (Eurostat).
  • Worldwide, about 1.71 billion people live with a musculoskeletal condition, the leading cause of disability (WHO).

In Denmark, 26.7% of adults were very bothered by musculoskeletal pain in the last two weeks (13.6% neck and shoulders, 14.0% back), and about 2 million adults have at least one musculoskeletal condition (Statens Institut for Folkesundhed, 2017 data).

What causes MSDs at work?

The physical risk factors are well documented. EU-OSHA and Arbejdstilsynet point to the same ones:

  • Lifting and carrying, especially heavy loads, loads far from the body and many lifts per day
  • Awkward postures, such as bending, twisting and working with raised arms
  • Repetitive movements of the hands and arms
  • Static work, long periods of sitting, standing or holding the same position
  • Vibration from tools and vehicles

In EU workplaces, managers most often report repetitive hand or arm movements (65%), prolonged sitting (61%) and lifting people or heavy loads (52%) as risk factors (ESENER 2019).

Psychosocial factors matter too: high demands, low control, little support and time pressure all raise the risk. Arbejdstilsynet notes that several exposures together increase pain intensity. A heavy lift is worse when it is also fast, repeated and done under pressure.

How do employers prevent MSDs?

Prevention works best when it starts with the work, not the worker:

  1. Find out where the strain is. Map the tasks, postures and lifts in your risk assessment. In Denmark this is part of the APV. See our guide to ergonomic risk assessment and the APV.
  2. Remove or reduce the load. Use lifting aids, raise or lower working heights, shorten reaches, rotate tasks and break up long repetitive sequences.
  3. Involve the people doing the work. They know which tasks hurt and why, and changes stick when they help design them.
  4. Act early on pain. Early adjustments and staying active beat long sick leave. See low back pain at work and tennis elbow at work.
  5. Measure the effect. Follow up on pain, sick leave and the risk itself, so you know which changes worked.

Where Precure fits in

Most risk assessments rely on observation and questionnaires, which miss how strain builds up over a whole shift. Precure’s wearable sensors measure muscle load and posture during ordinary work, so you can see which tasks carry the risk and check that your changes reduce it. Read about the Ergonomics program, or estimate what prevention is worth with the ROI calculator.

Sources

  1. Introduction to musculoskeletal disorders, EU-OSHA, OSHwiki, 2026
  2. Self-reported work-related health problems and risk factors: key statistics, Eurostat, 2020
  3. Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load 2020-22: what is the issue?, EU-OSHA, 2020
  4. Muskel- og skeletlidelser i Danmark: nøgletal 2022, Statens Institut for Folkesundhed, SDU, 2022
  5. Pas på kroppen i fysisk arbejde, Arbejdstilsynet, 2026
  6. Musculoskeletal health (fact sheet), World Health Organization, 2022

Written by a physiotherapist. General information, not a diagnosis: see a doctor or physiotherapist about your own pain.

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