English version - Fit for Work Europe

Source: Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association 24
The evidence linking other non-occupational MSDs and work is not conclusive and attributing
cause and effect between specific aspects of work and particular ailments is difficult. It is
clear that work is not the cause of rheumatic diseases such as RA and SpAs, though there
is evidence that the demands of physical labour, lack of support, self-stigma and insufficient
flexibility over working time can each make job retention or return to work more difficult (der
Tempel and van der Linden, 2001; Gignac et al., 2004). For example, Nakata, Takahashi, Irie,
Ray and Swanson (2011) find that poor job satisfaction was associated with sickness absence;
another study confirms that job strain predicts MSD- and cardiovascular disease-related
disability pension claims (Mäntyniemi, Oksanen, Salo, Virtanen, Sjösten et al., 2012). While
many of the established risk factors that may contribute to the development of non-specific
MSDs can be encountered at work, even if work does not cause a condition it may have an
impact on it. Moreover, if we consider risk factors beyond the physical, then the impact of the
workplace on MSDs is likely to be much greater. In a recent epidemiological study interpersonal
stress in the workplace, frequent lifting and monotonous tasks predicted the onset of low back
pain (Matsudaira, Konishi, Miyoshi, Kota, Isomura, Takeshita et al., 2012).
24 See Japan Industrial Safety and Health Association www.jisha.or.jp/english/statistics/index.html
MSDs and employers
Figure 6.3. The number of work-related diseases requiring four or more days of absence
9,000
8,500
8,000
7,500
7,000
6,500
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2003 2007 2008 2009 2010
Fit For Work? Musculoskeletal Disorders and the Japanese Labour Market 55