FfW Bulgarian report (English language) - Fit for Work Europe

2.2
MSDs:
The European
context
Introduction
• In 2010 about 13.3 per cent of males and 11.7 per cent of females of working age in
Bulgaria were inactive due to illness or disability (Eurostat, n.d.). That is compared to
16.8 and 11.8 per cent respectively for 2009 (Eurostat, n.d.).
• A further 7.7 per cent of individuals of working age are out of work due to caring
responsibilities (Eurostat, n.d.).
• Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) accounted for 1005.2 hospitalisation cases per
100,000 working age population (6.1 per cent) in 2004 (International Health Care and
Health Insurance Institute, 2004).
Despite the significant impact of health on the Bulgarian workforce, demonstrated above,
tackling high rates of musculoskeletal conditions among Bulgarian employees has not yet
become a priority for policy-makers and employers. 6 It is important to raise awareness of direct
and indirect costs of ill health for organisations and society to evaluate its potential long-term
consequences.
In the EU context, concern in the European Commission and among the social partners over
the prevalence and impact of work-related MSDs has been growing for several years. Chronic
musculoskeletal pain is estimated to affect 100 million people in Europe (Veale, Woolf and
Carr, 2008), MSDs affect more than 40 million workers in the EU and account for about half
of all work-related disorders in EU countries (European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), 2007),
representing an estimated cost to society of between 0.5 and 2.0 per cent of gross domestic
product (GDP) (Cammarota, 2005).
The fourth European Working Conditions Survey published by the European Foundation
(Parent-Thirion et al., 2007) has shown that 25 per cent of workers across the EU experience
backache and 23 per cent report muscular pain. Indeed, the European Commission estimates
that MSDs account for 50 per cent of all absences from work lasting three days or longer and
for 60 per cent of permanent work incapacity. If the European, knowledge-based economy
is to recover and compete against the US and the growing economies of Asia the health and
productivity of the EU workforce must be a policy priority. This report looks at Bulgaria in this
wider EU context and assesses where Bulgaria is doing well and where it has challenges to
confront. In addition, Appendix 3 compares labour market, welfare and health care systems
indicators across a number of European countries.
6 Expert interview
Fit For Work? 13