Common Musculoskeletal Conditions That We Come Across

There are over 200 musculoskeletal conditions which affect one in four adults (many of which are working age). This equates to a huge 9.6 millions adults who suffer from some sort of musculoskeletal condition. New and long standing cases of work related ill health are taken up by 30% with those suffering from musculoskeletal problems. In recent years, work related ill health has remained mostly consistent however in the year 2019 to 2020, this increased.

According to recent reports published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 8.9 million working days were lost due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (2019-2020). These were a result of 480,000 workers suffering from new or long standing problems. This equates to just over 18 days on average per person, each year that has to take time off of work.

Those who suffer from musculoskeletal problems may have to take time off of work because they’re in too much discomfort to work, have doctors or hospital appointments or may need to see a physiotherapist. Taking a different approach and looking at the root of the problem for those who are suffering musculoskeletal problems could very well save such absences from work which in turn saves costs to your business whilst ensuring your staff member is no longer in discomfort.

What common musculoskeletal problems do we see?

As mentioned previously, there are hundreds of musculoskeletal conditions. With this, at VergoUK, we see a variety of these that workers experience but, a few of the most common are; carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia. Symptoms of these can include; swelling, reoccurring pain, stiff joints and dull aches.

Where in the body can musculoskeletal problems affect?

Musculoskeletal conditions mostly affect the major areas of your musculoskeletal system which includes the neck, back, shoulders, wrists, knees, legs, hips and even feet. These conditions can interfere with everyday life, impacting things like walking, typing or other routine tasks.

Factors such as age, occupation, lifestyle, activity level and family history can impact whether people suffer from musculoskeletal conditions. Certain activities can also contribute to wear and tear on the musculoskeletal system. These include lifting heavy weights, maintaining poor posture at work, carrying out repetitive motions and sitting in the same position at a computer every day.

How we can help

VergoUK have years of experience helping workers who suffer from musculoskeletal conditions. We carry out display screen equipment (DSE) assessments on those who are experiencing discomfort at work. A DSE user is classified as someone who uses a desktop, laptop, mobile or tablet for more than an hour at a time.

The process for our DSE assessments is very straightforward. Once you have got in touch to request an assessment, a member of the team will get in touch to discuss your requirements. We can carry out face to face DSE assessments or, remote assessments via video call – whichever your preference. Once this is arranged, one of our ergonomic DSE assessors will either arrive at the allocated time or make a call.

When assessing your workstation, our ergonomic specialists will get an overview of where and how you work. They will ask a series of questions to understand where any problems may lie and will give you the opportunity to explain any problems that you feel you have.

From here, if any adjustments to your workstation need to be made, our assessor will do these for you, such as showing you how to adjust your chair, changing your screen height or moving your keyboard and mouse to a suitable position. If our assessor believe that new equipment is necessary in order to improve your comfort, they will put this forward in your report. From here it is completely up to you or your line manager whether you would like to go ahead with the purchase.

When we carry out our DSE assessments, the aim is to make sure you can work comfortably. We don’t claim to cure any musculoskeletal conditions however, we do drastically improve comfort and make discomfort more manageable for workers. We will also only recommend products if it is necessary and will always make adjustments to your workstation where possible.

Once you have had your DSE assessment, our assessor will write a report and send this to your line manager. From here, if any product (such as a new chair, desk, desktop riser, mouse etc) is specified, you can make the decision about whether you’d like to go ahead with the product or not. The report can then also be saved for your audit trail.

For over a decade, we have been helping employees work comfortably which has positive impacts for both businesses and workers. Our DSE assessments have been proven to boost morale, increase productivity, reduce absences, save costs and help businesses remain in line with health and safety obligations.

Whether you’re a one man band or a global corporation, we are able to assist with getting you comfortable at work. We offer single assessments, half or full day assessments if you have a team of up to 25 staff members and we also have our online platform which is great for businesses with over thirty members of staff that they would like assessing at once.

If you’d like more information about any of our DSE services, would like a chat or want to book an assessment, get in touch via the form below and a member of the team will be in touch shortly.