Manual materials handling and related occupational hazards: a national survey in France

A large cross-sectional survey in France was conducted to describe occupati onal hazards at the workplace, including absence or presence of manual mate rials handling (MMH) with the number of hours per week and several psychoso cial and physical hazards including various risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. The frequency of MMH across economic activities was described f or the 48,190 workers in the survey. The highest occurrences of intensive M MH were observed in the manufacture of wood, paper, wood and paper products , retail trade and repair, manufacture of food products, manufacture of min eral products, wholesale trade, transport, and construction. High occurrenc es were not limited to blue collar workers, but extended to shop and store employees, hotel and restaurant workers, and care workers. The study of ass ociations between MMH and other occupational hazards emphasized situations with simultaneous exposure to MMH and other risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders.