Management of musculoskeletal pain in the workplace

Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable upper-extremity mu sculoskeletal pains or disorders account for a significant number of work-r elated illnesses in the US workforce. Although the concept of musculoskelet al disorder prevention is appealing, little has been done to demonstrate th e successful application and benefit of these programs. In 1995, an aircraf t manufacturer established a unique risk-management program for new employe es based on the CtdMAP(TM) individual risk assessment instrument. In 1998, a subgroup was prospectively studied for medical management on the basis of individual risk scores. Outcome measures were compared for the risk assess ment group, the matched control group, and the total company. Employer-esti mated savings in direct workers compensation costs were $2.42 million, and estimated indirect savings were over $13.5 million during the study.