Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) will be the focus of an upcoming enforcement blitz being conducted by Ontario's Ministry of Labour (MoL).
The blitz will run from September 15 to November 15 and will focus on industrial retail, construction (home building), mining (vehicles and stationary work stations) and health care (hospital) sectors.
"MSD" is a term used to cover a variety of musculoskeletal diagnoses. These include repetitive strain injury, cumulative trauma, back strain and tendonitis.
In retail inspectors will be keeping an eye out for manual materials handling, which means "lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying objects and, in particular, [working] at heights on ladders."
The retail blitz will also examine cashier work stations, cart use and unnecessary materials handling due to aisle obstructions particularly relevant in the back section of the large stores that have a huge volume of products being moved through them.
The home building aspect of the blitz will look at equipment maintenance and access to excavation sites, she reports.
The blitz will also examine access to mining vehicles. For mining, inspectors will be examining large vehicle access and whether the equipment has enough clearance for body parts. They will also make sure roadways in surface mines are well maintained, so workers "don't have a whole lot of whole-body vibration jarring them as they move along."
Finally, for health care will focus on patient lifting, transferring and repositioning, which are the most common musculoskeletal-type task that causes injuries in that sector. Inspectors will also review cart use among support staff, as well as repetitive work and postures among laboratory workers.
