Enrico Occhipinti, P.G.D. in occupational medicine and European ergonomist (C.R.E.E.), is professor of occupational medicine at University of Milano (Italy). He is the Director of the Research Unit on Ergonomics of Posture and Movement (EPM) at the Don Gnocchi Foundation in Milan. He has chaired, up to 2012, the Technical committee on musculoskeletal disorders of the International Ergonomics Association, and is a senior member of the CEN and ISO Committees on ergonomics and biomechanics.
Working contexts and the necessity to adequately manage these risks, there is a necessity to adapt strategies for risk assessment and management to different users and working contexts.
Some pillars of these strategies are:
- Simplified risk identification and assessment, especially in craftwork and in SME, with appropriate tools (as suggested by new ISO standards) mainly devoted to risk reduction.
- Multiple task risk assessment, when appropriate, since many tasks could be performed by the same worker during a day, a month or a year.
- Active health surveillance of exposed workers for early detection of symptoms, for epidemiological comparisons and for an adequate task re-collocation of impaired workers.
- Training of managers, company technicians, workers representatives to adequately (re)design tasks, workplaces and tools in a participatory approach.
- Attention to the costs and benefits of preventive interventions.
For each of these issues suggestions and examples will be provided.