MANUAL MATERIALS HANDLING AND RELATED OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS : A NATIONAL SURVEY IN FRANCE

Abstract A large cross-sectional survey in France was conducted to describe occupational hazards at the workplace, including absence or presence of manual materials handling (MMH) with the number of hours per week and several psychosocial and physical hazards including various risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. The frequency of MMH across economic activities was described for the 48,190 workers in the survey. The highest occurrences of intensive MMH were observed in the manufacture of wood, paper, wood and paper products, retail trade and repair, manufacture of food products, manufacture of mineral products, wholesale trade, transport, and construction. High occurrences were not limited to blue collar workers, but extended to shop and store employees, hotel and restaurant workers, and care workers. The study of associations between MMH and other occupational hazards emphasized situations with simultaneous exposure to MMH and other risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. Relevance to industry A better knowledge of economic activities and occupations highly exposed to MMH is required in order to implement preventive interventions focussing on high risk sectors.

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