AVOIDING INJURIES BY MOVING FROM A CUP OF TEA TO TAI CHI?

HSE press release E235:03 - 21 November 2003

Does your company encourage staff to do warming up (or stretching) exercises before starting work? If so, researchers working for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) would like to hear from you.

The project will be carried out by Human Engineering Ltd, a British ergonomics consultancy, working in partnership with Waseda University in Japan, a country in which many people believe that limbering up exercises help to prevent pain, discomfort or damage to the joints and muscles, known as musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

MSDs are the most common cause of occupational ill health in Great Britain. Around 1.1 million people suffered from MSDs caused or made worse by work, in 2002/03. An estimated 12.3 million working days were lost due to work related MSDs and on average each sufferer took 19.4 days off in the same period.

Warm-up exercises are commonplace in the world of sport and in some other countries people also recommend them as a way of preparing people for lifting, carrying or other work in factories, offices or elsewhere. However, little is known about the effectiveness of this.

If limbering up exercises do work, promoting them could help achieve HSE's targets to reduce work-related injuries and ill-health. HSE has therefore commissioned the research project to investigate this further.

The project will start with a review of the scientific literature regarding the benefits of limbering up exercises prior to starting work. It will go on to consider if there is evidence that particular kinds of limbering up exercises would be useful in tackling particular forms of ill health - such as back pain or the various kinds of upper limb disorders.

If evidence in favour of limbering up is found, the project will also look at cultural differences between British and Japanese workplaces in order to investigate potential obstacles to the adoption of warming up exercises in Britain, such as perceived costs or negative stereotypes.

The overcoming of such obstacles is potentially an important part of the project. The researchers would especially like to hear from any companies or individuals who have first hand experience of introducing or participating in limbering up exercises as a way of preparing for work.

Notes to editors

1. This research project is part of HSC's Priority Programme on MSDs. The Priority Programme aims to reduce the incidence of work-related illness involving MSDs by 20% by 2010, and reduce the number of working days lost due to these disorders by 30% by 2010.

2. HSE aims to achieve the targets in the Programme by communicating effectively with all stakeholders (such as employers, employees and their safety representatives, and health professionals) to encourage ownership of the plan and its outputs, keeping them informed, and giving them opportunities to contribute, revising the strategy as necessary. For more information about the MSD Priority Programme please see the MSD webpages on the HSE site www.hse.gov.uk/msd.

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