What I observe in the workplace
Since April 2025, I have worked every week at a facility belonging to the emeis group, for half a day each week. Across nearly 340 consultations, one finding keeps coming back: musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) do not present in the same way depending on a person's role. Administrative staff and care staff do not seek help for the same pain, and that is no coincidence.
Office-based roles
Office work: lower-back pain sets in
For employees in administrative roles, lower-back pain is by far the most common reason for consultation. The cause is rarely one specific incident: it is the accumulation. Prolonged sitting, a poorly positioned screen, an unsuitable or barely adjusted chair, and too few standing breaks during the day. The body compensates, tension settles in the lower back, and the pain eventually becomes persistent if nothing changes in posture or working rhythm.
Care roles
Care work: the shoulder takes the strain
For care staff, the mechanics are entirely different. Shoulder pain dominates, linked to repetitive movements, carrying loads, moving patients, and working with the arms raised or the body twisted. Unlike administrative staff, the effort is brief but intense and repeated several times a day — wearing the joint differently from a prolonged static position.
Why this changes everything for prevention
This finding has a direct consequence: a uniform MSD prevention policy designed for “everyone” misses its target. A generic posture workshop will not meet the needs of a care team, and manual-handling advice will change nothing for an employee who remains seated for eight hours a day. Effective prevention starts from the real role, not a generic job description.
For office-based roles
- Adjust screen and seat height to keep the back upright without tension.
- Introduce standing or movement micro-breaks every hour.
- Work on pelvic and lower-back mobility, not only strengthening.
For care roles
- Review patient-handling techniques so the effort is distributed across the whole body, not only the shoulder.
- Rotate high-risk tasks between several people whenever possible.
- Prioritise shoulder recovery — mobility and targeted stretching — outside periods of heavy strain.
What this means for a company
In practice, companies that distinguish between their employee populations — rather than applying a single formula — achieve the best participation rates and the most positive feedback. This is exactly what the programme running since April 2025 at an emeis facility confirms (view the client case →).
The question is therefore not “should we prevent MSDs?”, but “which prevention for which role?”.
Would you like to assess the specific needs of your teams? Let’s discuss your context, headcount and the most suitable format.
