While hardship criteria are at the center of debates surrounding the government’s pension reform, a study shows that musculoskeletal disorders are becoming more widespread. Regardless of the professional category.
According to this study* carried out by Ifop for Percko, 69% of the employees surveyed say they suffer from back pain at work, compared to 50% in 2010 (CSA study for ANACT).
Chronic shoulder and neck pain affects 58% of respondents (up from 45% in 2010). More generally, the percentage of employees who report having at least one musculoskeletal disorder is 86%, up from 72% in 2010.
This evil of the century therefore affects all types of employees: workers of course (88% say they are in this situation) who have physical jobs but also intermediate professions and executives/higher intellectual professions (84%) who bear the costs of their sedentary lifestyle at work (sitting in a chair all day).
Teleworkers have back pain more often than face-to-face employees
The industry and construction sector is, of course, especially represented (87 and 85%), but also commerce, services and administration: 86, 85 and 87%.
In addition, women are more affected than men by these chronic ailments, since 90% of them say they suffer from at least one musculoskeletal disorder compared to 82% of men.
For the respondents, there is no doubt that these pains are related to work for 77% of them (stable figure compared to 2010).
And the generalization of teleworking has acted as a catalyst since 93% of full-time employees who telework carry out this link.
Additionally, telecommuters experience back pain more often than on-site employees: 46% of full-time telecommuters experience it at least once a week vs. 33% of employees overall (10% every day). .
For these employees who suffer from back pain on a regular basis, the consequences are numerous. They generate difficulties in the performance of professional tasks and missions (46% of those surveyed) and give rise to requests for sick leave (34%) and even requests for change of position (15%).
The measures proposed by the companies are considered insufficient
At the same time, 42% of these employees do not dare to request unemployment, a figure that rises to 46% among workers and 60% of the poorest employees (less than 900 euros net per month).
These ills also translate into a deterioration in employee morale: 63% of workers and 53% of managers and their sex lives, the study says.
On the management and manager side, back pain suffered by employees is highly estimated by 59% of respondents, but 39% think otherwise. A figure that rises to 44% in the administration.
On the contrary, the proposed measures, in particular offering ergonomic equipment, are considered insufficient. 60% for teleworkers and 47% for face-to-face employees.
ergonomic seats
73% of employees believe that companies/administrations should finance the purchase of a quality office chair to work from home for each of their teleworking employees.
“The interest of this study is to show that disorders such as back pain are far from being in decline or being the prerogative of manual workers: a new aggravating factor derived from the evolution of trades, teleworking, in fact seems to play a role in the prevalence . of this type of suffering which, however, strongly affects the professional and personal lives of employees”, comments Gautier Jardon, principal investigator of Ifop’s “News and Politics” pole.
“In this context, the expectations of the employees are high towards the companies – legally responsible for guaranteeing their health and safety at work – to finance teleworkers with adequate equipment (ergonomic seat, etc.) and this, more in a context where the energy sobriety plan encourages them to generalize remote work”, he continues.
*: The survey was carried out with a sample of 1,004 people, representative of the population of French employees. The representativeness of the sample was ensured by the quota method. Interviews were conducted using a self-administered online questionnaire from December 6 to 8, 2022.
Source: BFM TV
