European Commission release a manual for managing chronic diseases and preventing the risk of acquiring disabilities

This recently released European Commission manual – for managing chronic diseases and preventing the risk of acquiring disabilities – aims to support people who have a chronic disease or a disability at work. It contains practical information and suggestions to improve their working conditions and explain to employers how to make a workplace safer and more inclusive.

Musculoskeletal disorders are addressed in section 5.3 of the manual.

EU-OSHA advises a three-pronged approach to prevent and/or reduce rheumatic and musculoskeletal disorders, including:

a) preventive action and reasonable adjustments to work

b) effective vocational rehabilitation programmes and co-designed return-to-work plans and

c) comprehensive support by the employer for workers to self-manage their health condition.

Catalogue number KE-05-24-374-EN-N ISBN 978-92-68-16406-8 DOI 10.2767/321337 © European Union, 2024

Written by Laura Jones and Mathias Maucher, with contributions from Keiu Talve. This document has been prepared for the European Commission, however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication. © European Union, 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) licence