Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain.

Objectives: The aim was to develop a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for occupational physical workload and study its predictive validity for musculoskeletal pain in four European cohorts.

Methods: National, gender-specific JEM from Finland, France, Norway and Sweden, based on self-reported exposure information, were evaluated for similarities in exposures, exposure definitions, and occupational coding. The EuroJEM harmonized five exposures: heavy lifting, faster breathing due to heavy workload, kneeling/squatting, forward bent posture, and working with hands above shoulder level.

What have we learned about risk assessment and interventions to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and support work participation?

Objective: The Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (SJWEH) was established half a century ago. This paper provides an overview of research on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) published over these 50 years. Three themes are described: risk assessment, interventions to prevent work-related MSD, and interventions to support work participation.

Labour market trajectories after part-time sickness absence: a nationwide cohort study from Finland.

Objectives: The use of part-time sickness absence (pSA) enables return to part-time work from full sickness absence. However, subsequent labour market outcomes of pSA users depend on various individual and work-related characteristics. We investigated labour market paths of private and public sector employees after having a pSA spell.

Contribution of compositional changes in the workforce to sickness absence trends in Finland.

In this study, we assessed whether the long-term decrease in sickness absences in Finland is explained by observed and unobserved compositional changes in the workforce. Utilizing register-based panel data on Finnish wage earners aged 30-62, we examined the annual onset of compensated sickness absence (granted after 10 weekdays) in the period 2005-2016. We applied random effects models adjusting for changes in the observed sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of the study population.