, Senior Lecturer, Massey University

The daily work of residential builders can expose them to many risk factors associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), or manual handling injuries as builders describe them. These risk factors have lead to a high prevalence of MSD, with injury data for 2009–2013 indicating that MSD were responsible for around 40% of industry claims and a similar proportion of the costs. The purpose of this study was to identify measures used by residential builders to prevent MSD, and to establish how these measures might best find their way into the hands of all builders nationally.

With the assistance of the Master Builders Association, the Certified Builders Association, and ACC, 61 residential builders from Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland were interviewed to identify what measures they took to prevent MSD. From this process, 164 measures were identified and organised into 26 groups relating to the organisation of work, building practices, and work equipment. Many builders stated that they had applied the measures primarily because they were of benefit to the business through gains in productivity, with reduced MSD risk often a secondary consideration. Following the release of an industry report, a further sample of four builders rated each measure on its feasibility of being implemented. A short list was then developed comprising those 58 measures rated highest by the builders as well as the researchers.

This study has identified measures which some builders have applied in their work and found to be effective. Furthermore, in some cases this process will have involved refinement of measures and overcoming barriers to their implementation. All of these factors increase the likelihood that they will be applied by other builders. The efficacy of the measures, however, is yet to be determined. Discussion between the stakeholders on how to best evaluate and implement these measures is underway.