Abstract
Musculoskeletal disorders, as international statistics confirm, represent one of the most frequent causes of absenteeism and certainly one of the most common causes of occupational illnesses (about 45% of the total) within industrialised countries. Furthermore, several studies underline the peculiar impact of this phenomenon on the large retail trade sector. The cross-cutting nature of the main causes – which might also include non-work related factors – and the difficulty in establishing a causative connection between the disease and the task to be performed, make it difficult to recognise the occupational disease. On the basis of these considerations, this paper investigates the outcomes of a research report carried out by the authors on this topic.
Key Terms: Musculoskeletal Disorders, Causal Link, Retail Sector, Distribution Sector, Occupational Illnesses.