Carlsberg UK – musculoskeletal conditions and back pain
| Company name | Carlsberg UK |
|---|---|
| Sector | Drinks manufacturing |
| Number of employees | 1,800 |
| Type of workforce | Predominantly manual |
What issue was the organisation facing?
Carlsberg UK’s musculoskeletal (MSD) rate reflected the national trend as the most common type of work-related ill health, but injuries and related costs were getting out of hand.
Working in partnership with its Occupational Health provider, CIGNA HealthCare Benefits, the decision was taken to review Carlsberg UK’s practices and help the company control its absence and accident rates. It was clear that MSD absence was going to have to be the focus of the work.
What action did the organisation take?
The first step was to understand the causes of these injuries by looking at the most commonly reported specific health issues. Following close working with Heath and Safety to develop a revised training programme, employees working in Distribution were asked to complete The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire along with biometrics including weight and blood pressure. This allowed Carlsberg UK and CIGNA to look at the nature, range and severity of self-rated musculoskeletal symptoms.
The questionnaires showed a range of different health issues were having a negative effect on the MSD health of all staff. Some of these were down to different cultures and work practices which had evolved in different parts of the country. This wasn’t good news for a company looking to reduce its absence costs.
To tackle this, CIGNA was requested to make recommendations based on the findings of the questionnaires to kick start a change of practices at all Carlsberg UK depots to help tackle these health issues.
One of the recommendations made was changing the absence referral trigger from seven days to three days to give early and proactive support and intervention, including fast track to physiotherapy services to staff. With great input from Carlsberg UK, this has been a huge help in reducing lost time days – through absence prevention and early return promotion.
Safer working practices were introduced including return to work interviews and support programmes and greater availability and access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
Carlsberg UK and CIGNA also began a programme of health screening roadshows to help employees identify health issues and make changes to their lifestyles as early as possible.
What has been the impact of implementing health interventions?
Carlsberg UK has seen absence rates reduce from 4.2% to 3.2% and accident levels reduce by 50% within the distribution depots during the first year of carrying out the study. As a result of all stakeholders working in partnership together to tackle the problems, Carlsberg UK staff are now working safer and are finding it easier to keep healthy. Not only have absence rates dropped, there’s now an increased awareness of accountability across all of Carlsberg UK’s staff. An additional impact is a greater individual responsibility for reporting near misses to support accident prevention.