ABSTRACT
Extensive ergonomic job design input is an essential factor in the prevention of job-related and occupational diseases. For some time now, insurance companies in the USA have postulated that ergonomic job design could reduce the incidence of musculoskeletal diseases by one-third (Snook 1978). More recent data indicate that roughly 30% of all diseases and injuries are attributable to overloading and that overloading accounts for something like 22% of all traumata in the dorsal region (Putz-Andersen and Waters 1991). Data collected by the Federal German Statistics Office also reveal that industrial accidents and occupational diseases are responsible for only a very small proportion of the health erosion attributable to work activities. The available statistics on rehabilitation measures show that patients suffering from occupational diseases and recovering from industrial accidents (not including accidents occurring on the way to and from work) accounted for only 6.5% of total rehabilitation procedures. In the majority of the remaining cases (89% of total rehabilitation procedures), it is mainly chronic diseases that are involved, e.g.
