ABSTRACT
The different points discussed here are based on an analysis of the evolution, from the end of the 1970s to the early 1990s, of ULMSD incidence on the one hand and the risk factors like workers’ age and gender distribution, working conditions and economics in France on the other. For this purpose, ULMSD figures drawn from the social security statistics (CNAM 1996), and changes in the working population, analyzed from the statistics published by the National Institute of Statistics and Economical Studies (INSEE) were successively addressed. The statistics of the Ministry of Labor allow the identification of working conditions changes (DARES 1996). At last, productivity, work change and quality requirements were also drawn from several sources and personal communications.
