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Low back pain
Pain in the lower back, the most common one.
DetailsYour body is your number one tool at work.
ScrollKnowledge base · MSD prevention · Underground mine
A broken tool gets replaced. Your back, shoulders and knees have to last. Two clearly separate sections, depending on what you need:
Recommended
Guided training · step by step
Start the guided training
A step-by-step path with quiz, score and certificate: perfect for new workers.
Knowledge baseExplore freely
All the topics at your own pace: types of MSDs, risk factors, sleep, good habits, with interactive exploration (clickable diagram, body map, workstation simulator).
The scale of the problem
MSDs in Québec, by the numbers
Musculoskeletal disorders are no small thing: they affect a big share of workers and weigh heavily, every year, on health and work.
1 / 4
Québec workers affected by a non-traumatic, work-related MSD
~26 600
MSD-type injuries accepted by the CNESST in 2023
23,3%
Of 2023 work injuries are MSDs
Top 3
Causes of absence and reassignment in the workplace
Sources: CNESST, 2023 annual statistics · INSPQ
Part 01
Understanding MSDs
A musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) is damage to your muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments or joints, caused or made worse by work. It's rarely the result of a single accident: it builds up gradually, when repeated movements, efforts and postures go beyond your body's ability to recover. It starts with simple discomfort and can end in a lasting injury, which is why it's so important to act early.
Types of MSDs : click a card
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Tendinitis
Inflammation of a tendon: shoulder, elbow, wrist.
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Bursitis
Inflammation of the bursae: knees, shoulders.
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Carpal tunnel
Compression of the median nerve at the wrist.
DetailsWhere it hits the most : click an area
Rotate the body in 3D, display the structures (muscles, bones, joints, nerves) and click an area to see the common MSDs, the factors behind them and the good habits.
Structures
Muscles
Bones
Joints
Nerves
Anatomical model · display the structures (muscles, bones, joints, nerves), rotate the body and click a marker to open its details. Model: Z-Anatomy (CC BY-SA).
Risk factors
For workers, the risk comes mainly from the task, the body and the immediate environment:
👆 Everything is clickable: the 3 families, each word inside the circles, the 10 chips around them, each one linked by a dotted line to its colour family.
Each chip is linked to its family:
Biomechanical factors
Individual factors
Environmental factors
Biomechanical
factors
factors
Individual
factors
factors
Environmental
factors
factors
An MSD doesn't have a single cause: effort, posture, repetition, fatigue and environment all add up.
Our reality: underground, the risk piles up
Underground, several strains add up over a single shift. Check off the ones that affect your job to gauge the risk:
Your rough risk level
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Result of your latest workstation assessment.
How pain develops: act early
An MSD sets in by stages. The same injury goes from simple discomfort to nagging pain, then to a lasting injury. The longer the pain lasts, the longer recovery takes, which is why it matters to act right from the start.
The right time to act
It pulls or burns during effort, then eases off at rest. Local fatigue, stiffness at the end of the shift. This is where you need to act.
Act early = fast recovery and performance preserved.
The pain sets in
The pain comes back faster, lasts longer and sticks around even when you're not working. Your sleep and your output suffer.
Don't ignore it = avoid making it worse.
Risk of becoming chronic
The pain stays even at rest, the injury is set in: functional trouble, long and uncertain recovery.
Act now = limit the damage and get your capacity back.
The right time to act is as soon as the discomfort shows up (the acute phase, the green stage). The longer you wait, the more you slide toward pain and then injury. Chronic injuries are rare but have a poor outlook: past that stage, proper care becomes necessary.
