Mexico: a new standard for work-related musculoskeletal disorders came into force on 02 January 2020

The Mexican Official Standard 036 entitled (Spanish acronym, NOM), ‘Ergonomic risk factors at work’ will come into force on 02 January 2020. This decree from the Mexican Labor Ministry intends to identify, analyze, prevent, and control risk factors likely to create musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) among employees. Companies coming under the scope of this new standard are those where the volume of manual handling is likely to be greater than 3 kilograms per person. Company bosses will have to analyze ergonomic risk factors related to load handling and adopt prevention and monitoring measures to eliminate those identified risks. They will also have to train staff over load handling (at least every two years), and maintain a register of staff authorized to carry heavy loads along with their medical certificates. One of the most innovative aspects of this new standard lies in the instigation of a maximum weight load per employee that takes into account both gender and age. The decree also prohibits pregnant females and females within 10 weeks post delivery to carry loads exceeding 10 kilos, or those involving repetitive movements or extreme physical positions. The analysis of risk factors and the implementation of prevention and control measures will be compulsory for all companies, although not until 04 January 2023.