Psychosocial risks in a unique workplace environment: Safe Trad and traditional Irish musicians

ehps.net/ehp The European Health Psychologist Work-related psychosocial hazards have been broadly defined as aspects of work, including the social and organisational context, with the potential to cause psychological or physical harm (Cox & Griffiths, 2005). Psychosocial hazards include job content, sense of control, workload, work schedule, environment, and organisational culture and relationships (Leka & Jain, 2010). Just as workplaces can vary widely, so too can the potential risks, with workers in some occupations reporting worse than average physical health, psychological well-being and job satisfaction (Johnson et al., 2005). One occupation with unique psychosocial risks is that of the professional musician. For musicians, irregular work schedules, unregulated environments and financial insecurity can result in high levels of stress (Foxman & Burgel, 2006). Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs), or the problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints related to playing a musical instrument, are also commonly experienced by musicians. Problems reported can include pain, weakness, numbness, and other symptoms that interfere with the musicians’ ability to play an instrument to their usual standard (Zaza, 1998). The prevalance of PRMDs in adult musicians varies by population, instrument, music type and individual, and ranges from 39 87% in classical musicians (Zaza, 1998) and 26 to 93% in pianists (Bragge, Bialocerkowski, & McMeeken, 2006). In Ireland, much musical performance takes the form of traditional Irish music. For traditional musicians, the workplace environment typically consists of night time music performances or “sessions” in a pub or bar where music is played for several hours (Wilson, Doherty, & McKeown, 2013). Although professional musicians are paid for performing, there is often an informal atmosphere where other musicians are encouraged to take part (Wilson et al., 2013). The playing environment raises a number of challenges, most notably, that venues are typically inadequately designed for performance and health and safety is rarely addressed. Traditional musicians often chose to perform “in weird positions and in weird chairs”, for example stooped over a table in a bar or sitting on an upturned equipment box, while “crammed into a corner of a pub” to maximise the number of contributing musicians or to hear each other in a noisy environment (Wilson et al., 2013, p. 684). These potential risks are intensified by musicians’ reluctance to interrupt a session to ask for more space or adequate seating. Systematic review evidence indicates that these types of physical and psychological stressors, combined with lack of preventative behaviours, are occupational risk factors for the development of musculoskeletal disorders (Wu, 2007).