Mexico’s National Cement Chamber (Canacem) said its members are transitioning to the required 25-kg bags in accordance to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare’s NOM-036-1-STPS-2018 standard.
The “Promoting Occupational Safety and Health in Mexican Work Environment” standard establishes specific requirements for the identification, analysis, prevention, and control of ergonomic risk factors in the workplace.
Maribel Leyte Jiménez, director of sustainability and environment at Cemento Moctezuma, explained that the implementation of the new bags would result in lower lumbar and spinal injuries of workers. Cemento Moctezuma is the first cement company to comply to the new standard, transitioning from 50- to 25-kg bags to prevent workers from being injured due to physical overexertion, incorrect manual handling of loads, repetitive movements and forced postures.
In 2022, the Mexican Institute of Social Security reported musculoskeletal disorders represented 5.1% of occupational-related diseases. The Inter-American Development Bank said that between 50% and 70% of the workforce in developing countries are exposed to musculoskeletal injuries and disorders.
Marath Bolaños López, secretary of labor and social welfare, celebrated this “collective effort, which allows us to improve as a society” and expressed his gratefulness to those involved for “subscribing to the standards of the future” that will benefit millions of Mexicans.
