Date of filling in this questionnaire or last update: 14/02/2026
1. JOB-EXPOSURE MATRICES
JEM name
  EuroJEM: Physical workload
Institute
  Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Country
  Finland
Contact person
  Svetlana Solovieva
Email
  svetlana.solovieva@ttl.fi
References (citation)
 

  • Solovieva S et al.. Development of a gender-specific European job exposure matrix (EuroJEM) for physical workload and its validation against musculoskeletal pain. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2025 Mar 1;51(2):119-129. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.4203. Epub 2024 Dec 16. PMID: 39680844

References (weblinks)
 

  • file:///C:/Users/ssol/Downloads/119_129_solovieva-1.pdf

Year JEM was developed
  2024
Agents
 

  • Ergonomics, Physical Workload, and Injury Related

Ergonomics, Physical Workload, and Injury Related
 

  • Awkward work postures (e.g. kneeling/squatting, elevated arms, neck flection, back bent forward without support)
  • Physical work load (e.g. heavy lifting of people or objects, pushing/pulling)

Occupation Axis
  Yes
Coding system
 

  • ISCO 1988

Coding system (Number of digits used)
  4
Industry Axis
  No
Intensity
  No
Probability
  Yes
Probability categories/levels
  Categories based on proportion of exposed: 0=0–5%; 1=6–24%; 2=25–49%; 3=50–74%; 4=75–100%
Duration
  No
Frequency
  No
Peaks
  No
Data source(s)
 

  • Expert assessment
  • Self-reported data

Relation with other JEMs
  JEM was developed via harmonization of the Finnish JEM for physical workload, Norwegian mechanical JEM, Swedish JEM and JEM CONSTANCES
Validation studies done: Texts
 

  • Predictive validity against musculoskeletal pain

Validation studies done: Links
 

  • file:///C:/Users/ssol/Downloads/119_129_solovieva-1.pdf

Availability
 

  • Upon request

Strengths
  JEM showed a good predictive validity, suggesting that it can be an effective tool for exposure assessment in large-scale European epidemiological studies
Weaknesses
  Data material for the harmonized variables in the included national JEMs were collected between 1997 and 2019, only one average measure for the time period covered in each JEM and for each exposure was available