[Criteria for the health surveillance of WMSDs in exposed working populations].

In the light of the experiences and guidelines developed by other countries and of Italian legislative and operational conditions, the authors outline a strategy for a health surveillance programme for work-related musculo-skeletal disorders of the upper limbs. In particular, the paper defines the various aims of the health surveillance programme and identifies significant relevant criteria for its implementation (i.e. existence of risks or effects). A screening schedule is presented based on successive investigations (1st and 2nd level surveillance); the authors discuss the principal methods used for processing the results of the health surveillance programme, in collective (i.e. statistical comparisons; planning of periodical investigations) and individual terms (job fitness judgements; reporting of suspected occupational diseases.