Background
Workers with physically demanding work may be exposed to various occupational hazards when performing their daily work activities. During the past decades, many studies have shown that exposures such as pushing, pulling and heavy lifting [1‐3], bending and twisting [1], adopting awkward postures [2, 4], long working hours [5‐7], shift work [8], job control [9, 10] and exposure to occupational noise [11] and hazardous substances and fumes [12, 13] are linked with occupational health outcomes, such as work-related musculoskeletal disorders [2, 4, 10], hearing loss [11, 14], cancer [12] or cardiovascular disease [5, 6, 11, 12]. Certain occupational hazards impose increased risks for occupational injuries, illnesses or other adverse health outcomes which can result in unsafe work practices [14] and productivity loss [15]. When workers are affected by illness or injuries, this may result into (long-term) sickness absence [1, 3, 8, 9, 13], work disability [16] and premature exit from