Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs (MSDs-UL) will remain, along with back pain, one of the major challenges in occupational health in the coming years due to their likely increase resulting from a combination of more demanding working conditions and an aging workforce. The pilot program for the epidemiological surveillance of MSDs, launched in 2002 in the Pays de la Loire region by the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance, has made it possible to estimate the prevalence of MSDs and their risk factors among the working population. This program is the first in Europe to use the definitions of MSDs and the standardized diagnostic approach proposed by the European SALTSA consensus for the surveillance of MSDs. (R.A.)