When is job rotation perceived useful and easy to use to prevent work-related musculoskeletal complaints?

•We interview employers and workers from the construction industry.•We examine facilitators and barriers to usefulness and ease of use of job rotation.•Job and organizational factors influence usefulness and ease of use of job rotation.•Individual factors influence usefulness and ease of use of job rotation.

Job rotation is often recommended to optimize physical work demands and prevent work-related musculoskeletal complaints, but little is known about possible facilitators and barriers to its usefulness and ease of use. Following a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews with employers (n = 12) and workers (n = 11) from the construction industry were conducted. Organizational climate, job autonomy, job characteristics and work processes were mentioned as either facilitators or barriers on an organizational level. Worker characteristics, work behavior and attitude were mentioned as either facilitators or barriers on an individual level. Following a structured approach to assess usefulness of job rotation to optimize physical work exposures and identifying barriers to usefulness and ease of use in relevant stakeholder groups is necessary in order to select or develop strategies to overcome these barriers, or to reject job rotation as a useful or easy to use intervention in the given context.