When work is a pain Young workers face a terrible strain
injuries risk
[Hazards 73, 16 February 2001]
Young workers are facing a repetitive strain injury
epidemic, according to the TUC. Using official data, the TUC claims
that a whole generation of workers could become victims, devastating
the British economy and leaving millions in pain. Jacqueline Paige
reports.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures reveal
that young workers are more at risk than any other age group on
not one, or even two, but on every single one of the four main risk
factors associated with RSI: repetition and speed, awkward posture,
lack of control over the work process, and the use of force (see
right). Nearly 4 million young people between the ages of 16 and
24 are in work.
"These statistics point to the future of British
industry being bleak because if a high percentage of our young workers
already suffer from RSI, then businesses of the future will have
a limited workforce to choose from," said Roger Lyons, general secretary
of the union MSF.
TUC general secretary John Monks adds: "young workers
are at risk whenever managers fail to assess risks, casualise the
work and cut corners on decent workstations, because they often
don't know their rights, can't complain and haven't got a union."
Others see the emergence of the e-economy and all
things digital as the root cause of this simmering problem. Computer
manufacturers in particular have had the finger pointed at them.
"By failing to promote a safety culture, young people are 'subconsciously
trained' to think its okay to sit at a poorly designed desk and
chair, to slouch, to work without breaks," said Wendy Lawrence,
Chair of the RSI Association.
A UK a survey for the association carried out in
PC World magazine found that "not one had any health and safety
guidance on keybreaks, posture or anything," said Lawrence. "And
the deadly mouse was siting there so docile - and yet is responsible
through bad design for a painful form of RSI."
The case of Michelle Gould, the graphic designer
who in 1999 took her employers, Shell UK, to court and won, is a
good illustration (Hazards 68). Claiming she was never shown how
to use a computer mouse, she was awarded £25,000 damages for RSI
she began to suffer when she was just 20 - two years after joining
the firm.
In Holland it's a different story. A warning leaflet
goes out with every computer, thanks to government funding.
"Computers are the key tools of the jobs of the
future," says the TUC's John Monks. "If we write off a generation
of young people by making it difficult for them ever to get back
to using a keyboard, we run the risk of writing off our economic
tomorrow."
HSE figures throw up very starkly the glaring connection
between worker disempowerment, stress and RSI. Research shows that
for young people, lack of control over the work process is a third
higher than for the average worker.
"Being unable to control the pace at which you
work, the order of your tasks or the way you work, leads to high
levels of stress - a key component of RSI," said Glen Bilby, a physiotherapist
at Back2, a redesign and ergonomic specialist firm in London. His
theory is that stress multiplies the problem of static posture,
because the muscles automatically tighten up when you're stressed
making your posture even more immobile. Referred pain, brought on
by static posture, originates in the neck but the symptoms are felt
in the fingers, hand, wrist and forearm.
Across Europe, unions are calling for new legislation
on RSI - either a completely new Directive, or amendments to the
Manual Handling Directive.
The TUC has recognised International RSI Awareness
Day, on the last day of February, which is the only "non-repetitive"
day in the calendar.
And to mark this year's Day, TUC General Secretary
John Monks has written to the Chief Executives of key retailers
of PCs in Britain, asking them whether they would be willing to
issue a joint leaflet on display screen safety with trade unions
to everyone buying a PC.
|
International RSI Awareness Day
28 February 2001
The TUC is backing International RSI Awareness
Day and is encouraging unions, safety reps and safety campaign
groups to draw attention to strain injury problems at work.
Click here
for further information.
For international RSI news, go to www.ctdrn.org/rsiday
or contact the CTD Resource Network, 2013 Princeton Court,
Los Banos, CA 93635, USA.
Email: RSIDay-owner@yahoogroups.com
|
Teen torture: Teenagers taking jobs while
they study are at higher risk of strain injuries. A University of
Montreal study of 502 students aged 13 to 15 found that after a
year "38 per cent of students who were initially pain-free developed
muscle and joint pain... you were three times as likely in white
collar and two times as likely in a blue collar job." The researchers,
speaking at the November 2000 American Public Health Association
conference, said: "Prevention strategies in the workplace should
include working teens, even if they only work part-time."
Nintendonitis: A doctor has warned about the danger of computer
games after treating an 11-year-old boy for repetitive strain injury.
Dr Diane Macgregor said the patient at the Royal Aberdeen Children's
Hospital developed forearm and elbow pain within days of receiving
a games console for Christmas. The UK Body Action Campaign has launched
a "prevention programme" to tackle the problem. Body Action Campaign.
21 Nutwell Street, London, SW17 9RS. Tel: 0207 580 0984.Contact
the Body Action Campaign
Or view the website
Young people: The Health and Safety Executive
has updated its health and safety guidance for bosses employing
under-18s. The guidance details dangers to young workers and the
laws protecting them. HSE figures show that last year six under-19s
lost their lives carrying out work activities, 1,551 sustained major
injuries and a further 5,310 youngsters were off work for over three
days as a result of a work-related illness or injury. Young people
at work - a guide for employers. Ref: HSG(G) 165 (rev). ISBN 0-7176-1889-7.
£7.95. From HSE Books (see Hazards 73).
High school hazards: A "Live safe! Work
smart!" high school teaching resource, produced by the Canadian
Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) with the help
of teachers' unions, is now available on the web, on CD and as a
looseleaf binder. CCOHS. 250 Main Street East, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, L8N 1H6. Contact
CCOHS Or view the website
US victimisers: Workplace strain injuries
affect about one million US workers each year, a new official report
has found. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report said a
conservative estimate of the cost of these injuries was $50m (£35m)
a year. Musculoskeletal disorders and the workplace. NAS, January
2001. web: www.nationalacademies.org/ US victimisers: A new US ergonomics
standard, the product of a 10-year union campaign, introduced as
one of the last acts of President Bill Clinton's presidency and
which took effect on 16 January 2001 is already under attack from
business. Many US business lobbyists have said their no.1 goal in
the George W Bush administration is to either have the new president
rescind the regulations or to have Congress overturn them. OSHA
ergonomics standard on the web: www.osha.gov. Union factsheets and
campaign materials can be found on the AFL-CIO (the US TUC) safety
website
Big burden: Work-related strains are becoming
Europe's greatest health and safety challenge, the Bilbao-based
European Agency has warned. It says strains account for 40 to 50
per cent of all work-related ill-health and affect over 40 million
European workers, adding: "Europe's competitiveness is being considerably
reduced by the social and economic impact of this work-related disorder."
European Agency factsheets
|
Adjust the job!
TUC says steps that union safety reps can
take to protect young workers include:
| |
1. Insisting on a
workplace risk assessment. |
| |
2. Identifying any
part of the job where the risk factors for RSI are present.
|
| |
3. Checking whether
the workplace could be adjusted to take more account of
them as individuals. |
| |
4. Encouraging them
to take advantage of any work breaks to give their body
a chance to recover. |
| |
5. Help them to feel
confident about taking screen breaks - without feeling
they're malingering. |
| |
6. Persuading employers
to rotate the work young people do, to create a bit of
variety. |
| |
7. Carry out a body
mapping session with the young workers, and act on the
results, including entering any symptoms in the work accident
book. |
Fast and furious
Work can be more of a pain when you are
young
| Had to repeat the same sequence
of movements many times |
| |
% age 16-24
|
% total workforce
|
| Men |
74
|
64
|
| Women |
82
|
67
|
| All |
78
|
65
|
| Had to work very fast |
| |
% age 16-24
|
% total workforce
|
| Men |
70
|
57
|
| Women |
72
|
62
|
| All |
71
|
60
|
| Had to use appreciable force |
| |
% age 16-24
|
% total workforce
|
| Men |
46
|
35
|
| Women |
28
|
21
|
| All |
36
|
28
|
| Not able to choose or change
the order of their tasks or method of working |
| |
% age 16-24
|
% total workforce
|
| Men |
48
|
34
|
| Women |
38
|
32
|
| All |
43
|
33
|
| Had to work in awkward or
tiring positions |
| |
% age 16-24
|
% total workforce
|
| Men |
54
|
46
|
| Women |
49
|
45
|
| All |
51
|
45
|
From Self-reported working conditions in
1995: Results from a household survey. HSE Books. 1997.
|
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