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WORK'S STRAINS AND PAINS

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Journée
de sensibilisation microtraumatismes répétés, 29
février 2008 CTC, Canada
Repetitive
Strain Injury Awareness Day - February 29, 2008 CLC, Canada
International
RSI Awareness Day ILO/CIS , Global
Resources
Hazards Workplace
assessment tools, including bodymapping and risk mapping
Hazards Computer
workstations checklists
TUC Back
strain and RSI
webpages
RSI Action website
NUJ RSI
webpages
UNISON RSI leaflet, January 2008 [pdf]
Links to UK
RSI support groups

ETUC: On the offensive against MSDs
HESA
musculoskeletal disorders webpage
HESA
strain injuries toolbox
Other
useful resources
Ergonomics Ideas Bank Washington
State Dept. of Labor and Industries, USA
AFL-CIO: Ergonomics/Stop
the Pain campaign Resources
for the Stop the Pain campaign run by US national union federation AFL-CIO
ACTU: No body should put up
with it Resources
for the strain injuries campaign run by Australian national union federation
ACTU
IOSH Occupational
Health Toolkit: musculoskeletal disorders webpage
UAW ergonomics webpage
HSE: Better backs tools for safety reps
As part of its better backs campaign, HSE has published new tools for
safety reps, including a checklist for workplace manual handling inspections.
HSE says the “documents have been put together in partnership with
the TUC to help safety representatives get involved with the campaign.”
Risks
275, 23 September 2006 • Manual handling inspections checklist
[pdf]
• HSE better
backs campaign webpages and what
could you do? page
Eurofound: Managing musculoskeletal disorders
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) remain the most common work-related diseases,
according to this October 2007 comparative report published by Eurofound’s
European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO). The report found that
MSDs were associated with strenuous working conditions and physical strain,
such as tiring and painful working positions, repetitive movements, carrying
heavy loads and poorly designed workstations. Work intensification and
stress lead to increased occurrences of MSDs. Job rotation and team working
are also associated with a higher incidence of MSDs. Lean production models
require workers to perform repetitive tasks at a higher work pace, resulting
in a higher prevalence of MSDs. Enhanced autonomy over working methods,
work pace and choice of breaks is associated with a reduction of MSDs.
The risk is lowered where there is training provided by employers and
consultation about working conditions and about organisational factors.
Managing
musculoskeletal disorders • Musculoskeletal
disorders still the most widespread work-related diseases
European Agency Lighten
the load campaign and Back
to Work report

US NIOSH Ergonomics
and musculoskeletal disorders webpages • NIOSH
lifting equation
Cornell University ergonomics
web
US RSI
support groups
Hazards strains news
Australia:
Luxury hotels serve up agony for workers
Luxury hotel workers in Australia have launched a national campaign for
better pay and conditions after an investigation revealed record injury
rates and the highest staff turnover of any industry. Research by hotel
workers’ union LHMU revealed “devastating staff turnover levels,
record injury rates, dangerous workloads, bullying by management and Australia’s
biggest number of low paid workers.”
LHMU
news release, luxury jobs factsheet [pdf]
and better
hotel jobs campaign website • Risks
347
Hazards news, 15 March 2008
India: Computer-based
workers feel the pain
Call centre and other computer-based workers in India are paying a high
price for the job, with significant numbers suffering musculoskeletal
disorders (MSDs), according to a new report. Dr Deepak Sharan, the medical
director of the RECOUP Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation Centre in Bangalore,
found that 75 per cent of the 30,000 individuals in his ongoing study
in India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ are afflicted with musculoskeletal
symptoms related to their work.
Risks
345
Hazards news, 1 March 2008
Britain: Call to
protect workers from RSI
More needs to be done to protect workers from repetitive strain injury
(RSI), physios’ union CSP has warned. It says RSI rates have been
rising in recent years and the problem now costs the UK economy £300m
a year in lost working time, sick pay and administration.
TUC
RSI webpages • Updated UNISON RSI guide [pdf]
• Risks
345
Hazards news, 1 March 2008
USA: Newspaper
exposes poultry industry horrors
A newspaper that spent 22 months investigating conditions at a major North
Carolina poultry supplier has uncovered a horrific pattern of worker exploitation
and injuries. An accompanying Charlotte Observer editorial adds the immigrant
worker “are being exploited, abused, then thrown away when they
are injured or when they speak up.”
Charlotte
Observer news series and videos • Risks
343
Hazards news, 16 February 2008
Britain: Tube driver
gets RSI compo go-ahead
A Tube driver has been granted permission to sue London Underground (LUL)
after developing a debilitating wrist injury. RMT member Latona Allison
developed the repetitive strain injury tenosynovitis in her right wrist
and now cannot work as a driver.
Ms
Latona Allison (Appellant) and London Underground Ltd, [2008] EWCA
Civ 71, Case No: B3/2007/0536, 13 February 2008 • Risks
343
Hazards news, 16 February 2008
Global: International
RSI Day, 29 February 2008
Union reps should start gearing up for International RSI Day, the last
day of February every year. In 2008 - a leap year - that means Friday
29 February. Whether you do a workplace risk assessment, a bodymapping
session or just a bit of general awareness raising, make sure you do something.
'Repeat
after me' poster • Hazards
magazine strains webpage •
Risks 343
Hazards news, 16 February 2008
Britain:
Training won’t prevent back pain
If employers do not lift a finger to reduce manual handling at work and
just rely on training in “safe” lifting they’ll not
stop workplace back injuries, researchers have concluded. Commenting on
study findings published on the British Medical Journal (BMJ) website,
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “It shows that employers
shouldn't be relying on their employees lifting heavy weights ‘correctly’
to prevent back injury, but instead should be reducing the weight of things
that need to be lifted manually,” adding: “The Health and
Safety Executive will now have to review its advice on manual handling
as a matter of urgency.”
Kari-Pekka Martimo and others. Effect
of training and lifting equipment for preventing back pain in lifting
and handling: systematic review, BMJ Online First, 31 January 2008,
doi:10.1136/bmj.39463.418380.BE • Risks
342
Hazards news, 9 February 2008
Britain:
Food firm ignored manual handling risks
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding companies of their
legal duties on manual handling after an employee was injured when a 50kg
sack of basmati rice fell on his neck. East End Foods plc pleaded guilty
to safety offences and was fined £25,000 with £28,000 costs.
Risks
341
Hazards news, 2 February 2008
Britain:
Strain injury leads to forced retirement
A factory worker from Port Talbot who was medically retired after suffering
a repetitive strain injury (RSI) has received almost £17,000 in
compensation. Unite member Barbara Newall’s job was to bag the accessories
that accompanied a DVD player; this included a remote control, a battery
pack, an RF cable and, in some cases, an additional RF lead - she would
pack approximately 4,500 bags per day.
Thompsons
Solicitors new release
RSI Action Day, Friday 29 February: Unions can order a special 'Repeat
after me' RSI day poster from the Hazards Campaign • 'Repeat
after me' poster • Email
the Hazards Campaign for poster order details
• Risks
341
Hazards news, 2 February 2008
Britain: Cut weight
limit, say bag handlers
Baggage handlers nationwide are campaigning for the maximum luggage weight
limit allocated to each airline passenger to be cut. Unite, the workers'
union, says baggage handlers want the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
to reduce the maximum weight limit from 32kg to 23kg a bag.
Manchester
Evening News • Risks
338
Hazards news,12 January 2008
USA:
Hilton caused housekeeper strains
California’s workplace safety regulator has charged that the duties
performed by housekeepers at a hotel - scrubbing, bed making, vacuuming
- violate the state's repetitive strain injury rules. A citation issued
to Hilton Los Angeles Airport hotel (LAX Hilton) “confirmed what
workers have been telling their physicians and management at the LAX Hilton,
that this work and the workload are causing them pain and injury,”
said Pamela Vossenas, senior health and safety representative for the
hotel division of Unite Here.
LA
Union news release • LA
Times
Hazards news, 1 December 2007
Repeat
after me – strain injuries hurt
Strain injuries are commonly reported as the top cause of work-related
injury, disability and lost time. They are easily prevented - and there
has never been a better time to take action.
Hazards strains resources
• ‘Repeat
after me’ poster • Email
the Hazards Campaign for poster order details
Hazards news, 1 December 2007
Britain: Minister backs union strains campaign
Health and safety minister Lord McKenzie has added his weight to a union
bad backs prevention initiative. The minister joined trade union safety
representatives and experts from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
on a London unionlearn course, to mark the start of European Health and
Safety Week.
HSE
news release
Hazards news, 27 October 2007
Europe: ETUC goes on the strains offensive
Unions in Europe are being urged to join “a massive offensive”
against workplace strain injuries. John Monks, ETUC general secretary,
said: “We want to launch a mass trade union offensive focused on
work organisation to stem these rapidly-spreading work-related illnesses.”
ETUC news release [pdf]
• Conference
papers
Hazards news, 20 October 2007
Europe: Getting to grips with strain injuries
Three simple letters - MSD – identify the leading cause of occupational
illness in Europe, according the European trade union safety thinktank,
REHS. Its new guide to musculoskeletal disorders – MSDs –
provides a “summary of the current scientific knowledge of this
complex group of pathologies, examines the connection between MSD and
changes in the organisation of work and proposes ideas for a necessary
trade union mobilisation against this exploding health problem.”
Musculoskeletal disorders. An ill-understood pandemic Further
details and online order form
Hazards news, 6 October 2007
Britain: Call for more physios to help workers
Workplace strain injury victims are being let down by a shortage of physiotherapists
– yet most physio graduates are out of work. Physio’s union
CSP says just 24 per cent of physio graduates who could be treating patients
have a job.
CSP
news release
Hazards news, 22 September 2007
USA: Extra screen breaks are healthy and productive
More frequent breaks from screen-based work reduce fatigue and increase
productivity, US government researchers have found. A team from the US
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) concluded:
“These results provide further converging evidence that supplementary
breaks reliably minimise discomfort and eyestrain without impairing productivity.”
Traci Galinsky and others. Supplementary breaks and stretching exercises
for data entry operators: A follow-up field study, American Journal
of Industrial Medicine, volume 50, issue 7, pages 519–527, 2007
[abstract]
Hazards news, 18 August 2007
Britain: Upped work rate caused clerk's strain
injury
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has paid out almost £500,000 after
an RAF computer clerk developed a chronic repetitive strain injury caused
by an increased work rate. A total of £484,000 in compensation and
legal costs was awarded following the onset of the condition in the hand
of the unnamed employee.
Birmingham
Post
Hazards news, 4 August 2007
Britain: CWU action on mail strains
Postal union CWU has launched a new guide to tackle the high rates of
workplace strains suffered by mail delivery staff. It says musculoskeletal
injuries in Royal Mail are running at over 10 times the rate for workplaces
overall.
CWU
news release • CWU safe working on delivery guide [pdf]
Hazards news, 28 July 2007
Britain: Nestlé pays out for tennis elbow
cases
Nestlé UK Ltd has paid compensation to four workers at the coffee
making giant's site at Burton on Trent after each of them developed tennis
elbow – mirroring the experiences of workers at another of the company’s
plants in Brazil. Steven Davis, received £11,000, a colleague £4,000
and two other workers undisclosed sums after developing the occupational
strain injury.
IUF
news release
Hazards news, 28 July 2007
Britain New IOSH occupational health toolkit
IOSH, the organisation for safety professionals – safety officers
to you and me – has produced a new, free, online occupational health
toolkit. IOSH says this new resource “brings together information,
guidance, factsheets, case studies, training materials, presentations
and more to help you tackle occupational health problems.”
Risks
300, 31 March 2007 • IOSH
occupational health toolkit
IOSH
Occupational Health Toolkit: musculoskeletal disorders webpage
Britain: Vibrating injury victim secures compensation
A production worker has secured £7,000 compensation after developing
debilitating hand and arm conditions caused by exposure to vibrating tools.
The union GMB has secured the payout from two former employers of John
Coggon, 52, who was diagnosed with vibration white finger (VWF) and carpal
tunnel syndrome (CTS) in September 2005 following his employment with
National Power from 1977 to 1992 and then Newells from 1992 to 2002.
Risks
298, 17 March 2007 • Hazards work
and health and compensation
webpages
Britain: Better backs tools for safety reps
As part of its better backs campaign, HSE has published two new tools
for safety reps, a checklist for workplace manual handling inspections
and a practical guide to managing sickness absence and return to work.
HSE says the “documents have been put together in partnership with
the TUC to help safety representatives get involved with the campaign.”
Risks
275, 23 September 2006 • Hazards work
and health webpages
Britain: Over stretched NHS can’t reach
strain victims
The health service is too stretched to deal with the one million plus
workers with a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) caused or made worse by
work, physios’ union CSP has warned.
Risks
275, 23 September 2006
Britain: Editor wins £37,500 RSI damages
A Guardian newspaper night editor who says she was refused access to the
company physiotherapist after developing crippling elbow pain has been
paid £37,500 in damages for repetitive strain injury (RSI). Andrea
Osbourne, who had been a casual at the paper for two and a half years,
worked almost exclusively using a mouse, at speed, for an average nine
hours a night, and up to 45 hours a week, without a break.
Risks
258, 27 May 2006
Sweden: Heavy work makes you sick
Workers performing jobs that require heavy work are far more likely to
take long-term sick leave, a Swedish study has found.
Risks
231, 5 November 2005
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