Repetitive Strain and Motion Injury
When you think of work-related injuries, you may think of just slips and falls, but there are many more things that can happen in a workplace that come from repetitive work. All employers are responsible for making sure that you are provided with a safe and healthy workplace, but repetitive strain and motion injury are not uncommon.
Let’s look at musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). These are caused by injuries to the muscles, nerves, ligaments, tendons, and blood vessels of th body. Work-related MSDs are one of the most frequently reported causes of lost or restricted work time. Workers from across the spectrum of jobs and occupations may be affected by work-related MSDs.
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Retail trade, manufacturing, social assistance, and healthcare had roughly 50% of all MSD cases reported in the private sector in 2018. Also In 2018, ten occupations made up about 40% of all MSD cases in the private sector, including laborers and freight, stock and material movers, nursing assistants, truck drivers, order fillers, registered nurses, retail salespersons, maintenance workers, maids and housekeeping cleaners.
Employees often don’t think of repetitive motion injury involving major or microtasks as something that contributes to work-place injury, but they do. Repetitive motion injury can come from anything like grasping tools and typing to scanning groceries. These injuries come from doing the same action over and over, which results in injury. The most common body parts affected depend on your occupation. Among nursing assistants back injuries are common while heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers have a higher number of injuries affecting the shoulder or leg.
Common Repetitive Strain Injuries
Your work condition may cause you to experience issues such as:
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: a problem of the nerves in the hand or wrist that can be caused by repeated bending, holding, or using of the hand.
- Raynaud’s syndrome: when the nerves and blood vessels of your hands don’t carry enough blood and oxygen, or signal properly, due to damage caused by vibration, typing, or hand tools.
- Tendonitis: repetitive movement of a joint causes inflammation and soreness of the tendons.
- Carpet layer’s knee: repetitive use of the knee, using knee kickers for flooring, cause pain and injury.
- Back pain: often caused by repeated lifting of materials, lifting and twisting, or bending for long periods.
- Degenerative disc disease: when the gel-like cushion between the spinal bones is damaged and causes numbness, pan, and weakness.
All employers are responsible for making sure that you are provided with a safe and healthy workplace, but strain and motion injury are not uncommon if repetitive tasks are a required part of your duties.
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If you discover that a work-related task is causing pain, missed days of work, or loss of employment, then you should consider seeking guidance about possible worker’s compensation. The requirements of documenting and recording your condition, and reporting it can be confusing, but the South Carolina workers compensation lawyers at the Anastopoulo Law Firm can represent you to get compensation you may be entitled to due to injury, medical bills, or lost time at work. Call us at 1-800-777-777.
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