Are your employees exposed to or suffer from debilitating and frustrating carpal tunnel and OOS, asks Hasmate Director Gordon Anderson
During a conversation, a friend’s son-in-law mentioned he had worked in the forest industry for eight years and had operated a log recovery excavator with a Waratah head that required him to multifunction by working a set of toggle controls.
Having seen these in action and spoken to several operators in the forestry industry as well as others working in saw mills, breaking down logs, I asked him if he slept ok at night?
He gave me a questioning look and said, “As a matter of fact, no, I don’t, my hands ache and I have to hang them out of bed to stop them tingling and aching.”
I then explained my experience with the condition and suggested to him that he had the classic symptoms of what is known as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).
From my experience in the meat industry as a meat inspector and as someone who has been under the knife three times, including wrists and elbows,
carpal tunnel is a debilitating workplace-related condition that can affect your everyday activities.
CTS is the result of overworking your hands by performing repetitive motions all day long, like sitting in one place pressing control buttons or moving toggle/joy stick controls.
In my case, it was the repetitive action when palpating and checking lamb and sheep carcasses 7-9 times per minute.
The stress and strain of constantly doing the same thing with your hands eventually causes the nine tendons that run through the carpal tunnel in your wrist to become swollen.
Tendons swell from overuse putting pressure on the median nerve, which can cause tingling, numbness and pain in your thumb, index and middle fingers.
An operation is required to fix the problem. If the issue persists with your other two fingers, another operation on your elbows is also required to release these tendons and nerves.
If you wake during the night up to find your hands flooded with the aggravating feeling of “pins and needles”, you could be suffering from CTS.
Similarly, if you have difficulty holding a cup of coffee, or your hands ache when trying to put the keys in the door, or ache even to hold a newspaper, then you may well have the condition.
CTS is an occupational overuse syndrome (OOS), an umbrella term for a range of conditions which cause discomfort or persistent pain in muscles, joints, tendons, nerves and soft tissues.
These conditions develop as the result of a number of factors such as repetitive movement, constant muscle contraction or straining, forceful movements and constricted postures.
OOS was previously referred to as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) and is one of a number of conditions increasingly referred to as “Gradual Process Injury” (GPI).
GPI is defined by ACC as changes that result in a personal injury that develop slowly and progressively over time, such as the effects of exposure to repetitive actions when sitting, working toggle controls or buttons, noise or fumes at a workplace or an activity you carry out in the course of your work.
Symptoms tend to develop gradually and worsen over time if left untreated. Symptoms mainly occur in the shoulders, arms and hands.
Early symptoms of OOS include:
- muscle discomfort
- aches and pains
- hot or cold feelings
- muscle tightness and spasms
- numbness and tingling.
OOS should be a serious concern for businesses, especially where repetitive actions are required for administration (typing) assembly or production activities.
It should be considered a significant hazard and risk, if it isn’t already, when evaluating future risks and hazards in business operations.
The 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act has the potential to force businesses to consider significant risks and hazards.
It is no longer be acceptable to tell operators to “harden up” if they have this condition.
Failure to act on complaints of sore hands, fingers, wrists or operators taking time off because of aching wrists could end up as an expensive experience.
There are several steps to take if employees are suffering from CTS or OOS:
- don’t deny that it exists, listen to them
- survey and inform employees of the symptoms as soon as possible to see if they are experiencing them and get them checked out by a doctor
- review company employment application forms to ensure that carpal tunnel included as a pre-employment medical question. (If this question isn’t asked and the employee takes sick leave within 3-6 weeks of starting due to carpal tunnel complaint, the company becomes responsible for the ACC cover and it’s then on the ACC record)
- induction documents should include the need for employees to advise ASAP if the symptoms occur
- include a check for carpal tunnel or OSS as part of employees’ annual health checks
- if this is an issue, control it by administering the risk/hazard by rotating operators on the machinery concerned
- if this isn’t possible, train up other employees
- check the ergonomics of the operator’s seating, adjustment and position at the work station or in the cab of the machinery as part of the risk and hazard appraisal process
