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Occupational Health & Safety Resource Kit. Proudly brought to you by CEPU: NSW Telcommunications & Services Division |
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Symptoms of OOS often include swelling, numbness, restricted movement and weakness in or around muscles and tendons of the back, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands or fingers. It may become difficult to hold objects or tools in the ands, affecting a worker's ability to function at work and at home. Symptoms can vary from person to person and may often involve more than one part of the body.
In the early stages, the pain may be slight. If action is taken immediately, no damage is likely to occur. If no action is taken, Holding the neck or shoulders in a fixed position can contribute to OOS. When the arm performs any controlled movement, muscles in the neck and shoulder contract and stay contracted for as long as the task requires.
the condition may get worse. Pain may continue while doing other movements or even while not using the injured part of the body at all. Pain generally stops with rest, but prolonged periods of rest may be necessary to reduce severe pain. If nothing is done to redesign the work to eliminate or reduce the risk of injury, then permanent damage may result.
Any work requiring fast repetitive movements, a fixed posture held for long periods or repeated forceful movements, has an OOS risk. OOS has been a constant problem for call centre operators since the introduction of keyboards in the late 1970s. Factors that can contribute to OOS include: Poorly designed equipment or workstations For example: equipment that requires awkward body postures to perform repetitive tasks, such as workbenches that are too high or too low; badly designed tools that require excessive force or are inappropriate to the job; poor workstation layout that requires bending, twisting or stretching to perform a single task; chairs, desks or benches which are not suited to the worker's height. Repetitive movement Repetitive movements are especially hazardous when they involve the same joints and muscle groups over and over and when the same motion is performed too often, too quickly and for too long. Work involving movement repeated over and over |
 Awkward work postures and movements Any body position can cause discomfort and fatigue if it is maintained for long periods of time. For example working for long periods in a standing position can cause sore feet, general muscular fatigue, low back pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders. When parts of the body are near the extremes of their range of movements such as when bending, reaching or twisting, stretching and compression of tendons and nerves occur. The longer a fixed or awkward body position is used, the more likely it is that an injury will develop. Similarly, holding the neck or shoulders in a fixed position can contribute to OOS. When the arm performs any controlled movement, muscles in the neck and shoulder contract and stay contracted for |