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Arm and wrist injuries teach scientists to accept limits: repetitive stress forces some out of work, others learn to work smarter.(Profession).

The Scientist 18.4 (March 1, 2004): p.46(1). (549 words)
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Author(s): Mignon Fogarty.
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COPYRIGHT 2004 Scientist Inc.

Matthew Springer learned to take breaks and rest his hands after suffering two repetitive-motion injuries. "I ended up with two basically useless arms." In constant pain, he says, he could not type for more than a few seconds or do simple tasks like grasp a steering wheel.

The injury sent him to physical therapy and he followed a prescribed regimen for a full year. He also practiced yoga, and learned to manage stress. With help from colleagues, who took over his manual lab work for him, and voice-recognition software, he presented a body of work that helped land him an assistant professor's appointment at the University of California, San Francisco. He still takes anti-inflammatories. He still can't hold onto a phone.

Springer took action in time to save his wrists and arms. But many researchers do not. Studies provide only sketchy details about the rate and severity of repetitive-stress injuries among scientists. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded just over 1,000 repetitive-stress injuries resulting in time off work among biotechnology and lab workers in private biotechnology and lab positions in 2001, the most recent year for available data. Public sector work has gone mostly uncounted, but in California alone, the division of labor statistics and research reported that in 2001, 600 workers in labs and similar occupations missed work or received medical treatment.

Many scientists fear that reporting their injuries will harm their career prospects. The Scientist contacted a half-dozen researchers at biotechnology companies who wrestle with repetitive stress injury (RSI). Most would not allow their names to be used, for fear of being blacklisted by biotechnology employers. "They are like cattle, there so many people who were waiting in line to get treated in Silicone Valley," relates Cameo Decosta, a biotech worker who lost her job as a result of RSI. She told her story to The Scientist in an effort to help other researchers understand the onset and gravity of RSI (see p. 47).

RSI AND THE LAW State-based workers' compensation usually requires insurance or self-insurance to pay for treatment so that workers can continue on the job, generous short-term disability pay for the time that work is not possible, and less generous long term payments.

No state or US Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules address repetitive stress injuries specifically, says Kevin Costello of Dupont Safety Resources in Newark, Delaware. "If OSHA decides to issue a citation for an ergonomics violation, they will cite the general duty clause that says employers must keep their workplace free of recognized and serious hazards," Costello adds.

Many state-based occupational safety offices also evaluate workplaces for safety, including ergonomics. Dean Fryer, a spokesman for California OSHA, says that requesting a consultation will not flag an employer for additional regulatory scrutiny. "We have a consultation side and an enforcement side," he says, "and we work very hard to maintain a barrier between the two."

President Clinton enacted ergonomics rules that the AFL-CIO lauded as long overdue but opponents derided as vague and too costly for small businesses. In his first act as president, George W. Bush suspended the rules and repealed them a year later. The Bush administration also told companies they do not have to track ergonomics-related injuries. Bush's goal is now to draft new sets of industry-specific rules.
Source Citation
Fogarty, Mignon. "Arm and wrist injuries teach scientists to accept limits: repetitive stress forces some out of work, others learn to work smarter." The Scientist 18.4 (2004): 46. Gale Sciences Standard Package. Web. 17 May 2010.

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