Repetitive strain injuries stretch higher.

Repetitive strain injuries continue to plague an increasing number of workers despite a decrease in overall workplace injuries and illnesses, according to a Labor Department survey.

Nearly two-thirds of the workplace illnesses reported in 1994--some 332,000 cases--were repetitive strain injuries (RSI) such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The number of RSI injuries increased 10 percent from 1993 when 302,000 cases were reported. For statistical purposes, the Labor Department generally classifies RSI injuries as illnesses.

Taking into account injuries as well as illnesses, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said the overall incidence of these decreased slightly in 1994 to 8.4 cases per 100 workers. In 1993, 8.5 cases per 100 workers were reported.

Assistant Secretary of Labor and OSHA Administrator Joseph Dear said he is encouraged by the decline in the overall rate of occupational illnesses and injuries but is "gravely concerned about the alarming growth" of RSI disorders. RSI disorders account for $1 out of every $3 spent on workers' compensation. (See OSHA Backs Off Ergonomic Rules, TRIAL, Sept. 1995, at 100.)

Steven Phillips, a New York attorney who represents many RSI plaintiffs, estimates there are more than 3,000 RSI cases pending in courts across the nation. "It's perfectly plain," he said. "Until manufacturers begin to put out warnings and redesign computer keyboards to prevent RSI, it will continue to be a huge problem and cause a tragic number of injuries to working Americans."

Repetition Hurts

Many RSI complaints come from employees who work on assembly lines or at computer keyboards for long hours at a time. Postal workers who use letter sorting machines and supermarket clerks or other retail workers who use electronic price scanners are also prone to the injury. Also susceptible are meat packers, poultry handlers, and health care workers who must manually move patients.

The BLS survey also broke down the injury and illness rate by industry. For the first time in 20 years, the injury and illness rate in construction fell below the rate in manufacturing, which accounted for more than three-fifths of all newly reported occupational illnesses in 1994. The overall rates in the two industries were higher than those in all other industries.

The survey also reported that the rate of serious, nonfatal cases resulting in days away from work was the lowest on record at 2.8 per 100 full-time workers. These cases continued to decline for the fourth straight year.

Copies of the Labor Department survey may be obtained by writing to Ethel Jackson at the Office of Safety, Health, and Working Conditions, 2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E., Washington, DC 20212. The text is also on the Internet World Wide Web at http://stats.bls.gov/.