Repetitive motion musculoskeletal problems in the microelectronics industry.

Occupational rheumatologic problems due to rapid repetitive motion are increasing in frequency in the electronics industry and are more commonly responsible for awards of Workers' Compensation benefits. If not handled correctly, these problems can result in significant pain and disability for employees and heavy medical and disability costs for employers. Corporate health and safety personnel can play a major role in reducing this human and fiscal cost by the following measures: Careful evaluation of patterns of injury and illness among employees will identify production areas with a high rate of problems. An intervention system designed to provide rapid early identification of employees with early symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, and muscle pain-spasm syndrome. Early treatment will produce much better medical results and will significantly reduce temporary disability and medical costs. Corporate ergonomic expertise or outside consultant evaluation of "hot spot" areas where significant numbers of cases are identified is critical to the prevention of future injury among employees. Some large electronics firms have ergonomic experts on staff in at least one plant facility. Arranging expert consultation can be expensive, with consulting fees of up to +1000 per day, plus expenses. However, this must be balanced against the medical disability costs of even one case of carpal tunnel syndrome, for example (up to +30,000 per case), and the required transfer of an experienced employee who develops a problem to another work area. Finally, these problems often do not occur in isolation. An employee with carpal tunnel syndrome very often has concomitant tendinitis and/or muscle pain-spasm syndrome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)