Young workers at greater risk of RSI

The dangers of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) for young workers were highlighted as part of the UK's contribution to International RSI Awareness Day on 28 February. Because work shouldn't hurt! was the slogan of the day which aims to raise awareness of RSI as a serious occupational health concern worldwide.

In an article in Hazards magazine, the TUC reported that young people are more at risk than their older colleagues from all four of the main causes of RSI. These include carrying out repetitive tasks at speed and not being able to choose or change the order of monotonous tasks.

The TUC wants union safety reps to pay special attention to younger workers by: ensuring risk assessments for RSI are carried out; encouraging them to take breaks; persuading employers to rotate the kinds of work young people do; and carrying out body mapping exercises to find out where younger workers are suffering pain.

The RSI Association, a group representing sufferers, is also concerned about RSI and young people, in particular the government's emphasis on the use of computers, especially laptops, in schools. The increased use of home computers, games terminals and mobile phones for sending text messages has also added to the rise in risks to young people.

The Hazards article is available on the web at: www.hazards.org/strainpain.htm or tel: 0114 267 8936.