Working in a manufacturing setting requires many people to perform the same task repeatedly every day. That can mean eight hours or more a day on your feet, as well as straining your back, hips, knees and hands.
For those who hope to retire from manufacturing jobs, repetitive-motion injuries — also called repetitive-stress injuries — could prove a bigger risk than a catastrophic workplace accident.
Developed at JLR’s Gaydon site – home to one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the UK – the glove is based on a lightweight lattice structure optimized to provide support to reduce muscle fatigue but also to be flexible and comfortable enough to wear during an eight-hour shift.
The company claims that it could help better protect employees on the production line from the threat of a musculoskeletal disorder.
If your job tasks include performing the same movements regularly, you could be at risk for developing a repetitive motion injury. Almost any job can be at risk for this type of injury, though some are more likely to cause one than others.
Using your phone on a regular basis is taking a toll on your body. Here are examples:
Smartphone pinky: Twitter users have been sharing photos of how their pinky fingers are bent, dented, and deformed thanks to too-big smartphones. Popular Science suggests these dents are temporary, but hand surgeon Rachael Rohde warns that these dents could be a sign of a different condition.
People who spend lots of time on their smartphones may be scrolling, tapping and swiping their way to carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful wrist and hand disorder.
A small study found a link between extended use of smartphones and other hand-held electronic devices and a greater likelihood for experiencing the telltale wrist and hand pain of the syndrome.
Texting, playing video games, and even taking too many selfies can all lead to repetitive stress injuries.
“In my own practice and via discussions with other musculoskeletal providers, patients, young and mature, are unaware of the risk of injury from their smartphones,” Dr. Renee Enriquez, rehabilitation specialist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, told Healthline.
Office workers can develop damaged thumbs from texting and emailing on their phones.
Smartphones force your thumb to make repetitive, awkward movements. “We’re getting more thumb and wrist tendonitis,” says Karen Jacobs, an occupational therapist at Boston University and the founding editor of the interdisciplinary journal Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation. “It’s an issue we all have to be mindful of.”
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Office workers are at high risk of experiencing musculoskeletal, or soft-tissue, disorders from repeated motion and awkward positions, such as sitting for long hours in front of a computer. Previous research has shown that safe and efficient, or ergonomic, office equipment can help reduce the risk, but obtaining the right equipment sometimes can be challenging.
How do manufacturing companies know the best and safest way to design workplaces and assign tasks? Ideally, injuries and illnesses should be prevented, but historically companies have adjusted their workplace policies, practices and procedures after an injury or illness occurred.
In a NIOSH-supported study at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health, researchers tested the role of computer simulation in promoting workers’ well-being by designing safer work.
