It’s estimated that 374,000 people in the UK have suffered Upper Limb Disorders caused at work. It can affect any part of the arm from fingers to shoulder or the neck and can include problems with tendons, ligaments and soft tissue muscles. It’s essential to carry out a risk assessment to prevent conditions like Carpel Tunnel Syndrome or repetitive strain injury from occurring.
So how are risks assessed? Firstly, you have to understand what the risk factors are that can lead to upper limb disorders; secondly, you have to know how to use the risk assessment resources that would help you assess the risks; and lastly, identify the early warning signs that may attest the existence of a problem.
Let’s take a look at risk factors, so that you can identify them during a risk assessment:
1. Task-Related Factors.
What are task-related factors? From what you can assume from the name, these factors come from the nature of the job itself. There are four causes that we can connect to task-related factors:
a. Repetition. This is a risk factor since the more a task is repeated, then the greater the risk there is that the employee would have Upper Limb Disorder. Break up long work periods sitting at your desk with several short breaks.
b. Working posture. If employees are working in an uncomfortable position or they are unmoving for prolonged periods of time then this presents a risk. For example, Upper Limb Disorders can be evident when an employee is sitting in front of the computer. If the employee is not using an ergonomic chair, the position might become uncomfortable, resulting to aches and pains.
c. Force usage. At various stages things around the office will need moving, whether that is a box of printer paper or a filing cabinet. It’s best to avoid lifting if possible, but if not then the weight of the object should be lessened.
d. Duration. How long are office workers expected to work in a certain position or area? The longer the working hours, the more likely an injury might occur.
2. Environment-related Factors
These are considered risk factors since it’s not only physical stress that cause Upper Limb Disorder but also because stress-related changes can cause muscle strain which makes employees more likely to develop Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD). There are two types of factors to be considered:
a. Working atmosphere. This involves the physical environment, like the temperature and lighting, and the existence of some elements, like vibrations.
b. Organisational factors. This doesn’t have anything to do with the physical environment, but more likely with the work factors such as high workloads, deadlines, and lack of motivation in the work.
3. Employee-related factors.
These factors involve the employee, and the other employees in the work area. This is one more factor that could add to the stress of an employee. For example, there can be individual differences with another employee, or even with the management. New employees are more open to this risk since a new environment usually means more adjustments.
An employee can develop an Upper Limb Disorder, a common form of musculoskeletal disorders in any workplace. Your place as an employer is to see that the risks are minimised, and if possible eliminated.
To find out more, Safety Media’s best selling DSE DVD can offer you guidance and advice on how to reduce the risk of injury when using DSE on a regular basis. The DVD provides a guide on how to correctly set up a workstation, to ensure correct posture and the importance of taking regular breaks away from the workstation to help reduce the risk of injury. Visit this link to view a preview of our DSE DVD => http://www.safetymedia.co.uk/display-screen-equipment/display-screen-equipment-dvds.html
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