Thursday, July 24, 1997

A new ergonomic standard aims to reduce repetitive stress, but it's best for you to be proactive

By MICHELE HIMMELBERG

The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA, Calif. - Pam Simonian had just begun to specialize in ergonomics when she became one of its statistics. She lost all grip in her right hand after repeatedly applying strong pressure to a track ball connected to her laptop computer.

Lucky for her, someone stole the laptop and the troublesome track ball, says Simonian, assistant vice president of risk control at Sedgwick of California, an insurance carrier. The company replaced the computer with a laptop that used a regular keyboard and mouse, a design that allowed her to maintain even pressure.

Simonian regained her grip but still has a cyst near the base of her thumb. It's a reminder, she says, that repetitive motion injuries can happen to anyone if they don't understand the principles of ergonomics.

"How stupid of me to do that to myself," said Simonian, who now trains others to avoid that mistake. "But unless you realize the harm you could be doing, most of us take a little Advil and hope it will get better.

"Now I know if I have pain that could be related to my work, I need to stop and see what I'm doing that could be causing the problem. You can't work through it."

Simonian and other specialists could become busier as California's new ergonomics standard - the first of its kind in the nation - after took effect in July.

But the standard - opposed by employers for being too rigid and labor groups for doing too little - could be stalled. It's gone through more than three years of political haggling and will be reviewed Sept. 5 by a Sacramento County Superior Court judge.

"It seems that most people are taking a wait-and-see attitude on the regulation because of the upcoming hearing," said John MacLeod, head of the Cal-OSHA Standards Board. The board was ordered to draft a regulation in 1993.

"If you did a random survey, I bet a lot of employers would say, 'What standard?' " said Joy Ebben, a certified human-factors and ergonomics specialist in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

"Human factors" is the term U.S. specialists first gave to ergonomics, and it's still widely used in the profession. Ergonomics is a discipline that tries to design jobs and tools to fit people's physical and psychological limits.

Ebben says the state standard is very broad, but it will force people to become aware of the issues and training. She works in customer education and design at Brea, Calif.-based IAC industries, a manufacturer of workstations.

The standard applies to what most people call repetitive motion injuries, although the U.S. government still classifies repetitive stress as a disease. Thus, it comes up under "illness" not "injury" in workplace statistics.

In 1995, 308,000 U.S. workers were diagnosed with a repetitive motion problem. That's 62 percent of all U.S. workers who suffered a work-related illness that year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That percentage fell from 65 percent the year before, the first decline since 1982.

Some experts say the decline is related to training, especially among the estimated 50 million workers who regularly use a keyboard. Repetitive stress also affects meatpackers, truck drivers, assembly-line workers and supermarket clerks.

But sometimes employers are so overwhelmed by information and products designed to help that they do nothing.

"I have sympathy for employers because there's so much out there," Ebben said. "But one of the best things you do can for workers is to help them help themselves."

Simonian agrees.

"I see a lot of what I call 'white collar syndrome.' You have offices where there's good morale and hard-working people who start to feel some pain and don't want to whine. So they don't report signs and symptoms. I say, let's get it quick and early, so we can get you back to our original job as easily as possible and not wait for the $20,000 surgery."

Employers and employees who want to be proactive can examine some basic needs: adjustable furniture that encourages good posture, adequate lighting and rest, and good typing technique.

n Equipment: One size does not fit all, say risk-management experts. It's critical to have adjustable furniture, especially a chair that puts a computer worker's feet on the floor and keeps the elbows bent at a 90-degree angle.

n Lighting: This is an area too many people forget or discount, said Eileen Ina Klein, an interior designer in Mission Viejo, Calif. She advises employers on good ways to mimic natural lighting, which reduces eye strain and the ensuing bad posture.

n Breaks: Experts vary in their recommendations but suggest that workers get away from their workstation at least every 90 minutes, to rest, stretch and relax the eyes for a couple of minutes.

n Typing: With some people hitting 100,000 keystrokes a day, proper hand position is critical. Workers are often warned not to pound keys too heavily, but stroking too lightly can put undue pressure on other muscles in the arm, said Greg Dempster, a movement-training specialist.

Dempster, a former pianist, has developed a model of efficient movement adapted from methods used for injured musicians.

"The fingers, hands and arms should be aligned so that they move as one piece, not individual parts," said Dempster, who runs Triangle Associates in Laguna Beach, Calif. "Gravity should be the force that depresses the key, not muscular force."

Making adjustments doesn't always have to be expensive. Stretching is a valuable way to reduce tension while taking a break. Employees can be taught how to reposition tools - even those as simple as staplers - so undue force isn't used in a repetitive motion.

"Employers need to look at all this as an investment in productivity, efficiency and employee morale," Simonian said, "along with the reduction in worker's comp expenses. If you're doing careful accounting, you probably aren't losing anything."

Whenever Simonian ends a training session, she asks employees to also consider the future work force - their children.

"How are they set up?" she asks. "In their lifetime, they will have 15-20 more years of computer work than us, so they could have serious disabilities if we're not careful."