Repetitive Job Traumas Up 28% in ’89 : Safety: The 147,000 reported problems account for almost all of the increase in workplace injuries during the year.

The number of Americans who developed repetitive motion disorders on the job jumped 28% in 1989, accounting for nearly all of the increase in workplace injuries last year, the government says.

About 147,000 repetitive trauma disorders among American workers were reported last year--32,000 more than in 1988, according to the Labor Department.

Repetitive motion disorders include illnesses such as carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes pain in the wrists and forearms. The disorders are often suffered by workers on assembly lines who repeat the same motions with their arms and hands throughout the day.

The Labor Department said there were 284,000 reported cases of occupational illness and 6.3 million job-related injuries among workers in private industry in 1989. That was 136,000 more than the 241,000 illnesses and 6.2 million injuries in 1988.

The survey found about 3,600 work-related deaths. But the agency cautioned that the estimate is probably understated because its survey was not large enough to accurately track all fatalities.

The AFL-CIO, which represents 14.2 million unionized workers, estimates that 10,000 American workers are killed on the job each year and that 70,000 are permanently disabled.

Assistant Labor Secretary Gerard F. Scannell, who heads the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said he was disappointed that there was no decrease in the rate of on-the-job injuries and illnesses.