A Neglected Mountain of Pain : Washington should act quickly on repetitive stress injuries

That the reported incidence of repetitive stress injuries among American workers is rising at an alarming rate is beyond dispute. The U.S. Labor Department says the number of cases has increased 80% since 1990; hundreds of thousands of workers are now afflicted with severe and often crippling pain in their hands, wrists, shoulders and backs from performing the same task over and over. Some specialists dispute the Labor Department’s figures, but all agree that the problem is growing.

With RSI now accounting for two in three occupational injuries, few industries are immune. Meatpackers, keyboard operators, postal workers, secretaries and garment workers cluster at the front of a very long line of those afflicted.

Once derided by some as more a feigned syndrome than a real one, repetitive stress injuries now command attention in part because of their high costs: They consume about one of every three worker-compensation dollars, amounting to billions annually. But attention, unfortunately, has not generated action at the federal level. Because of strong opposition from Republicans and corporate lobbyists, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration last year retreated from its effort to establish rules that would require employers to design workplaces to accommodate the physical limits of workers.

Now it appears that an attempt to reach a constructive compromise is also at a dead end. A group of physicians with broad experience in treating RSI proposed formation of a group, sponsored by the federal government, to coordinate research on the problem, publicize prevention measures and recommend voluntary ergonomic guidelines. But since it was presented to Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich last fall, even this proposal has stalled. As those companies that have moved aggressively to reduce RSI can attest, inaction is penny-wise and pound-foolish. The Labor Department should act quickly and business should support it.