Hand injuries can be especially traumatic, stripping away not only a worker’s ability to work, but also the ability to perform activities of daily living.
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Dr. Gregory A. Merrell is a surgeon at the Indiana Hand Center, the largest, free-standing hand surgery center in the country. The facility is also the nation’s leading training center for hand surgeons. Merrell says that there are two primary categories of workplace hand injuries:
- Traumatic events such as cuts and amputations
- Overuse or repetitive-motion injuries
According to Dr. Merrell, amputations and other serious injuries typically occur due to a lack of experience or training. He cites the case of a patient, a young man who was assigned to work on a machine that stamps out truck mud flaps. The worker had been placed by a temporary agency; he had little training and little experience with the equipment.
Fortunately, Dr. Merrell was able to re-attach the worker’s arm following a horrible accident. “The company had no business putting him on that machine.”
Dr. Merrell is a self-described skeptic about the direct link between work and conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, whether on the production floor or in the office. He points to a number of studies that cast doubt on the strict workplace cause of these ills.
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Instead, he believes the conditions usually result when other risks are present, such as severe cold, exaggerated wrist position, or excessive grip/force requirements. Merrell also notes the effect of nonwork activities such as gardening and sports, as well as the overall aging of the population. Younger tendons are better able than older tissue to sustain repetitive work, lifts, etc.
Beware! Take Action
Whatever the causes, there are a number of steps employers can take to help reduce the risk of hand injuries and to minimize the impact of those that do occur. Merrell’s recommendations include the following:
- Recognize the value of experienced workers, especially on high-risk equipment.
- Invest in workplace safety training. “It can’t pay off enough.”
- Identify opportunities to increase the comfort and ergonomics of tools. Find ways to decrease the amount of force workers must apply to create and assemble parts. Merrell says a good industrial engineer will pay for himself or herself many times over in terms of safety and reduced absenteeism.
- Cross-train employees and rotate them during the day, or between shifts, so that they are using different muscle/tendon groups. This will help increase job satisfaction and can decrease the risk of injuries, especially among older workers.
- Consider an on-site occupational health nurse. Merrell says the presence of a caring, competent nurse communicates to workers that their employer cares about their comfort and safety.
- Establish a plan, along with your workers’ compensation carrier, for how you will manage hand injuries. Some businesses acknowledge that, even though the ailments may have been caused by nonwork factors, they can be claimed through workers’ compensation. This shows that an employer values the employees and their overall well-being.
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