ABSTRACT
Cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) have become the fastest-growing cause of lost time in the US workforce. In industries where workers perform repetitive upper-extremity-intensive activities, these disorders represent the primary cause of work-related lost-time injuries (Roughton, 1993a). Outside of the manufacturing environment, similar trends have also become apparent in office and clerical settings (Brazier, 1993; Linton and Kamwendo, 1989). Specific ergonomic risk factors (excessive force, repetitions, awkward postures, vibration, and direct trauma) have been well described, and can be linked to a high incidence of CTDs in many work environments. However, nonergonomic factors can significantly influence the occurrence, reporting, and successful management of CTDs. In office and clerical environments, it has been suggested by some that these factors may account for most of the variance among different sites in rates of CTD (Hadler, 1992; Westgaard et al., 1993). Through our review of the literature, and our consultation experience, we have identified three categories of nonergonomic factors that are significantly related to the CTD problem: psychosocial factors, business factors, and the organizational response.
