Office workers can develop damaged thumbs from texting and emailing on their phones. Smartphones force your thumb to make repetitive, awkward movements. “We’re getting more thumb and wrist tendonitis,” says Karen Jacobs, an occupational therapist at Boston University and the founding editor of the interdisciplinary journal Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation. “It’s an issue we all have to be mindful of.”

An oil company that puts safety first – and one that doesn’t; a surprising hazard for firefighters and how cooperating with an OSHA investigation got two workers fired – then got them a million dollar settlement. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Office workers are at high risk of experiencing musculoskeletal, or soft-tissue, disorders from repeated motion and awkward positions, such as sitting for long hours in front of a computer. Previous research has shown that safe and efficient, or ergonomic, office equipment can help reduce the risk, but obtaining the right equipment sometimes can be challenging.

VelocityEHS, the global leader in cloud-based environment, health, safety (EHS) and sustainability solutions, announces a partnership with Kinetica Labs (based in Ann Arbor, Michigan) to incorporate video-based, sensorless motion-capture technology to its Humantech ergonomics software platform. Using artificial intelligence and computer vision, this new technology replaces time-consuming effort required to complete manual, observation-based musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk assessments in the workplace.

People who work outside or who do the heavy lifting for a living are often jealous of office workers. “They have it so easy!” you hear them say, “They never have to worry about the heat, the cold, or being injured.” While the office temperature is debatable, it is not true that desk jobs carry no risk of injury. The CDC states that in 1999, about 1 million people took time off work to recover from musculoskeletal injuries due to poor economics, costing businesses about $50 billion each year in lost wages and productivity.

For travelers, restrictions on baggage weight may mean packing fewer pairs of shoes. For airport baggage handlers, weight restrictions, combined with proper lifting, are important to safety and health but may not be enough to prevent work-related back injuries.

California has adopted the first ergonomic standard in the nation written specifically to protect hotel housekeepers. The new workplace safety and health regulation to prevent and reduce work-related injuries to housekeepers in the hotel and hospitality industry was approved March 9 by the Office of Administrative Law and will become effective July 1.

In a move that surprised and pleased food and worker safety advocates, the USDA has denied a bid by the U.S. poultry industry to allow inspection lines to speed up. It was the second defeat for the National Chicken Council (NCC), which had attempted to get the limit raised under the Obama administration.

Have you ever wondered if your job involves more standing, bending, or lifting than other jobs? Or if there are ways you could avoid injuries from these movements while on the job? Last week, NIOSH published an article on frequent exertion and frequent standing among US workers by industry and occupation group.

In October 2017 we published the first blog in a series to highlight musculoskeletal health research at NIOSH. With the holiday season upon us, this next installment will take the opportunity to discuss how best to promote musculoskeletal health in retail establishments to reduce the incidence of musculoskeletal disorders among temporary retail workers.