REPETITION INJURIES IN PROCESS WORKERS

An investigation was undertaken in a large electrical factory to determine the nature of upper‐ limb injuries attributed to process work. Methods included analysis of injury records of 77 women whose injuries caused them to lose time at work, examination of some of these subjects, and a study of their tasks. The Injuries fell into two broad groups, namely well‐defined clinical syndromes such as supraspinatus tendinitis and tennis elbow, and ill‐defined symptom complexes. Work overload and faults in job and equipment design were principal influences in causation. There is need for ergonomic appraisal in the design of process work, and for adequate occupational medical surveillance.