Management Information System

12 Pages 2880 Words

In 1995, the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States reported that 60 percent of new workplace illnesses were Repetitive Strain Injuries. They also found that in 1993, RSIs cost employers $20 billion dollars in workers compensation claims, and more than $100 billion dollars to pay for all of the indirect costs of RSIs such as lost work time and decreased productivity. Performing the same task over and over again, causing excessive and repetitive stress on certain parts of the body cause repetitive Strain Injuries. The RSIs caused by computer usage are usually injuries to the hands, wrists, arms, or back of the user. There are more than 100 varieties of RSI, including tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and cubital tunnel syndrome. The symptoms can range from minor muscle soreness or stiffness, to extreme pain, to inability to flex or move one’s hand. Serious cases of RSI can even cause permanent damage to a person, or require years of rehabilitation. Injuries such as these occur when people continue their pattern of computer usage despite suffering from early symptoms such as sore wrists or hand muscles. Our question is why do people ignore the early symptoms of RSI? We have determined that people have deadlines to meet, their lively hood may depend on computer usage, or they simply don’t believe that simply using a computer can have serious effects on their health. Currently the only routinely collected national source of information about occupational injuries and illnesses of United States workers is the Annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. The survey, which the Bureau has conducted for the past 25 years, is a random sample of about 250,000 private sector establishments that provides estimates of workplace injuries and illnesses on the basis of information provided by employers from their OSHA (Occupation Safet...