PREVENTION OF CUMULATIVE TRAMUMA DISORDERS

CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS (CTD), WHICH HAVE BEEN CALLED "OCCUPATIONAL EPIDEMIC OF THE 90'S; ARE INJURIES THAT EFFECT THE HAND AND WRIST AS A RESULT OF PERFORMING REPETITIVE TASKS. OSHA PREDICTS THAT BY THE YEAR 2000, 50% OF THE U.S. WORK FORCE WILL BE EFFECTED BY CTDS. THE SPECIFIC AIM OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE METHOD FOR DEALING WITH CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS (CTDS) IN THE WORKPLACE. USING NEW TECHNOLOGY OUR GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENCTDS AND WORK CONDITIONS. THE ULTIMATE RESULT WILL BE THE ABILITY TO: (1) IDENTIFY HIGH RISK WORK CONDITIONS, (2) QUANTIFY THE PROBLEMS PROVIDING A RATIONAL MEANS OF ALTERING THESE CONDITIONS, AND (3) VERIFY THAT THE CHANGES WILL INDEED REDUCE THE RISKS. THUS, RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL CTDS HAVE REACHED A DEBILITATING STATE, THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL PERMIT EARLY DETECTION AND PREVENTION. THE EFFORT IS FOCUSED ON VALIDATING THE GRIPMASTER(TM) IN MEASURING WRIST POSTURE AND GRIP FORCE AGAINST OTHER EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES. IN ADDITION PRELIMINARY FIELD TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS THAT WILL HELP TO SHAPE THE DESIGN OF A FIELD COMPATIBLE MONITOR. THIS TYPE OF MONITOR HAS ENORMOUS COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL IN BOTH HELPING TO DESIGN BETTER PRODUCTS AND PREVENTING INJURIES. CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS (CTD), WHICH HAVE BEEN CALLED "OCCUPATIONAL EPIDEMIC OF THE 90'S; ARE INJURIES THAT EFFECT THE HAND AND WRIST AS A RESULT OF PERFORMING REPETITIVE TASKS. OSHA PREDICTS THAT BY THE YEAR 2000, 50% OF THE U.S. WORK FORCE WILL BE EFFECTED BY CTDS. THE SPECIFIC AIM OF THE RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP AN INNOVATIVE METHOD FOR DEALING WITH CUMULATIVE TRAUMA DISORDERS (CTDS) IN THE WORKPLACE. USING NEW TECHNOLOGY OUR GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENCTDS AND WORK CONDITIONS. THE ULTIMATE RESULT WILL BE THE ABILITY TO: (1) IDENTIFY HIGH RISK WORK CONDITIONS, (2) QUANTIFY THE PROBLEMS PROVIDING A RATIONAL MEANS OF ALTERING THESE CONDITIONS, AND (3) VERIFY THAT THE CHANGES WILL INDEED REDUCE THE RISKS. THUS, RATHER THAN WAITING UNTIL CTDS HAVE REACHED A DEBILITATING STATE, THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL PERMIT EARLY DETECTION AND PREVENTION. THE EFFORT IS FOCUSED ON VALIDATING THE GRIPMASTER(TM) IN MEASURING WRIST POSTURE AND GRIP FORCE AGAINST OTHER EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES. IN ADDITION PRELIMINARY FIELD TESTS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS THAT WILL HELP TO SHAPE THE DESIGN OF A FIELD COMPATIBLE MONITOR. THIS TYPE OF MONITOR HAS ENORMOUS COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL IN BOTH HELPING TO DESIGN BETTER PRODUCTS AND PREVENTING INJURIES.