A Checklist for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Abstract

Efforts to control the incidence of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) in industry should focus on introducing the shop supervisor to those basic biomechanical principles underlying the etiology of CTS; i.e., it is the supervisor who best monitors an employee's reactions to prescribed work methods, tools, and concomitant postures. A three-part, pictorially illustrated checklist was developed: Part I assists in the identification of upper-extremity working postures; Part II facilitates the judgement of force/torque levels by identifying the implemented tool and the material which it acts on; and Part III examines the mechanical stresses resulting from hand-tool and/or limb-worksurface interfaces. Copies of the checklist were distributed to several AT&T manufacturing, installation, service, data, and material management centers to determine its readability, relevance, time for completion, and utility in terms of orienting the supervisor to the said principles. In general, supervisory input indicated that the checklist catered mainly to the manufacturing sector: most manufacturing supervisors found the form to be readable, pertinent, and edifying.