Repetitive Stress Injuries in Healthcare Workers

McCarthy + Co Solicitors LLP has acted for many nurses, healthcare assistants, and care staff, including those whose injuries built up quietly over years rather than in a single accident. We have extensive experience bringing these types of claims and will work to achieve the best possible outcome for you.

If a task you are required to carry out has caused an RSI, and it was reasonably foreseeable that repeating that task over time would do so, your employer is obliged to compensate you for your pain, suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and other losses. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, employers must assess these risks on an ongoing basis and act on what they find. You may have grounds for a claim where your employer has failed to:

• identify, through proper risk assessment, which tasks are likely to cause an RSI;
• provide adequate rest periods and rotate repetitive tasks;
• supply suitable equipment, or redesign the system of work to remove the harmful movement;
• carry out an ergonomic assessment of your work, with input from a physiotherapist or occupational therapist where needed;
• restrict or adapt an activity once it was clear it was causing you harm; and
• respond when you or your colleagues reported symptoms.

If this sounds familiar, it is worth talking to us early, for reasons explained in the FAQ below. Arrange a time to speak with a solicitor by completing our quick and confidential online form.

Common repetitive stress injuries

Repetitive stress injury, also called repetitive strain injury, covers a wide range of conditions affecting the muscles, tendons, nerves, and other soft tissues, caused by the repeated use of one part of the body. The most common include:

• Bursitis – inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs between bones, tendons, joints, and muscles.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome – compression of the median nerve at the wrist, causing numbness and pain in the hand.
• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis – thickening of the thumb tendon sheaths, causing pain at the base of the thumb.
• Dupuytren’s contracture – connective tissue in the palm thickens over time, bending one or more fingers inwards.
• Epicondylitis – overuse of the muscles and tendons at the elbow, giving rise to tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow.
• Ganglion – fluid-filled swellings on joints or tendons in the wrists, hands, and feet.
• Rotator cuff syndrome – inflammation of the tendons and muscles in the shoulder.
• Tendinitis and tenosynovitis – inflammation of a tendon, or of the sheath around it, following repetitive activity.
• Thoracic outlet syndrome – narrow passages in the neck constrict, compressing nerves and blood vessels.
• Trigger finger – a finger or thumb catches in a bent position.

Our team can assist you with any of these types of conditions caused by your workplace activities.

Recognising the symptoms

Symptoms vary widely depending on the part of the body affected. Typically they appear only while the task is being carried out and then fade afterwards, which is why they are so easy to dismiss. If the task continues, the symptoms tend to worsen, to linger long after the work has finished, and eventually to become constant. Common signs include:

• pain, tenderness, or a throbbing sensation in the affected area;
• pins and needles, or loss of sensation;
• coldness in the hands or fingers;
• loss of strength or grip;
• loss of fine motor coordination, such as difficulty fastening buttons;
• fatigue; and
• difficulty sleeping.

If any of these seem connected to your work, see your GP and have the position recorded. That protects your health, and it also creates the medical record on which a claim depends.