European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Computer age ii �?~�4 h the High Cost of doing More by Peter t. Kilborn new York times for nine years Paula Tydryszewski has operated a video display terminal in new Jersey s tax collection office in Trenton. She types numbers and names from tax returns at Woodpecker speeds into a keyboard that is tied to a big computer in the Center of the room. Tydryszewski and the other 111 full time data entry clerks do White Collar work with Blue Collar rhythms and discipline. They Are tethered to their tasks by machines that let them do vastly More work than they could have done 15 or 20 years ago with paper and ledgers and typewriters. Like Tydryszewski an increasing number of workers in the United states say they Are suffering from ailments known As cumulative Rauma disorders or repetitive motion injuries As a result of their jobs. These potentially disabling ailments which Are not related to radiation from computers include cysts inflammation of tendons nerve damage that can Lead to a loss of feeling in the fingers and Arm or shoulder pain. Occupational health specialists labor unions and the Federal government say tens of millions of workers such As keyboard operators Are at risk. The . Bureau of labor statistics said the disorders accounted for 48 percent of the 240,900 workplace illnesses in private business in 1988, up from 18 percent of 126,100 illnesses in 1981. The problem showed up first in factories and is now spreading through the growing office sector. Experts attribute some of the growth in reporting disorders to More awareness of a relationship Between the ailments and work. Another Factor is a shift in values in the late 20th Century safeguarding the environment and protecting ones health Are probably cherished As much As keeping the Economy going and keeping ones Job. Experts say the actual numbers of injuries Are proliferating because people Are being pressed to work hard a in private Industry to keep up with foreign Competition in government to hold Down spending. A the reason for More injuries is automation which has done away with heavy lifting by humans a and replaced it with Light lifting at Tat a Tat Tat speeds. A a we re really asking people to do More Quot said Don Chaffin director of the University of Michigan Scenter for ergonomics which studies ways to adapt working. Conditions to suit workers. Quot that has a Cost Quot Vern Putz Anderson who leads a group of professors at the University which is studying the disorders said a More than half the nation s workers now have jobs with the potential for Cornu native trauma  among the jobs Are those in the automobile and textile industries and in meatpacking where carcasses Are turned into steaks and chops by a sort of Assembly line in reverse. With bet Tor workplace and equipment design and with More Breaks to relax occupational health a specialists say most problems can to avoided. Many employers have Boon slow to acknowledge a link Between work and the disorders. And some a workers including Tydryszewski Are reluctant to report injuries they fear that employers Vail let them go or shift them to lower pay my jote. Nor can workers problems be easily linked to cruel h 1 Paula Tydryszewski a data entry clerk who has had hand surgery twice is among the growing number of workers reporting ailments called cumulative trauma disorders or repetitive motion injuries. A new Jersey is fighting a budget deficit and putting tax receipts into the Bank promptly Means the state can collect that much More interest before it pays its Bills Quot said Barbarajo Crea assistant chief of the new Jersey division of taxation. Quot the Mission of this Branch is to Deposit the Money Quot said Crea. Tydryszewski s problems Are showing up in her work. Her Union local 1033 of the communications workers of America Points to two 2-year-old incisions on her left wrist one across the base to remove a Ganglionic cyst a formation of syrupy fluid on sheaths or linings surrounding the tendons the other incision running Lengthwise from the Palm about two inches up the Arm to relieve a More serious condition known As carpal Tunnel syndrome. T / / a re really asking people to do More. That has a Cost. A Don Chaffin director University of Michigan Center for ergonomics Nesses the cyst a grape sized Lump appeared first a i kept pushing it Back inside for two years Quot Tydryszewski said Quot one morning in would t stay Down so i went to the doctor. I had surgery arid did exercises. Then i dropped a Luik bottle i had no feeling in three fingers to i had surgery for  now at the end of each Day Fydryk a. Ski said muscle near the Back of tier Nook tighten into a knot and her right Arm has begun to Hurt. Hut she said she is not going to complain Che is afraid to lose her $18,g0q-a year Job a a. In Early May her supervisor sent her a memorandum. Quot my records indicate that you received a written warning for excessive errors on nov 8, 1989,�?T�?T it said in part. Quot As of today you have not made any improvement in this area on april 26, 1990, As documented by computer compiled statistics you entered 189 documents with 264  management repeatedly advises Tydryszewski to take More time but taking More time Means falling below the 8,000 Keystroke an hour requirement. Working faster on the other hand could mean More visits with the surgeon. A in the past most reported cumulative trauma disorders arose in heavier work especially in meal and poultry packing plants and in automobile Assembly the Federal occupational safety and health administration has won agreement from several leading meat packers to Correct conditions that contribute to the disorders. In february it cited a 2,000-employee general motors parts Plant in Trenton for 40 cases of workers which needed surgery to Correct repetitive motion injuries. But the disorders Are showing up widely in computer work now supermarket checkout clerks appear to be getting them As a result of the twisting motions they make in sweeping people s purchases Over the Little windows through which laser teams record the product and the Price and they Are proliferating among millions of office workers. Sixty one percent of 645 associated press news employees who participated in a recent newspaper Guild Survey said they had neck and Back pains said the unions research director David j Eisen and a study by the National Institute of occupational safety and health and the University of Michigan said 38 percent of 1 fit j reporters and editors at the a mpg Island based newspaper new Day in new York had similar complaints arising in Ostia from the Speed and the time that reporter spend o my  terminals. He los Angeles i ures is 1 2 /. New employees and found More  \ or a  Ltd. W reporters complaining of in in tar of Neon to of disorders. Quot two or three have needed surgery and i or seven have Boon diagnosed with carpal men. Syndrome Quot said Michael g Manfro the  spot r s safety and environmental affairs manager. He said the company now provides Teller working equipment that requires toss Drain Toop Vare along with special glasses. A it your health tuesday. August 28, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 13