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+--- Thread: Repetative Strain Injury (/showthread.php?tid=1776)
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Repetative Strain Injury - Emjem - 27th June 2004
After spending weeks trowelling i am finding it difficult to move my hands and wrists first thing in the morning. Does anyone else suffer from this? I have been digging for about five years now and i am worried if this will be permanent. Is anyone aware of an employers resposibility for avoiding trowelling RSI injuries or how or even if RSI is recognised. It is not a complaint, just worried about my future. Thanks in advance.
Repetative Strain Injury - Leon Capon - 28th June 2004
I was going to start a thread on this very matter, but I am glad that this is a concern for others too.
I think RSI is a very real problem in archaeology. Other industries recognise this problem and there are guidlines about how long you can do certain tasks without taking breaks. I am not aware of any similar guidlines for archaeology, despite the fact that there are symptoms evident, particularly from trowelling all day long, but also things like holding large planning boards, kneeling for too long. Chronic back problems and 'bad knees' are a common complaint among people who have been digging for many years. This problem has been ignored for a very long time, partly perhaps due to the 'machismo' (for want of a better word) which surrounds archaeology, and just plain ignorance of employers.
I am looking for H&S guidlines which might help and am thinking of writing to the HSE. At the very least there should be guidlines for inclusion in company H&S documents and Risk Assessments. Should anyone know of guidelines for archaeological fieldwork or comparable profession, or have anecdotal evidence of chronic symptoms from RSIs then please let me know.
I do not dig anymore, but when I did I appreciated the work as it kept me fit and healthy, It did not occur to me then that a direct result of that work would be to experience the pain that I get now in my joints and in my back
Repetative Strain Injury - BAJR Host - 29th June 2004
Oh yes....I know that tooooo well. I have suffered claw hand in the past... and now nearly 20 years lateer my wrists are fragile, my hands often hurt after any digging and my back is a goner... not to mention the knees.
When we are young and fit we push our bodies beyond what is really sensible.. however.. H&S can often go to far in placing too many constraints on what can be done.
training is required in shovelling...pickaxe work, barrowing etc.. it is dull and boring at teh time but as you are finding out... and many of us already know... it is no joke later on (in your 30s!!)
Be aware and protect yourself.
BAJR
Repetative Strain Injury - Leon Capon - 29th June 2004
I think it is easy to be blas? about this and accept weak and painful joints, bad backs etc as a fact of life. With proper guidance they are avoidable. I have no doubt that guidance about the correct way to lift heavy weights does save people's backs. I think that simple matters of alternating tasks and taking short breaks could help avoid 'claw hand' or bad knees.
Training is important and so is personal responsibility, but in order for them to work, information and guidance is needed. Risk Assessments and company H&S guidance can be more than simply covering a company's liability, there is no reason why they cannot offer sensible and genuine advice and actually be read by staff. Those compiling such documents need to know what the risks are and how to reduce them. There are risks that are peculiar to archaeology, the HSE does not have a section on archaeology and it not just about people 'protecting themselves' it is about companies educating staff in all possible dangers from the immediate and obvious (falling down a big hole) to the less immediate and less obvious (rheumatism in your 30's) and encouraging people to protect themselves.
Of course the best H&S advice is probably don't do field archaeology, but then you might as well tell people not to drink beer...
Repetative Strain Injury - BAJR Host - 30th June 2004
Leon... you are right... and so here is a suggestion....
BAJR already has a section on Health and Safety ... relying heavily on Kevin Greens book.... but if you want to take that article.... go over it and rewrite it in a way that truely represents H7s issues in archaeology from the perspective of someone in the field.....please do.
It can be presented to teh HSE as a template for inclusion into new guidence, it can be standard practice for archeological companies....
so how about it?? fancy making a difference?
BAJR
Repetative Strain Injury - Leon Capon - 30th June 2004
Thank you for your suggestion, I honestly do want to make a difference, but I also appreciate assurance that I'm not just a weak Knee'd pansy!
Repetative Strain Injury - Post-Med Potterer - 1st July 2004
You might be weak-kneed as a consequence of your archaeological labours!
However, you have raised a serious issue. Has anyone heard anything out of SCAUM? They used to send round H&S stuff. Last I heard from them they sent an empty folder entitled 'Health and Safety in Field Archaeology' with the promise of contents to follow, that was in early 2003 and they never have! In any case the old SCAUM manual does not really cover manual handling and trowel injuries.
Much anecdotal evidence of bad backs, bad knees, arthritis etc. Those of us who work with standing buildings as part of our archaeological repertoire will certainly have been exposed to asbestos regardless of any provisions in 'documentation', which will kick in in another 30 years. Some truly bizarre and appalling accidents on site, and two deaths that I am aware of in the last twelve years (although in fairness one of these was not directly related to H&S on site).
And the stress of the job makes it rather difficult to give up booze and fags - I wonder if sclerosis of the liver and emphesymia are above average in the archaeological population?
Repetative Strain Injury - destroyer - 3rd July 2004
Bad back, bad knees, bad wrists - lengthy treatment making no difference, and i'm still in my 20's.
To be honest I don't really see H & S having much impact, at the end of the day someones got to shift dirt into a wheelbarrow. I would say the digging is a young persons job and hopefully most peoples careers advance so they're doing less digging before problems arise.
If an employee is having difficulties however then allowances are have to be made on an individual basis, if a diggers body is crocked prehaps its time to train them up in the office or on something less physical.
Mind you its not just outdoors thats bad, after a day in the office on our shoddy desks ive got major back pain and rsi anyway. Plus shovels need to come in different sizes, i'm pretty tall and logically could do with longer handled tools than the shortarses around me.
Repetative Strain Injury - lucy78green - 4th July 2004
ok, so i am 25, and I have sore hips, knees and ankles with occasional weird pains in my hands, but lately whenever I kneel down to do something my knees feel a bit weak when I stand up again, and sometimes they lock, which is odd as this only started happening when I stopped digging to go back to uni for a while, anyone know what causes this? seeing as kneeling pads are considered a bit wimpy and usually aren't provided by any of the companies I've worked for.......
Lucy
Repetative Strain Injury - Leon Capon - 5th July 2004
Destroyer
H&S does have an impact, though I cannot blame you for your cynicism. Digging isn't necessarily a young person's job; there are plenty of very fit and healthy people digging well into their thirties and forties (and there would probably be a fair few more if good H&S practise was always followed). Having tools that are too small (or too big) is a case in point and quite easily remedied if there is motivation to do so.
As for office work; I agree there are problems, but there is H&S guidance covering offices, and offices are on the whole much better environments to work in than they were many years ago.
The point about guidance is that it provides a basis for employers to develop protection for employees, and backs up employees should they complain.
I think everybody does agree that there is a bit of a problem here, but I don't think we know how big a problem it really is. It also seems that people attitudes vary a good deal too.
Perhaps a suitable topic for a bajr poll?