As part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-sponsored Sentinel Event Notification for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) CTS Program, the California Department of Health Services (CDHS) has been conducting surveillance of occupational CTS since 1998. The data identified particularly elevated rates among workers performing "customer service" tasks--work characterized by low rates of data entry (5-10 words per minute) but requiring constant verbal customer interaction and frequent pauses between bouts of data entry. Examples of these occupations included: utility customer service representatives, public safety dispatchers, insurance claims adjusters, and telecommunications representatives. CDHS performed site visits at two companies with clusters of CTS cases--a telephone company and an airline reservations center. Data collection methods included interviews, evaluation of workstations, videotaping, dissemination of symptom surveys, and the use of postural analysis checklists. Unique risk factors for CTS identified in these populations were: frequent pauses while waiting for customer response leading to prolonged periods of static, awkward postures, shared workstations resulting in improperly adjusted workstations, ineffective furniture, and high psychosocial stress. Recommendations include providing: furniture designed for upper extremity support, adjustable workstations, special function keyboards, less strictly electronically monitored schedules, and more frequent breaks. Computer based customer service work is one of the most rapidly expanding occupations in the service, healthcare, banking, retail, and finance sectors. We hope that identifying risk factors in this type of work will help us provide recommendations to employers and to develop effective worker educational materials. Videotaping and symptom survey results will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: 1. Recognize the risk factors for CTS associated with customer service work tasks 2. Be aware of the type and frequency of awkward hand postures that workers assume in customer service work tasks 3. Be familiar with interventions which can decrease the risk of CTS in this worker population
Keywords: Ergonomics, Field Experience
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.