

Introduction
It is a fact that poor work design may result in a physical misfit between workers and the tasks they are required to carryout. This may result in the development of Work-related Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (WMSDs). Throughout the remainder of this document, we will refer to WMSDs and similar conditions under the broad term “RSI” because it is in popular usage and generally recognised. RSI is not a new phenomenon – in 1713 Ramazinni an Italian doctor generally regarded as the father of occupational medicine, was the first to describe writer’s cramp in scribes who spent all day rewriting books. He noted that the “incessant driving of the pen over paper causes intense fatigue of the hand and the whole arm because of the continuous strain of the muscles and tendons”. In the 19th century the condition was recorded amongst artists, musicians, seamstresses, milkmaids and smiths. A number of terms were developed to describe theses conditions including telegraphist’s cramp, cotton-twisters hand, upholsterer’s hand and more recently terms such as pizza-cutters wrist, texters-thumb and Nintendonitis.
Interesting News Articles about RSI
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