State to recruit volunteers June 27 for study of ergonomic disorders

Brief
June 20, 2002

Want to help the state gain more knowledge about carpal-tunnel syndrome or tendinitis and learn more about your own risk for such ergonomic disorders?

You can do so by volunteering for a three-year study conducted by the state Labor and Industries Department.

The department's program called SHARP (Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention) will operate a booth on Thursday, June 27, outside the Double Helix cafeteria to recruit study participants.

(SHARP is separate from the center's SCHARP - Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention - program.)

Funded in part by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the SHARP study aims to follow the development of musculoskeletal disorders of the arm, hand, shoulder and neck in 1,000 workers to determine the effect of work-related risk factors on the incidence and persistence of symptoms, clinical findings and compensated injury costs.

Musculoskeletal disorders can be caused by standing or sitting in odd or awkward positions, moving the same way many times, using "high" hand force and experiencing vibrations.

Once a year for three years, the SHARP study will ask participants and their supervisors questions about their health and jobs. Health-care professionals will conduct a brief, non-invasive physical exam of participants' upper bodies, from neck to fingers, to check for signs of musculoskeletal disorders. Also, a test using skin sensors will check the health of participants' median and ulnar nerves at the wrist.

The health-and-job questions, upper body test and nerve test take between 30 and 60 minutes. SHARP also will study participants' jobs and equipment and videotape participants doing their jobs. The videotaping will be done only once, at the beginning, unless participants change jobs during the study. Information gathered will be confidential.

Every four months, SHARP will conduct a brief follow-up survey.

For more information on the study, call SHARP toll free at 1-888-66SHARP or Mercy Walcoff Budiansky, the center's training program manager and ergonomic specialist in Environmental Health and Safety.

Walcoff Budiansky emphasizes that the state study is separate from the center's ergonomic program and encourages faculty and staff to call her at 206-667-6847 for an ergonomic evaluation.

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