One of the growing occupationally related problems in industry is that of hand and wrist cumulative trauma disorders (Carpal tunnel syndrome, tenosynovitis, etc.). It is widely accepted that these disorders are related to the motions of the hand and wrist during work. However, a void exists in the literature which quantitatively relates hand and wrist motions to the risk of disorders in this area. The objective of this research is to correlate hand and wrist movement range and motion component characteristics with the risk of occupationally induced injury. This will be accomplished by 1) developing a wrist monitor system (based on an existing system developed by these researchers) which can accurately quantify wrist angle, velocity and acceleration characteristics in three- dimensional space, 2) monitor hand and wrist motion characteristics of industrial workers who are employed in high, medium, and low risk occupations (risk will be assessed by an Industrial Commission data base in Ohio), and 3) analyze this data so that the hand and wrist movement ranges and motion components which are associated with an increased risk of hand and wrist disorders can be identified. This knowledge will be used to develop new workplace design principles so that the risk of occupation injury is minimized.
