Health and Safety
February 28, 2009
International RSI Awareness Day
February 28, 2009 marks an important milestone, the 10th anniversary of the International RSI Awareness Day – a day set aside each year to focus attention on repetitive strain injuries. Held on the last day of February, it is the only ‘non-repetitive’ day on the calendar and is officially observed on February 29th (in non-leap years, RSI Awareness Day is observed on February 28th.) On this day, workers and their Unions participate in various activities to help raise awareness about RSI and the need for action aimed at prevention, rehabilitation and compensation.
Repetitive strain injuries, also known as musculoskeletal injuries (MSI's) is an generalized term that is used to describe a series of painful disorders affecting tendons, muscles, nerves and joins in the neck, upper and lower back, chest, shoulders, arms and hands. These disorders are caused by work activities that are frequent and repetitive, or activities that involve awkward postures.
Ten years ago a handful of injured workers who were suffering the effects of musculoskeletal injuries participated in the first RSI Awareness Day, an event which had been planned and organized by Catherine Fenech, an injured worker in Toronto. Today this movement to raise awareness of these types of injuries, their causes, solutions to control or eliminate these injuries, and providing fair worker compensation, is international in scope.
RSI remains today a serious work related health problem, and is recognized as a leading cause of significant human suffering. They are found in any workplace and affect workers in a variety of occupations. Musculoskeletal injuries strike one in 10 Canadians, and it is estimated that MSI's account for over 40% of all lost time workplace injuries.
But we now have an important tool to help us in our fight to prevent the damage caused by RSI/MSI's. Under the Part XIX of the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations ( the regualtions that fall under Part II of the Canada Labour Code), which calls for the establishement a Hazard Prevention Program in all Federal workplaces, ergonomics related hazards must be identified, assessed, and preventative measures established to eliminate, reduce or control such hazards.
Employers, with the participation of Workplace Health and Safety Committees, will be required to indentify and assess ergonomic hazards in the workplace, and to introduce corrective measures, such as equipment redesign or mechanical aids, to address the identified ergonomic hazards.
To mark February 28th, 2009, the International RSI Awareness Day, we should ensure that our employers are implementing the required identification and assessment of ergonomic hazards in our workplaces.
And for members under provincial or territorial jurisdiction where ergonomic regulations do not exist, the fight must continue to push those provincial and territorial government to pass the necessary legislation that will provide protection for all workers against the health effects of RSI.
Date Modified : 2010/01/29
