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Posted By w.j. jones
Hi
Has anyone had any experience of a driver submitting a sick note quoting RSI (I thought the medical term does not exist..but there we are, perhaps doctor's do not refer to WRULD's). Basically his doctor has stated that changing gear on a frequent basis has exacerbated his condition and lead to RSI. We provide our drivers with good quality vehicles, limit their hours etc, but, as with lots of things these days, it does'nt seem to be enough to stop a potentially damaging claim.
I just thought I would share this one to initiate a response (and any tips on a potential defence)
Regards
WJ
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Posted By Descarte
I can see how this could be a problem for drivers and thouse in the hualage industry especially in big cities, not only the repetative motion of movement to chage gear, the force in used but also leaving the left hand in a position on or over the gear stick leading to strained muscles in the shoulder and back.
Possibly consider using automatics if possible or a triptronic (?) system for changing gears
Des
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Posted By Descarte
sry tiptronic,
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Rank: Guest
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Posted By w.j. jones
Des
Thanks for that, but it is not as simple, as the cost involved would be prohibitive and not entirely practicable to change a fleet over due to one man's discomfort. The haulage fleet is involved in sawmilling, so these guys actually spend a lot of time off the road as well as on it. It is just an annoying situation at the moment, but naturally we are looking at the potential of this complaint. It really is a question of how far do you go, I accept that the actions can cause this type of injury, but again this does not seem to prohibit the guy from driving his car on a regular basis
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Posted By Konstanty Budkiewicz
WJ,
Your posting states the doctor supports the view that the current driver's duties worsen an existing condition. Consequently, the subject sick note should be treated as a HR and Occ Health issue in the first instance. There then is a need for your management to understand what the "condition" is and how it is affected by the ergonomics and possibly manual handling duties associated with the driver post. This could be found by reviewing your task-based risk assessment of the work being undertaken. From that position due consideration can be given to the normal hierarchy of H&S controls; hazard elimination (as suggested earlier, use alternative work methods, design improvements, change of process). Substitution - can you rotate staff for the more arduous tasks? etc.
Lastly, have you considered the stress level associated with this work - I note that the HSE states that the agri-business attracts approx 30% of handling injuries - is this instance a precursor ailment related to stress?
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