Karen’s Story: When Pain Builds Over Time
Not every workplace injury happens suddenly. Some injuries build gradually through repeated movements, awkward postures, or prolonged tasks. These are often called repetitive strain injuries, or RSI.
RSI refers to pain or injury that may result from repeated movement, sustained posture, or prolonged physical strain. It can affect muscles, tendons, nerves, and joints. In office work, RSI may be associated with repeated typing, mouse use, poor workstation setup, limited breaks, or sitting in the same position for long periods.
Karen worked in an office environment. Her daily role involved typing reports, managing emails, using a computer for long periods, and completing administrative tasks.
Why Repetitive Strain Injuries Can Be Difficult to Identify
A repetitive strain injury can be more difficult to recognise than a sudden workplace accident because symptoms may develop slowly.
In Karen’s case, there was no single fall, collision, or obvious incident. Instead, her symptoms developed through repeated computer-based work over time.
This created disagreement when Karen raised the issue with her employer. The employer questioned whether the injury was connected to work and suggested that Karen may not have taken adequate breaks or used proper ergonomics.
Where an injury develops gradually, the relevant circumstances may include:
- the worker’s daily duties
- the amount of time spent typing or using a mouse
- workstation setup
- chair, desk, keyboard, and monitor position
- break frequency
- workload and task repetition
- any reports of earlier discomfort
- medical history and symptom progression
These details may help explain whether the injury is connected to work duties and how it developed over time.
Office Ergonomics and Repetitive Tasks
Office environments can still involve physical risks, especially where a person performs repetitive tasks for long periods.
Common factors that may be relevant to RSI include:
- prolonged typing
- repetitive mouse use
- poor wrist position
- awkward shoulder posture
- unsuitable desk or chair height
- lack of movement breaks
- high workload or repetitive deadlines
- limited ergonomic equipment
Repetitive strain injuries may affect the wrists, hands, elbows, shoulders, neck, or upper back. Symptoms may include pain, stiffness, weakness, numbness, tingling, or reduced movement.
Medical Assessment and Recovery
Medical records are often important where symptoms develop gradually.
For Karen, medical assessment helped document her symptoms, diagnosis, treatment needs, and capacity for work. Depending on the injury, treatment may include:
- medical review
- physiotherapy
- occupational therapy
- hand therapy
- pain management
- ergonomic assessment
- changes to work duties
- modified hours or duties
- workplace adjustments during recovery
Work capacity may change over time. A person may need to reduce repetitive tasks, use modified equipment, take more frequent breaks, or avoid certain duties for a period of time.
When the Cause of RSI Is Disputed
Repetitive strain injury matters can become complicated when there is disagreement about whether the injury was caused by work.
Relevant records may include:
- medical records
- workstation assessment reports
- ergonomic review notes
- work duty descriptions
- rosters or workload records
- emails or reports showing task volume
- records of discomfort reported to a supervisor
- certificates about work capacity
- communication with the employer or insurer
Unlike a sudden accident, RSI often requires a timeline showing when symptoms started, how they changed, and what work duties were being performed during that period.
A statutory workers’ compensation process is different from a common law process. A statutory process generally considers whether an injury is work-related. A common law process may involve additional questions about duty of care, breach, causation, injury, and loss.
The relevant process depends on the facts, the evidence available, the diagnosis, and the applicable legislation.