Your computer mouse would sit on the platform, while your wrist rested on the padded cushion – all to prevent repetitive strain injury (RSI), a catch-all term for a wide range of conditions that seemed to affect just about every computer user in the late nineties, at this university included. Observant devoted countless articles to the topic, interviewing Arts & Sciences (now FASoS) employees who experienced loss of strength in their arms, tingling in their fingers, and neck and shoulder pain, often requiring months to recover. The university doctor at the time, Ton van Attekum, told Observant in 1999 that he was seeing more and more UM employees with RSI. The combination of high workloads, poor posture and repetitive mouse movements was a recipe for disaster. The university experimented with dictation software and lunchtime yoga sessions for staff. Wrist rests and other ergonomic equipment were purchased. And it seems to have worked – when was the last time you heard anyone talk about RSI?
“We no longer use the term”, confirms Thim Derhaag, senior occupational hygienist at UM. In the Netherlands, the preferred catch-all term is now “CANS”, short for “complaints of the arm, neck and shoulder”. These remain widespread, he explains, ranking among the top three causes of work-related disability under the Dutch Occupational Disability Insurance Act (WAO). But it appears to be much less of an issue at UM. “According to our absence figures, only 1 per cent suffer from CANS. That’s all prevention – more awareness, ergonomic office furniture and equipment such as keyboards that require less pressure.”