There are risks to working at any job, but assembly line workers face continued hardships due to repetitive motions. The risks assembly workers face can have devastating impacts on their work and personal lives. Some of these risks include hand movement deterioration, vision loss, back and joint pain.
Hand movement deterioration
Hand movement deterioration often affects individuals who work in manufacturing and production roles. Over time, assembly line workers who use extensive hand movements can develop stiffness in hand strength, shakiness, carpal tunnel syndrome and early onset arthritis. These symptoms can have detrimental effects on a person’s life, by making it difficult to perform day-to-day duties.
Eye injuries and vision loss
Over 20,000 workers are affected each year by workplace induced vision loss and eye injuries. Assembly line workers in different industries may all share symptoms of increasing vision loss due to extensive and demanding visual usage at work. Completing certain types of jobs also expose workers to flying particles, especially workers who crimp or solder parts.
Back and joint pain
Assembly line workers may also face extreme bodily pain, which can include pain in the neck, shoulder, back, legs and feet. Extreme body pain over time can be the result of sitting or standing all day performing repetitive tasks.
There are a few ways to help alleviate the pain resulting from working the assembly line. Some of these include: taking care of your hands, looking away from flying parts and taking breaks from sitting or standing. However, workers cannot completely avoid these activities long enough to repair the damages caused. Due to repetitive motions and activities which takes a toll on assembly line workers, they may be at risk to develop deteriorating symptoms.
