J o u r n a l o f E r g o n o m i c s ISSN: 2165-7556 Journal of Ergonomics OPEN ACCESS Freely available online Research Article 1 J Ergonomics, Vol. 9 Iss. 1 No: 246 The Social and Economic Impact of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome among Maintenance-of-Way Employees Ruth Ruttenberg School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, USA ABSTRACT Thousands of railroad Maintenance-of-Way (MOW) workers develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) from their work. Objective: This study calculates the social and economic burdens of carpal tunnel syndrome borne by thousands of MOW workers. Methods: Economic calculations are derived from the literature and also from a survey of 4,800 MOW respondents, 155 in-depth interviews, and two focus groups. Results: This one health problem alone costs at least $128.6 million to $225.3 million over the course of CTS cases currently diagnosed among MOW workers. Many individuals work through significant pain or have to leave the profession. Some are crippled for life. Conclusion: When a worker has carpal tunnel syndrome, beyond pain and suffering, there are often financial burdens that affect families, railroad companies, insurers, communities, and taxpayers as well as the injured workers. Keywords: Carpal tunnel syndrome; Muscular skeletal disorders; Maintenance-of-way railroad workers; Occupational safety and health; Economic impact; Social impact; Ergonomics Correspondence to: Ruth Ruttenberg, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, USA, Tel: 8024854554; E-mail: rruttenberg@tds.net Received: May 11, 2019; Accepted: June 06, 2019; Published: June 13, 2019 Citation: Ruttenberg R (2019) The Social and Economic Impact of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome among Maintenance of Way Employees. J Ergonomics 9:246. doi:10.35248/2165-7556.19.9.246 Copyright: © 2019 Ruttenberg R. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION Thousands of railroad maintenance-of-way (MOW) workers develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) from their work. This one health issue alone costs at least $128.6 million to $225.3 million over the course of those carpal tunnel syndrome cases currently diagnosed. What follows is a study of MOW workers–their illnesses and the suffering and burdens they endure. While the health impact is clearly the most serious, the focus of this paper is the social and economic impacts of these infirmities. When a worker has carpal tunnel syndrome, beyond pain and suffering, there are often financial burdens that affect families, railroad companies, insurers, communities, and taxpayers as well as injured workers. These burdens include not only direct medical costs of treatment but also other related costs like over-the-counter medical devices and medications, caretaking, lower productivity of affected workers, lost work time and thus reduced income and future Social Security benefits, psychological stress on individuals and their families, and a host of other factors discussed herein. The work that follows calculates the burden of carpal tunnel syndrome borne by thousands of MOW workers and many other groups as well. Setting MOW workers face significant risks to their health and safety on a daily basis. Maintaining the track is one of the most dangerous jobs facing railroad workers [1], with many dying in workplace accidents. In addition, MOW workers constantly bend, twist, and do heavy lifting, thus putting themselves at high risk of injuring their necks, shoulders, knees, backs, hips, elbows, and wrists. They face a host of ergonomic risks from their use of high vibration tools and equipment. They face high noise levels and uneven surfaces walking on ballast. Many suffer from significant illnesses, even death, related to toxic chemical exposures. MOW workers are more likely than the general public, for example, to develop cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and kidney disease. Carpal tunnel is a serious health problem for them, but only one among many. METHODOLOGY An overall social and economic impact study, of which this is just one of five parts - reviewed cancer, COPD, kidney disease, and lower back problems in addition to CTS. The economic and social study itself was part of a larger assessment, funded by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED), that also included research on epidemiological and ergonomic and physical hazards. Institutional Review Board (IRB) approvals came from both Cook County Hospital and the State University of New York-Downstate.