If you are a supermarket checkout worker, you could potentially be at a high risk of developing repetitive strain injury (RSI) as a result of the systems you use on a daily basis. On the whole, as a checkout worker you will likely spend most of your shift sitting down and carrying out a number of repetitive movements to swipe customers’ shopping over the barcode reader and take payment on pin machines.
A common compliant among supermarket workers and checkout operators in particular is pain in the shoulders. This is caused by a combination of factors: the repetitive action involved in scanning goods, the constant lifting of heavy items including dog food onto the scanner and stretching to use the chip and pin machine where customers pay.
Laser scanners can cause RSI as they need the operator to repeat the same backwards and forwards motion over and over again as it reads the barcodes on the goods a customer has bought. The action of using a scanner can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) which causes tingling, numbness and occasionally pain in the hands and fingers of the user, as well as the shoulder pain described above. The condition occurs when the median nerve in the wrist, which is responsible for relaying physical sensation from your brain to your hand and controlling its movements, is compressed or squashed.
Using a more traditional till where you have to key in the barcode number or enter the price manually does not generally lead to carpal syndrome or any other form of RSI in most instances.
Another culprit responsible for RSI in checkout workers is the chip and pin machine, although this is usually due to poor positioning. There is a case where a very short worker – who was only 4ft 9 tall – successfully sued the Co-Op in 2008 after she injured one of the tendons in her right arm from constantly having to reach up to use the chip and pin machine. As a result she was diagnosed with Tenosynovitis, an inflammation of the tendons caused by repetitive straining.
Laser scanners are sophisticated pieces of machinery and can store and read millions of bits of data efficiently and quickly saving supermarkets time and money. As well as the typical flat scanners which work by passing shopping over them, some retailers use the handheld scanners which zap barcodes. These aren’t as likely to give you CTS as you don’t have to move items back and forth quickly as you do with the flat scanners, but they can lead to RSI in the upper forearm from the constant lifting of the zapper, and in the finger from pressing the trigger.
It’s not surprising supermarket checkout operators rank highly in the RSI league table as the equipment they use every day can cause many conditions. They should take regular breaks and perform other tasks every so often so the body gets a rest and isn’t always subjected to the same strain.
If you believe you may have developed RSI from working on a supermarket checkout, we can help you. Give us a call on 0800 028 2060 or contact us online here. More information can be found at www.repetitive-straininjury.co.uk