If you make your living working on an Arizona assembly line, in a grocery store or another environment where you repeatedly perform the same tasks, you face a heightened risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most prevalent repetitive stress injury experienced by American workers,. It often takes a physical toll on those it affects and a financial one on their employers.

According to Occupational Safety and Health, carpal tunnel affects members of the U.S. workforce to the point where they require 120,000 associated surgeries every year. Expenses relating to such injuries cost employers roughly $80 billion every year. This suggests that it is in your employer’s best interests to enact protocols that seek to prevent the condition.

Recovering from repetitive stress injuries

Statistics show it takes you much longer to recover from repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel than it does all other work-related injuries. It takes an average of about 23 days for you to recover from a repetitive stress injury. To put this in perspective, it takes an average of about two weeks to recover from all other types of work injuries.

Preventing repetitive stress injuries

Some U.S. employers are improving ergonomics to lower the chances of their workers experiencing carpal tunnel and other repetitive stress injuries. Gloves and other hand-protection solutions may help reduce hand fatigue. In doing so, they enhance comfort and performance while lowering your chances of carpal tunnel.

Not all gloves protect you to the same degree, though. U.S. Ergonomics, a consulting and testing organization, certifies gloves as ergonomic only when laboratory tests involving them garner at least 70% positive feedback.