It Hurts To Ignore Work Injury Roots

摘要

I was talking with a friend not long ago about one of the hottest political topics in California these days―the high cost of the workers compensation system. "But libraries don't have to worry about that, do they?" asked my friend. "Aha!" I said. "Another stereotype! In fact, library work is very physical. And I am not just talking about the delivery people who lift crates of books or the shelvers. Think about all those repetitive motions to check out books." Library employees are among the 1.8 million workers the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says typically can suffer "musculoskeletal disorders" (MSD), i.e., usually repetitive stress injuries. That was 26.2 percent of all workplace injuries in 2000. The workers compensation system, which is meant to pay workers for the cost of injuries and wages lost, is an increasingly serious financial burden on library budgets across the country.