Lothian Repetitive Strain Injury Support Group
C/O Lothian TUCRC, Basement, 26 Albany StreetEdinburgh, EH1 3OH:
Telephone: 01501 743140 (home/evening); 0131 556 7318 (LTUCRC)

The Lothian RSI Support Group is a self help organisation and charity based in 26 Albany Street, Edinburgh. It is serviced by the Lothian Trade Union & Community Resource Centre who provide administrative support and meeting facilities.

• The Group meet to exchange information and experience and through guest speakers try to find new methods of treating and managing the condition in a way which allows the sufferer to cope in the domestic situation or to continue in their employment.

What is RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury)

RSI or as it is now known by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), WRULDs (Work Related Upper Limb Disorders), however we would argue that all limbs can be effected. RSI can affect blue and white collar workers alike. It is not a new condition but one which has been around for about three hundred years due to a hand condition still known as “writer’s cramp”.

The condition is usually caused by badly designed work stations and badly organised work processes which create a situation where workers have to work in an awkward positions alien to the joints, muscles, ligaments and nerves. In many cases the body is forced to remain rigid in a static position for long periods while the limbs have to carry out a repetitive operation sometimes at great speed or with a force greater than the joint or limb concerned can adequately cope with.

The three main factors which can cause RSI if they are not properly managed are: the force used in the task: the frequency and duration of the task: the posture adopted to carry out the task.