An article from News-Medical.net announced a $2.5 million grant for Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. According to the article, the purpose of the grant is to fund research that will determine how likely people are to develop Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before they actually show symptoms. This would allow employers to avoid putting employees in high-CTS-risk jobs from the start. The article states: “The average lifetime cost of carpal tunnel syndrome, including medical bills and lost time from work, is estimated to be about $30,000 for each injured worker.”
On the one hand, any research into Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is probably a good thing, but on the other hand, imagine being the person denied a job in a certain area because you might develop CTS 10 years down the road.
Though the article specifically mentions food processing, assembly jobs, and manufacturing jobs, couldn’t this also extend to computer-related jobs? As in, I hope you enjoyed your five- years studying to earn your computer science degree, but we can’t use you at Microsoft because you don’t have the right kind of wrists.
This is all speculation, of course, but maybe it’s a topic that deserves watching.