Arm Conditions

Accommodation Strategies:

Carrying: Limitations in carrying can affect workers across many environments, including office, industrial, agricultural, healthcare, and childcare settings. These accommodation ideas involve equipment or job modifications that reduce, assist with, or eliminate the need to carry items:

• Use specialized carts, such as motorized carts, linen carts, janitorial carts, multi-purpose carts, spring-loaded carts, or stainless steel carts
• Provide assistive equipment such as compact material handling devices and stairclimbing hand trucks
• Allow periodic rest breaks to lessen fatigue and break up tasks that require carrying
• Allow a self-paced workload through job restructuring to reduce the amount of time spent working solely on tasks that require carrying
• Break larger parcels into smaller ones to reduce physical strain
• Modify the worksite to shorten the distance items must be carried
• Reassign tasks or move the worker to another role without carrying duties

Lifting: Difficulty with lifting can occur for many reasons and may affect workers in office, industrial, service, agricultural, healthcare, and childcare environments. These accommodation ideas focus on reducing the physical effort required to lift, support safe lifting practices, or provide devices that enable easier task performance:

• Install assistive devices such as ball transfer tables, carts, transfer sheets, or tool balancers
• Provide assistive devices such as compact material handling devices, lift tables, mobile cranes, patient lifts, or stairclimbing hand trucks to assist with lifting items
• Encourage proper lifting techniques and allow team lifting when appropriate
• Build in periodic rest breaks throughout the workday to help break up prolonged tasks that require lifting
• Allow a self-paced workload via job restructuring to reduce the amount of time spent working solely on tasks that require lifting

Pushing/Pulling: Limitations in pushing and pulling can stem from various conditions and may affect workers who need to move patients, carts, hand trucks, boxes, tools, doors, and other materials. These tasks often require significant force, so the following accommodation ideas focus on physical strain reduction or alternative ways to move objects:

• Add equipment such as automatic door openers, hands-free/foot pull door openers, or automatic gate openers
• Explore alternative ways to move objects by using products such as carts, cart dumpers, compact material handling, stairclimbing hand trucks, ball transfer tables, vacuum lifts, or rolling safety ladders
• Use folding steps to help the worker safely enter work vehicles
• Remove marginal job duties that require pushing/pulling
• Reassign to a position where pushing/pulling is not essential
• Incorporate task-specific supports such hands-free resuscitation devices for those who cannot do chest compressions; patient lifts to limit pushing/pulling of people; tire handling devices to assist with handling vehicle tires; tool balancers to counter the weight of heavy tools; and wheelchair pushers, wheelchair push extension handles or wheelchair push bars to assist with pushing wheelchair users.

Reaching: Reaching limitations can result from various medical conditions and may make it difficult for workers to access items or perform tasks at different heights. These accommodation ideas focus on adjusting the work area to raise or lower the worker or task to improve accessibility:

• Adjust the work area to the employee's working height using adjustable workstations for industrial settings or adjustable workstations for office settings, lift tables, electric lift tables, or height adjustable table legs
• Elevate the worker with work platforms, lifts (e.g., Aerial lifts, stair lifts, vacuum lifts), ladders, step stools, folding steps, compact ladders, rolling safety ladders, and lightweight ladders
• Provide reachers to grasp items in hard-to-reach places, such as a high shelf or the floor
• Extend reach range using telescopic handle attachments
• Conduct an ergonomic assessment to explore potential equipment options
• Add a low task chair for work performed near the ground
• Supply ergonomic and pneumatic tools to promote neutral postures
• Allow periodic rest breaks so the worker can rest between reaching tasks
• Consider job restructuring to remove reaching tasks if not an essential job duty

Performing Fine Motor Tasks: Fine motor limitations can affect a worker's ability to carry out precise hand movements that require feeling, sensing, grasping, handling, or manipulating small objects. These accommodation ideas focus on reducing the physical demands of these tasks by providing ergonomic tools, alternative input devices, or equipment that reduces hand movements:

• Improve workstation ergonomics with articulating keyboard trays, extra-grip gloves, forearm supports, grip aids, steering grips, or writing aids
• Provide alternative input devices such as alternative keyboards, expanded keyboards, miniature keyboards, alternative mice, or speech recognition software for computer use
• Offer telephone equipment such as gooseneck or other telephone holders, hands-free telephones, or headsets
• Reduce environment factors that worsen symptoms by providing products such as anti-vibration gloves, anti-vibration tool wraps, cooling clothing, heated clothing, or heated gloves