An example of the evaluation of risks of repeated movements in pottery plants located in western Liguria

Pottery manufacturing is typical in western Liguria and it represents one of the most important economical resources of this area. The major part of manufacturers are handicrafts, although some bigger firms have developed industrialized production cycles. Both types of productions, however, require hand work at almost all levels of processing. Most workers are women and a significant part of these are affected by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. INAIL (Direzione Regionale Liguria) carries on a dedicated program for employers' insurance and Health & Safety implementation but--in order to do so--INAIL needs to achieve more knowledge about risk factors in this field. The aim of this study was to assess CTD risk in two pottery industries located in Albisola: in particular, two productions Cycles equipped with assembly lines have been investigated. The method used for risk assessment was OCRA Index (OCcupational Repetitive Actions), adapted to be applied to pottery industries.