Washington L&I Shares One-Box-at-a-Time Fix for Hand Strain in Packing Work
Short-term adjustments can reduce strain, let the body recover during the workday, break up the monotony and give teams time to work out process improvements, the agency said.
- By Danielle Naidu
- Oct 29, 2026
Repeated motions take a toll on muscles and joints, and even small, temporary changes to the way a job is done can help, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) said in a recent bulletin. That is especially true while teams work toward longer-term fixes, according to the agency.
In one example from L&I, a worker used to assemble small boxes by the hundreds, fill every one and finally tape and pack the lot, a fast-paced routine that was hard on her hands. She changed to taking each box through all four steps before moving on. L&I said the switch rested her hands, shifted the effort to larger muscle groups and let her finish sooner.
The agency called the change a short-term fix and pointed readers to its Global Ergonomics Month resources, which it said offer tools to help workers and managers make longer-term changes.
About the Author
Danielle Naidu is assistant editor for Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection Online.