First, the prevalence of these painful disorders and the disability they 
cause is unparalleled among occupational safety and health injuries and 
illnesses. More than 600,000 workers lose time from work to recuperate from 
MSDs every year, and the median number of lost workdays associated with each 
of these incidents is 7 days. Many MSDs , such as carpal tunnel syndrome cases
, typically cause the injured worker to lose 25 days of work, and many 
victims of carpal tunnel syndrome lose six months or more of work. When the 
reduced work capacity associated with the estimated 1.2 million non-lost 
workday MSDs is added to the lost workday MSD total, the amount of lost 
worktime attributable to these disorders is truly staggering. 

 Employees with work-related MSDs suffer persistent and severe pain, reduced 
functional capacity both at work and at home, and, in many cases, permanent 
disability. A number of workers who have been seriously impaired by these 
job-related disorders will come forward at this hearing to describe the 
disruption these injuries have caused to their lives and work. 
 Further, because there is substantial evidence that many work-related MSDs 
are not being reported to employers because employees fear that they will 
experience economic loss or that they will be discriminated against by their 
employers for reporting, the OSHA proposal contains Work Restriction 
Protection provisions. 
Are we being discriminated against?????
Randi
RetTek2000