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Medicalising work behaviour: The case of repetition strain injury
Author(s) -
Spillane Robert
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
asia pacific journal of human resources
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.825
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1744-7941
pISSN - 1038-4111
DOI - 10.1177/1038411107086545
Subject(s) - autonomy , repetition (rhetorical device) , work (physics) , phenomenon , psychology , sociology , political science , epistemology , law , philosophy , mechanical engineering , linguistics , engineering
What can human resource managers learn from the workplace phenomenon of the 1980s called repetition strain injury (RSI) — now occupational overuse syndrome? It is the thesis of this article that RSI represented an example of the progressive medicalisation of Australian work behaviour in which notions of ‘illness’, ‘treatment’ and ‘patienthood’ figure prominently. RSI provides a case study of the tendency in Australian management, trade unions and occupational health circles to emphasise medical (physical and psychiatric) rather than moral behaviour at work. This tendency, stimulated by professional interests, has retarded work reform strategies based on the principle of responsible autonomy.