By
Gaby Grammeno
Contributor
A tribunal has overturned the rejection of a worker’s claim for compensation: despite her pre-existing wrist issues, prolonged keyboard and mouse work had significantly aggravated her symptoms.
The worker had a developmental condition known as Madelung deformity in both of her wrists. This condition was not work-related. It involved pain from the base of her thumb across her wrist to her right elbow. Medical professionals used the term chronic tendonitis.
She was employed with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, where she was engaged in sustained computer work using either the keyboard or the mouse, which she could not avoid in the usual duties of her role. She had previously worked at different duties with much less keyboard and mouse use – and much less pain.
In 2006 she made a workers comp claim relating to pain in her wrist when using a mouse, and the claim was accepted.
After treatment and modification of her duties, she returned to her 'normal' duties, and again the pain was exacerbated. She made another claim in 2008, noting frequent use of the keyboard and mouse. This claim too was accepted.
Her symptoms were in both arms, and in 2011 she had surgery on her left arm which greatly improved the condition, but her right wrist continued to be problematic. She was right-handed.
In early 2021 she took a month off work and had a very significant reduction in her right arm symptoms, only for the pain to rapidly peak again when she returned to work. She sought physiotherapy and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon for review. She then had surgery on her right arm, but it was not as successful as the earlier procedure on her left arm. She needed time off work due to her right arm pain and a modification of her ongoing hours.
She made another workers comp claim which Comcare rejected, and the rejection was reaffirmed in July 2022.
She then appealed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of Australia to review the decision.
In the tribunal
Comcare’s case was that the worker experienced symptoms in any case because of the non-work-related condition she suffered from, that she had a high baseline pain level and if the symptoms were aggravated by work, they were also aggravated by home duties such as mopping or lifting a kettle or chopping food. Any contribution from her work was not significant, therefore it was not liable for compensation.
Her treating orthopaedic surgeon gave evidence that the ideal posture normally recommended for computer work put extra stress on the tendons, ligaments and other structures in her arm because of her congenital deformity, which explained why computer work caused particular aggravation of her pain. Though she had been using her hands for domestic tasks including food preparation during her time off work, her symptoms had abated when she was not doing computer work.
At the time of the hearing she still had symptoms in her wrist, though she was working only four days a week, taking Wednesdays off the recover. She clearly had a significant ongoing condition.
In the light of the evidence, Administrative Appeals Tribunal Member Alexander Ward was not persuaded by Comcare’s argument.
Member Ward formed the opinion that the contribution from work was substantially more than material. This was demonstrated, he said, by the improvement when she was on holiday and the onset of severe symptoms on her return to work, and by the fact that despite her shorter working week she needed the weekend to recuperate, just to be able to start the process again on Monday.
Member Ward was satisfied that her employment had aggravated her condition to a significant degree, and there was ‘clearly impairment in her functioning flowing on from the aggravation’.
The Tribunal set aside the previous decision to reject her claim, and awarded her compensation.
What it means for employers
If a person has a pre-existing condition that may predispose them to impairment, it is even more important to assess whether a work activity can be safety undertaken by the person assigned to it. Task variety and frequent rest breaks are vital for preventing or minimising the risk of such injuries.
Read the decision
Jaudzems and Comcare (Compensation) [2024] AATA 32 (17 January 2024)