Tenosynovitis cases in a metal plant were studied using the Collective Work Analysis, involving 13 workers and their union. From the description of their work activities, during two group meetings, it became clear that tenosynovitis was a generic term used to describe several complaints (pains, loss of strenght) of the the superior and inferior limbs, suffered by the workers. The problem afflicted workers of several sectors of the company, whose tasks required stereotyped, repetitive and localized movements of the arms or legs and a high work rate. The number of cases rised when the company reorganized its production, introducing productions cells, Kanban and multivalence of workers, reorganization presented to the workers under the name of "escravos de Jó". The paper ends with comments on the intensification of work, in Brazil and in the world, triggered by the new ways of organizing the production and the need to take that in consideration in the technical studies on the genesis of repetitive strain injury.
repetitive strain injury; just-in-time; metal industry; intensification of work