“Flexible” Work Practices and Occupational Safety and Health: Exploring the Relationship Between Cumulative Trauma Disorders and Workplace Transformation

This article matches establishment‐level data on workplace transformation (e.g., quality circles, work teams, and just‐in‐time production) with measures of cumulative trauma disorders at these same establishments to explore the relationship between “flexible” workplace practices and workplace health and safety. The results reveal a positive, statistically significant, and quantitatively sizable relationship between cumulative trauma disorders and the use of quality circles and just‐in‐time production.