Compression Syndrome Cases Just Hit a 15-Year High. Nobody's Talking About It.
While dog attacks and food recalls grab headlines, 9,768 New Zealand workers developed compression syndrome in 2024. That's the highest level since 2009, and it's happening quietly, one desk job at a time.
Key Figures
On the same day someone was injured in a dog attack in Timaru, thousands of other Kiwis were injured at work in ways that never make the news. No ambulance. No arrest. Just slow, cumulative damage from doing the same motion, hour after hour, year after year.
Compression syndrome. the gradual crushing of nerves and blood vessels from repetitive strain. affected 9,768 workers in 2024. That's the highest number in 15 years. (Source: Stats NZ, work-injuries-by-industry)
Here's what makes this number strange: after dropping during COVID lockdowns, compression syndrome cases rocketed back up. In 2021, just 6,378 cases. By 2022, that jumped to 9,714. It briefly dipped to 9,039 in 2023, then climbed again to 9,768 last year.
Compare that to the pre-pandemic baseline. In 2019, before anyone had heard of Zoom meetings or working from home, there were 7,863 cases. We're now 24 percent higher than that.
So what changed? We're sitting more. We're typing more. We're staring at screens in home offices that were never designed for eight-hour workdays. The ergonomic chair you meant to buy in 2020? You still haven't bought it. Your wrists know.
Compression syndrome doesn't happen overnight. It's carpal tunnel from years of typing. It's cubital tunnel from resting your elbows on a desk that's the wrong height. It's thoracic outlet syndrome from hunching over a laptop balanced on your kitchen table.
The irony: office work is supposed to be safe. No heavy machinery. No scaffolding. No forklifts. Just you, a computer, and the slow betrayal of your own posture.
And unlike a workplace accident that sends you to A&E, compression syndrome creeps up. First it's tingling. Then numbness. Then pain that wakes you at 3am. By the time you file an ACC claim, you've been injured for months.
The 2024 figure represents nearly 27 new cases every single day. That's 27 people whose hands went numb, whose arms lost strength, whose shoulders started screaming. all from doing their job exactly as they were told.
We regulate construction sites. We audit factories. We inspect kitchens. But the most common gradual-onset workplace injury in New Zealand happens in environments we barely think of as dangerous: offices, call centres, administration buildings.
The data shows no sign of plateau. After a brief COVID dip when many offices closed, compression syndrome is back and climbing. We've returned to our desks. Our bodies are paying the price.
This story was generated by AI from publicly available government data. Verify figures from the original source before citing.