Hit 500 terminations in one day and my hand still hurts a week later

Last Wednesday we had a rush job for a new apartment complex downtown. I told my boss I could handle the whole floor myself, 6 units with 4 drops each. By noon I was on number 250 and my fingers started cramping up. I kept going because we had a deadline and no backup. Finished at 7pm with exactly 500 terminations done, plus testing and labeling. That was 6 days ago and I still have a weird ache in my thumb joint. Has anyone else dealt with repetitive strain stuff from doing too many jacks in one shift?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah3208d ago

How many of those 500 did you have to go back and re-terminate after testing?

ward.kim8d ago

500 terminations in one day" yeah I've been there. Ice your thumb and wear one of those compression gloves for a few days, it helped me a ton when I overdid it on a similar rush job. Stretching your fingers backward every 30 minutes next time makes a huge difference too.

grant4788d ago

Actually, 500 terminations is way too many for one person in a single day even with the best technique. Hand fatigue sets in way before that number. Most guys I know cap out around 250-300 before quality starts dropping fast. Your thumb advice is solid though, that little muscle takes a beating. Next time maybe ask for a helper on the punch down or split the work across a couple days if the schedule allows. Trust me, rushing that many terminations just means spending more time fixing bad connections later.