The prevalence of vascular, neurological and musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limb was investigated in a group of female workers performing either mechanical or hand sanding in the furniture industry (n=100) and in a control group of female office workers (n=100). Vibration exposure from orbital sanders was assessed according to ISO recommendations and ergonomic stress was estimated by the Strain Index methodology. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of Raynaud’s phenomenon between the furniture workers (4%) and the controls (8%). The prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), peripheral sensorineural disturbances (after exclusion of CTS cases), and upper-limb musculoskeletal complaints was significantly greater in the furniture workers than in the controls. CTS was clinically diagnosed in 19% of the furniture workers and 8% of the controls. A log-binomial regression analysis showed that the occurrence of soft-tissue disorders of the upper limb increased significantly with the increase of both daily vibration exposure and the Strain Index score. These findings suggest that vibration exposure and ergonomic risk factors associated with professional use of vibratory tools seem to contribute in a multiplicative way to the occurrence of soft-tissue disorders in the upper limb of female furniture workers.