Thread: Computer Health In The Workplace

Having comfortable and attractive furniture will have an immediate and noticeable effect. Most importantly, years later, you are less likely to have troubles related to spending many hours sitting in a incorrectly designed chair.

• The Chair: Your chair will be your most important piece of office equipment. So, make your purchase carefully. Shop around and ask a lot of questions. Be sure you don’t have to be an acrobat to adjust the darn thing! See that it has all the features you need. It should have an adjustable seat pan. Adjust it so that it angles slightly down. This will keep pressure off of the lower back. For people working with keyboards for extended time periods, it’s best to angle the seat down in front. Arm rests should be adjustable and removable. The chair should swivel and move. It is important that it has lumbar (lower back) support. The seat height and the backrest need to be adjustable. These should also be laterally adjustable. Palms should be kept up off the keyboard. Use wrist rests. Position your tilting keyboard pan so your elbows are bent at 90 degree angles and your wrists at 10 to 20 degrees from horizontal. The middle row of the keyboard should be at elbow level. Also, hit the keys as lightly as possible. It doesn’t require great force to depress a computer key. Be certain your office and desk lighting is correct. If not, change it, if possible. Bad lighting can cause irritating glare. Anti-glare filters that fit over your VDT screen, indirect lighting, non-reflecting glass screens can prevent glare and minimise eyestrain. Instead of laying papers flat, use a document holder next to the screen. Keep your neck as relaxed as possible, your chin slightly down and tucked in, your head straight ahead. If you do much copying, you might consider learning touch typing so that you can remain focused on the copy, and not have to switch back and forth from copy to keyboard, to monitor. If you are involved in graphics, don’t strangle your mouse. You’ll have as much accuracy when you hold it lightly.

• The Desk: Get yourself a desk which allows you to sit at least 60 cm away from your monitor. There should be room for a wrist pad between the edge of the desk and the keyboard. The monitor should be positioned 15 to 30 degrees lower than your eyes. Interestingly, many so-called “computer desks” are ergonomic disaster areas. With these desks, the monitor is too high for a comfortable neck, too close for comfortable eyes, and there is no room for your papers, books, notes and disks. If you have a large desktop, try to avoid the common habit of pushing the keyboard forward and then slouching over to reach it. Otherwise, you may look like a C-clamp in a few years.

• Cumulative Trauma Disorders: Computing can also be a strain on your eyes, especially if you have contacts. Excessive hours in front of your computer can also cause eye irritation, blurred vision, discomfort in your neck, back, shoulders, joint pain, and other symptoms discussed in the previous chapter. Sitting is one of the most structurally taxing “activities” for your neck and back. Slouching compounds the discomforts long-time sitting can cause. It compresses the spinal nerves, unduly stresses the spine, causes muscle tension, headache strain, and fatigue, which can in turn cause unclear thinking.

• Have someone who knows about posture show you how to sit.: Lazy posture and incorrect body mechanics while word processing, probably causes more muscle and joint pain and problems than anything else. Just four hours a week at a computer is sufficient time to cause a significant injury if you are working at a inefficiently designed or adjusted workstation. With the old-time typewriters, there were frequent arm and wrist position changes and natural breaks, like putting in new paper and carriage returns. Today, it’s non-stop and high-speed; which puts more wear and tear on hands and wrists because there is no recovery time. We aren’t physically equipped to handle thousands of repetitive motions an hour. The most common injury is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a compression of a nerve which runs through your wrist, resulting in a tingling sensation in your fingers or pain in fingers, hands or wrists. Women run a two to five times greater risk of suffering from CTD (Cumulative Trauma Disorders, which includes carpal tunnel syndrome) than men. The incidences of this injury have reached alarming proportions.

• Monitors and Electromagnetic Fields: Monitors emit several kinds of radiation. Ultraviolet light radiation has been blamed for cataracts, and high and low frequency electromagnetic radiations have been blamed for cancers and birth defects. So far, it hasn’t been proven or disproven that any of these radiations around computers actually cause biological damage. The radiations your VDT emits are said to be in the “safe” range. Still, “buyer be ware.” For safety’s sake, put your monitor at least 60 cm away from your body. The electromagnetic radiation* is very strong close to the tube, but fades rapidly as you move further away.

Below are some of the health problems that have been linked to extensive computer use:

• Pregnancy Disorders: A possible increased risk of miscarriage or birth defects. Radiation and on-the-job emotional and physical stress has been suggested to be a possible explanation for this. Very controlled studies have not yet confirmed the connection.

• Cataracts: Ultraviolet radiation from your computer screen has NOT been found to cause them. The levels known to cause cataracts are 10,000 times higher than those coming from a VDT.

• Computer Related Injury Prevention: According to numerous sources and research, the best prevention technique is to simply take frequent breaks - more about this in a few seconds. Since there’s no time for long workouts on the job, look for hidden exercise opportunities. Take a brisk 10 minute walk during lunch, do some deep breathing or just stand up by your desk and do some simple stretches. These short spurts of exercise taken throughout the day will help with weight loss and lowered heart rates. You will produce more if you break at least once every 45 minutes. Although, ideally, the “20/20” approach is best. This means that every 20 minutes, you would get up and stretch, and/or move around for 20 seconds. An old-fashioned oven timer works well for this. Or you can set your digital watch or clock to go off at regular intervals. Also, there are some TSR programs containing timer alarms that will interrupt your work to let you know it’s time to rest and stretch. And, remember to breathe deeply in a natural manner. Be sure that there is adequate ventilation in your workplace so you can.

• Relaxation and Stretching: For those of you who are overwhelmed - take heart. As with the information on injury prevention, choose only what you have the time and inclination for. Even if you choose just one or two hints and exercises from each segment - the relief you will feel will have made it far worth the effort! Every five minutes, look across your office or out the window. On those conference calls, remember to switch the phone receiver from side to side. Better yet invest in a high quality speaker phone.

• Breathe deeply while doing these stretches: Press your forehead into your palms resisting forward motion with your hands. Hold for 15-30 seconds. Clasp your hands behind your head and press your head back. Resist any motion with your hands, holding for 20 seconds. Turn your head to one side, resisting any motion with your hand. Switch sides and hold for same amount of time on each side. Then, tilt head to one side, resisting any movement with your hand, again, holding the position for 20 seconds on each side.

• Step away from your desk: Shrug your shoulders up to your ears, hold 5-7 seconds, then release. Repeat 3 times. Rotate each shoulder separately forward for 7 seconds and then backward for the same amount of time. Place your left arm (bent at elbow) up and over your head. Then grasp upper arm with right hand and pull it gently, slowly toward you, while leaning a little to the right. Feel the stretch all down your side and in your back. Repeat this with your right arm. For upper back tension relief, interlace fingers behind head and scrunch shoulder blades together and hold for 3-7 seconds, then release. Repeat a few times. Shake your hands at your sides, overhead, in the air and everywhere. Shake your whole body. This will boost sluggish circulation and help keep muscles loose.

• For the Neck and Shoulders: To loosen a stiff neck and sore shoulders, do these with a straight spine and BREATHE DEEPLY while sitting:
  • Slowly drop your head fully forward, then backward. Then tilt, then rotate to each side. Hold each position for 5 seconds or longer.
  • 2. Turn your head slowly as far to the right as COMFORTABLE Then, hold 4 seconds. Repeat the above for the other side. Continue until you feel an easing of tension.
  • Grasp as much of the top of your left shoulder you can with your right hand, squeeze firmly for 5 seconds and let go quickly. Repeat on other shoulder. Do each shoulder 3 times.
  • Open and close your mouth widely, several times to relax the jaw which in turn, helps relax the neck.

• To Calm and Energise: Anytime you want to feel calmer and more centred, close your eyes, inhale and exhale very slowly at least four times through your nostrils. Let your exhale be longer than your inhale. If you wish, with a relaxed attention, count to 4 on your in breath and 5 on your out breath. This exercise will increase your energy level. If would like to increase work productivity, turn on an easy listening station. Their music is geared to the mood changes people typically go through in the course of a day. Lively and upbeat to get moving in the morning, stimulating tunes during the pre-lunch slump and relaxing music for day’s end.

• For Home-Workers: If you spend long hours at your home computer working or playing, you may experience certain discomforts that can be avoided. If you have a cat, take the “Kitty Kat Kure.” Lay back in your recliner or your favourite place to relax with your cat on your lap or chest. Researchers say that petting a pet relieves stress, lowers your blood pressure and heart rate. Do a jigsaw puzzle. This can slow you right down. Run around the block, take a short, brisk walk. Do some of the exercises mentioned earlier in this section. Do yoga or improvised stretches. Remember to take “breathing breaks.” The following technique called “progressive relaxation” is best done while lying down: Beginning with feet, say to yourself: “ My feet are now beginning to relax. I am now relaxing my feet. My feet are TOTALLY relaxed.” Then move up to your calves, thigh...you get the picture, until you’ve covered every part of your body. When you get to your head say: “I am now relaxing my forehead, I am now relaxing my entire head.” Now, I will relax my mind, etc. Repeat the phrase 2-4 times. Do this at least once a day. This one works well for getting to sleep quickly. It can be done in 2-3 minutes. However, it’s most effective when you take 5-10 minutes. A simplified version is to close your eyes (if in a bank line or waiting room, leave eyes open - if more comfortable), take a deep in breath expanding the stomach while saying “I am.” On the out breath, say “relaxed” or “peaceful” or whatever word or phrase works best for you.

• Relax Your Eyes: Every hour or so, palm your eyes. This is done by getting into a reclining or lying down position, then rub your hands together until heat is generated, then place your palms over your eyes, your right hand slightly over your left. Leave them there while breathing naturally, deeply and fully for 3-5 minutes - less if time is limited. Relaxing the eyes calms your body and mind.