Ergonomics in the Office

With the spotlight shining on ergonomics issues lately, the modern workplace has been labeled as "dangerous" by the press. Today's office workers—manning the new frontier in wired skyscrapers and small businesses—are learning the hard way about work-related health disorders.

An office worker can spend anything from 25 to 40 hours a week in a static position working at a computer. Travelling to and from work involve long journeys either sitting (or standing) on a train or bus with no room for movement. When we get home, it is far easier to sit and eat dinner in front of the TV, spending the rest of the evening sprawled on the sofa, than it is to go out and get some exercise.

Back pain is one of the most common work related health problems, yet it can be easily prevented by ensuring that your working environment is back friendly. In the United Kingdom the charity BackCare estimate that back pain and related illness cost industry $10 billion annually through absenteeism.

The modern workplace is full of new ergonomic dangers and pitfalls that call for pioneering safety measures. Just as the new technology of the information place is a source of these dangers, it is also part of the cure. Telephone headsets, such as the ones manufactured by Plantronics, Inc., are a prime example of a safety enhancement accessory that should be incorporated into the modern office environment.

Once worn only by telephone operators back in the 1950s, headsets are finding their way into offices across the world, and with good reason. Headsets are known to add many advantages to the workplace. According to a Santa Clara Valley Medical Study, headsets reduce neck, upper back, and shoulder tension by as much as 41 percent. An additional study by H.B. nard & Co., Inc. concluded that adding hands-free headsets to office telephones improved productivity by up to 43 percent. Headsets are also known to reduce the chances of work-related physical disorders, specifically injuries of the neck and upper body, resulting in reduced workers' compensation costs.

"Unlike manual worker safety, the issue of occupational injury among office staff is still not taken seriously enough by employers", said Elizabeth Simpson MCSP, SRP at the European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences. "This is partly because the injuries caused by bad telephone habits cannot be seen and take time to manifest. Research has shown that the use of telephone headsets can reduce neck pain, back pain and headaches in subjects who use the phone and computer simultaneously for a minimum of two hours a day."