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Injuries in the workplace are on the rise. Not from people cutting finger or dropping a paper weight on their foot but from something as simple as using their computers. Pain or tightness in the wrists, arms, elbows, back, shoulders and even the neck can all be cause from working on the computer for too many hours at a time. Eye strain, eye fatigue and headaches can also be attributed to many hours of working behind a computer. An injury to an employee can mean days off of work and loss of productivity to the company along with pain and discomfort to the employee. Both the employer and the employees should work together in preventing these types of injuries and take the proper measures of prevention. Lets look at what some of the causes of these injuries and how we may be able to prevent them.

Pain or tightness in the wrists, arms or elbows is not usually caused from the act of typing on the keyboard for many hours but how you type on the keyboard. Just as the act of lifting heavy objects does not injure your back it is how you lift those objects that will cause you the injury. If you fall into the category of typing with your wrist bent in either direction then you are a perfect candidate for an injury. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is one such injury. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by tendons in the wrist becoming inflamed and swollen which causes the person discomfort and pain. This problem can be prevented by trying to keep your wrists straight when typing. This places the least amount of pressure on your wrists, arms and elbows. Inexpensive products like wrist rests and ergonomic keyboards can help in keeping your wrists straight. Chair adjustment with relationship to the keyboard can also change the angle of your wrist and aid in preventing these types of injuries.

Some shoulders, back and neck pain or tightness is caused mainly by bad posture, chair height, keyboard location and the height of your monitor. Poor posture while computing can cause problems in both the back and neck area. Sitting straight is probably the most effective solution to this problem. A lumbar support for the chair and a foot rest also can release the pressure from your lower back. The position of the keyboard is very important. A keyboard that is positioned too high causes pressure in the shoulder and neck area. This can be eliminated by using a keyboard drawer and or by proper chair adjustment. A monitor that is too low forces the user to look down causing tension on the neck and upper back. The solution to this is easy adjust the monitor height to eye level so that your neck is straight and the tension is released. Keep any documents being entered into the computer near the monitor and also at eye level minimizing the back and forth head movement. A document holder is a good way to position your papers in the proper position.

Headaches, eye strain and eye fatigue can have many causes. The distance in which people sit from a computer can have an impact on their eyes. Sitting too close or too far from the monitor can cause the above symptoms. The distance people should sit from their differs for every person. Spending 13 hours a day on average in front a computer I find that a comfortable distance to sit from the monitor is approximately 30 inches. Adjust the brightness and intensity of the monitor. If the intensity and brightness is too great the text on the screen will become slightly fuzzy forcing your eyes to work harder. If the brightness and intensity is too low then you will have to strain your eyes to see the screen. Glare also effects the eyes. Do not set the screen so that it faces the window. This causes glare even if you have an anti glare monitor. Glare can also be produced by the lights in the room with florescent lights generating the most glare. There are a few things that can be done to reduce the glare on a monitor. Purchase an anti-glare filter for the monitor. This will help in reducing glare. Reduce some of the lighting behind you. Don't reduce too much of the lighting or you will get eye strain trying to read your paper documents. Another option is to move the monitor to face a different direction this may help in reducing glare. Breaks are very important. People should not work in front of the computer for more then an hour and a half without taking at least a 5 to 10 minute break away from the computer. This allows for stretching of the muscles and the resting of the eyes for a few minutes which will help to prevent injuries.

So remember, your pain in the neck may not be your boss after all, but may be do to poor posture or the design and layout of your work area. Proper chair and monitor adjustments along with proper wrist angle and good posture can prevent many computer related injuries from occurring and save the computer user pain and discomfort while saving the company money. As always good luck and please practice safe computing.