Staying Safe at Work: How to Avoid becoming an OOS Statistic
It's a basic truth that the human body wasn't made to sit still
for too long. We spent tens of thousands of years evolving in an
environment that required us to move - to find shelter, to catch
food, and to keep ourselves safe from predators. We've only been
living lifestyles that allow us to stay sedentary for the lesser
part of a hundred years - not nearly enough time for our bodies
to adapt to this new way of living.
Not all of us make our livings sitting in front of a computer,
of course. It is, however, becoming more and more common - and
many of us then go home and use our home computers to stay in
contact with friends and family, study, or play games - all of
which adds up to a lot of sitting still!
SO WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
Our bodies, as mentioned above, were built for movement.
Movement encourages bloodflow - ensuring our cells are supplied
with oxygen and nutrients, and ensuring waste products are
collected and transported to where they can be eliminated. Lack
of movement leads to cells being both starved of needed
nutrients and left to wallow in waste products. When this is
then combined with stress-induced muscle tension (which further
constricts bloodflow) - or lots of repetitive small movements -
well, I'm sure you can see where problems might lie.
These dangers aren't news to us. We've all heard of Repetitive
Strain Injury (RSI), Occupational Overuse Syndrome (OOS) or
WRULD (Work Related Upper Limb Disorder). These are different
terms for what is essentially the same problem - constant
repetition of small movements (like keyboarding, or using a
computer mouse) in a context of very few larger movements. Left
for too long, this can cause tingling, numbness,
pins-and-needles, and gradual weakening of the affected area.
And let's not forget that it can also cause intense,
debilitating pain, and prevent us from working. OOS is *not* a
fun condition to develop.
A 2002 Australian study (quoted on http://tinyurl.com/9o6y6)
found that these work-related muscle and soft tissue injuries
made up more than 60% of all workplace injuries. Another study
(quoted on http://tinyurl.com/dnfwr) showed that out of just
over 1,000 questionnaire respondents, over 130 had actually put
in compensation claims for OOS and well over 600 others reported
symptoms of OOS without claiming for them. These statistics can
be very frightening - especially for those of us who work with
computers on a daily basis, and could lose our livelihoods if we
became unable to use them.
HOW CAN WE AVOID BECOMING A STATISTIC?
Research has identified three things we can do to help ensure we
don't become one of those statistics: posture, breaks and
stretching:
Proper Posture
If you don't already know how to sit properly at your computer,
it's critical that you learn quickly. Most companies have
someone in their Human Resources or Training departments who's
been trained to set up workstations correctly, and ensure you're
sitting properly - ask them for a workstation assessment. If you
work from home, you can find an excellent article on the subject
at http://tinyurl.com/btsse, and a diagram at
http://tinyurl.com/d7l5w, or contact your local Occupational
Health & Safety office for more information.
Regular Breaks
Most of us know how important it is to take regular breaks.
Simply stopping and relaxing for a few moments every 20 minutes
can make a huge difference. Actually standing up and walking
around once an hour will do even more. It doesn't have to be far
- just enough to get you to move, and get your blood flowing a
little more freely. Set an alarm on your computer to go off
regularly to remind you when you should be taking a break.
Stretching
The final thing you can do to protect yourself is to stretch out
all the muscles and joints that end up cramped up when you're
sitting at a computer. Stretching helps relax muscles that have
a tendency to tense up, and is probably the singlemost important
part of helping you avoid OOS. For a short list of some of the
stretches that will be helpful to perform regularly, please
click on http://tinyurl.com/7lq9f
NEED HELP PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE?
Just as the dangers of OOS aren't news to many of us, neither
are the things we can do to avoid it. However, it's easy to get
caught up in our work - in the pressures of looming deadlines.
All too often, we sit down with the best of intentions for
working safely, then look up and discover three hours have gone
past since we last took a stretch break. And then, of course,
there's the question of exactly which stretches we should be
doing, and making sure we're doing them right.