Preventing Office-Related Injury
Once you are aware of the office
automation-related injuries and illnesses that your employees face, you can
better prevent them.
Repetitive motion problems. If your jobs require repetitive motion,
you can take some steps to minimize the risk to employees who do those jobs,
including making sure that:
- Work stations are ergonomically correct and have:
- adjustable components
- a foot rest
- a document holder
- a wrist rest
- Tools and work methods are designed properly.
- Employees understand the risks of repetitive motion.
- Productivity requirements are not resulting in inadequate rest breaks.
You can also consider rotating employees among different jobs to make sure
that they don't have to perform the same motions all day long. Remember, the way
that you arrange your computer equipment can go a long way toward avoiding
computer pains.
Vision problems. Employees who must stare into computer monitors face
special problems with their vision. Some ways to help minimize the risk of
injury or illness include:
- providing adjustable furniture and equipment, particularly at shared work
stations
- reducing room lighting in the area to about half of what the customary
office lighting is and providing desk lamps for other work
- encouraging computer operators to have a thorough eye examination every
year
- allowing breaks or time for tasks that don't require close concentration
- shading windows to reduce glare on computer monitors
- providing desk equipment so that reference materials can be placed close
to the computer monitor and at the same distance from the eyes
- educating employees on how prolonged staring at computer monitor screens
may affect their eyes