Articles

Much of our days, we use screens of all sizes for work, shopping, finances, entertainment and more which improves the quality of our lives and provides us with opportunity. Screen use has been steadily building over decades. Clearly, as is often the case with most tools, there are safe and unsafe ways to work with them.

The chances are quite high that you’re already navigating the highly stressful experience of your company laying off workers but this new stressor is only joining a growing list of stressors employees have been dealing with over recent years. Chronic stress inflicts many impacts on employees, management, processes, collaboration and of course the bottom line – so how do invested safety professionals leverage Global Ergonomics Best Practices to help employees learn to cope and manage it more healthfully?

Although computers are an integral part of our daily lives, transforming how we work, communicate, and entertain ourselves, it’s become well-understood how the dangerous endemic rise in sedentary behavior and prolonged static postures harms our bodies. Many studies over the years have confirmed these prolonged periods of sitting and repetitive motions have significant adverse effects on our health, well-being and productivity.

The well-understood harmful effects of prolonged static postures have been red-flagged by the AMA, WHO, HSE and NIH who’ve each identified sedentary behaviors as a significant risk factor for serious negative health outcomes.

“Historically, efforts to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the workplace have focused on physical work factors. However, the relation between MSDs and psychosocial factors, such as excessive workloads and a lack of support, is important. Psychosocial risks can contribute to and exacerbate MSDs, and MSDs can be associated with psychosocial factors.“ That statement is from an EU-OSHA paper…

A recent study, among a growing number with similar findings, confirms that an integral component of employee ergonomic risk is their behavior, in particular, how the employee works (or not) in neutral postures, provides recovery time while working and breaks up deleterious sedentary behaviors and static postures with meaningful movement.