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Welcome to VDT Solution......... Our specialty is computer workplace ergonomics.... Our expertise is protecting people and profits....... We want you to Work Different Work Smart Work Healthy.
--- beginning this month our office will only being issuing special reports and discontinuing
our quarterly newsletter---
Everyday Challenge: 3 ideas for your ergonomic program
Human Factors: USA today article highlighting RSI issues
What's up at VDT Solution: The latest special offers, and happenings at VDT Solution and be sure to check out our 10% savings,
Window to the web: interesting sites to help you
Factnology: just the facts
Food for thought: Snacks to keep you going, not weigh you down
Staying Healthy: alternative exercise for the upper body
Vision Xperts: What's your Vision IQ
Innovations: stay warm and work healthy
Remote Work force: 5 Common work at home mistakes
Factnology
If you type 40 words a minute: you press 12,000 keys per hour or 96,000 keys per 8 hour day Approximately 8 ounces of force is necessary to depress one key then Almost 16 tons of force will be exercised by your fingers
Strength loss after 4 hours of mouse usage: Grip > 18% Flexion > 5% Extension> 23% Abduction> 60% Adduction> 55% Pronation> 38% Supination> 35% Twist flexion> 27% Twist extension> 28%
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Yr 1997) number of work related injuries requiring one or more days away from work:
Sprains and strains: 799,012
Cuts, lacerations, punctures: 156,722
Bruises, contusions: 165,810
pain: 115,411
Carpal tunnel: 29,244
Tendinitis: 17,961
Ergonomic related injuries: 650,000
15% of U.S. adults experienced persistent low back pain.
5 million Americans are partially disabled by back problems.
2 million Americans are so severely disabled by their back problems; they simply cannot work. 93 million workdays are lost by workers due to back pain. 5 billion health care costs are related to back pain. Men experience low back pain twice as often as women.
NIOSH studies report 81% of VDT operators experience frequent neck/shoulder discomfort. 78% experience occasional back discomfort.
Vision Xperts
Computer activity involves continuous focusing and excessive close up work. And constant one point focusing becomes more difficult as we go from our twenties to our thirties and enter our forties.
So with the help of Transitions Optical; we've put together a simple 7 question test to answer the question: Does your job give you headaches?
Staying Healthy
Ergonomically speaking; my goal is to keep unnecessary forces and pressures from affecting your health and safety. So here is an alternate to consider in your exercise program
.
Food for thought
Snacks to keep you going. Not weigh you down
As a technoworker part of staying healthy is not carrying unnecessary weight on your muscleskeletal system. So if you get a case of the munchies in the course of your workday; here are some suggestions to consider
Bring your own snacks: fruits, veggies, homemade low fat favorites
For the sweet tooth: dried fruits, licorice, lifesavers, or last resort- lower fate chocolate
Munchie busters: pretzels, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, baked chips, fat free popcorn,
rice cakes, animal crackers, and fruit/fig bars
When technoworkers are overweight you increase the weight, force, and pressures acting on your muscleskeletal system. Over time your body's signals: stiffness and soreness, may be a prelude to future muscleskeletal difficulties. I read recently that when business vending machines were evaluated only 3% of the food items were described as nutricous. So pack your own goodies or at least purchase food items that will help you keep the weight down
Everyday Challenge: The People Quotient
I wish to highlight three facets for you to consider when you are formulating your company's
program.
People are not machines. You dont just plug them in - turn them on - and away you go.People are too often resistant to change. You are asking your employees to adopt a totally new approach to their daily work. Your company's ergonomic
success may hinge on the fact employees see you actually putting into practice the same principles. Leading
by example can be an inexpensive method to address people's resistance to change.
Just because you distribute reams of information; people still make decisions on personal biases or gut feelings. The employee needs to be involved with promoting the ergonomic message. The simplest avenue to pursue is employee participation. If employees are part of the team; they become part of the solution. A major pitfall of many
programs is token employee participation through only focus groups or employee surveys.
When giving a presentation on Managing the Remote Workforce, a member of the audience in attendance at the Dallas Call Center Conference poised this question:
"How do I make sure my people comply?
My answer was this: have the employee assume the responsibility for taking action.
We accomplish this very successfully in our Mr. Chip Byte training program. Each employee compiles their now personal ergonomic to do list. The employee takes the information and guidelines from the training back to their own work
space. Based on the training materials the employee is then required to examine what they do and where they
work. The employees to do list becomes the changes they will apply to stay healthy and avoid future ergonomic difficulties. The to do list provides an effective management mechanism for employee monitoring and compliance.
Building an effective people program to rectify ergonomic risk factors demands these elements: Leading by example, employee participation, employee application and compliance. I urge you to evaluate these facets for inclusion in your
company's corrective action program.
Remote Workforce
Employers have to provide employees a workplace free of hazards. From cubicle to the home work environment. Working safe at home can easily be accomplished. But you want to avoid the 5 most common ergonomic mistakes
Window to the Web
www.painfoundation.org American Pain Foundation
www.ampainsoc.org American pain Society
What's up at VDT
The latest happenings for our office, staff, savings for you and news from our office
The ergonomic standard has been overturned in the United States Congress under the Congress Review Act. A useful tool from the ergonomic standard we have placed on our web site for risk screening in the computer workplace.
AppendixD2 VDT Checklist
Innovations
Two products that have a huge impact on your workforce in the cubicle and for the remote workforce. Be sure to stay informed by signing up for Healthy Computing
Subscribe to Sorehand http://www.ucsf.edu/sorehand/
Subscribe to RSI Network by sending a blank email message to RSINet-subscribe@onelist.com
Check out the various books we recommend on our preferred resources