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Health in the Office

I was asked by a friend in Denmark about the likely causes of her headaches whilst at work. My reply went something like this.

The main factor is probably your upper neck and your cranial system, which may be aggravated by your sitting posture & sitting for long periods at your PC.

 More on this at a later date.

Other contributing factors may include:-

Environmental

Lighting, such as, fluorescent lighting, particularly in large areas should be wired in a particular way known as 'out of phase' to minimise the stroboscopic effect. Effectively mains electricity switches on & off 50 times a second (Hz) and the effect is more pronounced with fluorescent lighting. Although this isn't normally noticeable it can cause strain on the eyes & visual cortex of the brain, especially if one is more sensitive due to other compromises on our health. If you wave your hand in front of the light you will see a lot more fingers than you actually have. This is one of the many factors that contribute to something called 'sick building syndrome', as are :-

Air conditioning systems are often poorly designed and maintained, but even at the best of times I personally don't think they are good for health, as they are a false environment. The body needs time to adjust to climatic changes. This maybe a particular problem for staff that enter and leave the building throughout the day.

A flowing water feature and ionisers are an alternative. Also both produce negative ions that neutralise the positive ions produced by most electrical equipment. A positively charged atmosphere feels muggy & heavy, whereas a negatively charged atmosphere gives a light, clear, fresh feeling, such as, experienced after a thunder & lightening storm.

Water features also help promote a calm, relaxed environment and a fish tank is another option.

The more electrical equipment in an area the more electromagnetic radiation. This has a detrimental effect on our organic energy systems and therefore our health.

Some consider that 'earth energies' on which the building was built on may also be a factor - this is known as 'geopathic stress'.

The 'refresh rate' of your PC monitor - the rate at which it creates a new picture on the screen. The faster, the better as this reduces the perceived stroboscopic effect.

The brightness and radiation from the screen itself. The brightness can, of course be turned down and a different background colour, other than white can be used on documents being worked on. You can use an anti-glare/radiation screen on the front of my monitor to minimise radiation. It should be connected to 'earth' (any of the metal on the back of the PC). 

The new flat panel monitors greatly reduce screen radiation, but not glare and you have to pay a lot to get the picture quality of the normal CRT type. 

We are rarely immune to the stress & tension of our friends/colleagues around us. Those we spend more time with, are likely to have a greater influence.

Workstation & Posture

In short, the body should be in an upright forward facing posture with all joints being in as, a neutral position, as possible with minimum reaching and strain. The human body has developed for movement and not for being static for long periods. Being sat still leads to pooling of blood in the lower limbs and compromises circulation in general, leading to poor mental & physical function.

Frequent short breaks are better than fewer longer breaks.

Swivel chairs with some springiness in them are good for avoiding stillness of the body.

The monitor should be directly in front and it's centre should be at eye level.

Look away from the screen regularly & focus on things around the room to reduce eye strain. (If need further eye exercises there are various books on The Bates Method.)

Good lumbar support is an essential, unless a Balans Chair is used, to avoid slumping, when involved in the work at hand. A Balans chair is one that is designed so that weight is distributed on the knees, as well as, the buttocks. The knees are also lower which encourages a good lumbar curve. On an evolutionary time scale the introduction of chairs is very recent.

Keyboards should be just below elbow height to minimise extension of the wrists when working, and gel wrist supports for keyboard and mouse are a very good idea.

The mouse is more efficiently used by the left hand, as there is less offset from the most commonly used keys, and therefore less reaching and strain. Use of the left hand can easily be learnt for this task and the buttons can be inverted in 'Control Panel' - 'Mouse Settings' in the Windows environment on the PC.

If there is a single individual suffering problems in the office, then the problem is more likely to be mainly theirs. That is, unless there is something obviously unique about their workstation, such as, being situated next to a photocopier, draught, etc. For the individual I would, of course, recommend osteopathy.

If there are a several people suffering with problems (that maybe wide and diverse), then the main influence is probably the environment. There are various approaches that are likely to help with this including an indoor environmental (lighting and equipment) specialist and/or a Feng Shui practitioner.

Prevention by encouraging and maintaining health in the workplace is far more cost effective than treating a problem once it has occurred and paying for staff that are off sick. Merely paying for private health insurance is like bolting the gate and trying to catch the horse after it has escaped. This is why the practice of Feng Shui and Tai Chi before work in larger organisations is practiced in the East and the introduction of in-house upper body massage, Indian Head massage and reflexology in the West is a growing service.

Meditation Teacher for British Meditation Society