Software to guard against Oos

By ADAM GIFFORD

Workplace injuries don't just happen on the factory floor or the building site. As legions of students and white collar workers will attest, working at a computer can damage you.

Last year almost 3600 people made Accident Compensation claims for occupational overuse syndrome (Oos), and thousands more soldiered on through their pain.

Occupational Safety and Health Auckland regional manager John Forrest says employers have a responsibility to keep staff safe, which includes preventing Oos where possible.

"It is about looking at the tasks being performed that have a potential to cause Oos and modifying the tasks or allowing breaks," Forrest says. "It could require changes in the physical environment."

But rather than relying simply on ergonomic chairs and reviews of workstations, many employers are turning to software to guard against Oos.

And New Zealand software developers are taking a lead, with two products, Coachware from Kairos and Niche Software's WorkPace, now widely used by Government departments and large companies. Both companies also sell single-user editions.

The products monitor keyboard and mouse use and remind users when to take a break. They also include advice on workplace set-up, ergonomics and useful exercises to relax muscles and ease strain.

Both came out of personal experience of Oos.

Kairos director Peter Richards, a human resources management consultant, started the company after his flatmate was injured when writing a book on his laptop and had to take a year off work.

"As a consultant I saw a number of clients with staff who came down with Oos, and I though there had to be something to help prevent it," Richards says. "I did a lot of reading of medical investigations of what the causes of the disorder are."

Several Government bodies, including the ministries of health, education and environment and the Reserve Bank, use Kairos software, which works only on Windows PCs.

Workpace was developed by Dr Kevin Taylor after he contracted a serious case of Oos while he was writing his PhD thesis in electrical engineering. With his studies disrupted, he ended up on a sickness benefit.

Once he recovered, he teamed up with fellow PhD student Robert van Nobelen and built his experiences into the software, which comes in Windows, Unix and Mac OSX versions. Taylor says Oos is a complex problem involving multiple factors, but taking breaks is a central issue.

"Experts in the field stressed to me the importance of taking breaks, but it was difficult to do," he says. "I started with an egg timer on my desk, but the obvious way to do it is software.

"The idea of a software solution is relatively new. People will first buy things like copyholders, forearm rests, fancy chairs, an ergonomic mouse and ergonomic keyboard. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of a lot of that stuff," he says.

"The key factors in Oos seem to be force and repetition. In a way it is not movement but the lack of movement which is the problem - the fact you are using the muscles in the shoulder and neck to hold up your arms while you are moving your fingers a couple of millimetres."

Taylor uses some of the strictest settings on WorkPace to keep his condition in check, including regular micropauses, a rest break every 15 minutes and a limit of three hours typing a day.

He has rebuilt his workspace for ergonomic efficiency, uses massage, exercise, relaxation techniques and in general takes life in a more slow and methodical manner.

WorkPace was released in 1997, and Taylor says New Zealand quickly proved too small a market. It now has more than 750,000 users around the world, and this year won a Trade New Zealand export award.

"We aim for Fortune 500 clients with up to 50,000 licences," Taylor says.

Kairos Software

WorkPace