Yoga strategy helps ease OOS strain

By VIKKI BLAND

Do you suffer from Rotator Cuff Syndrome? No? How about Trigger Finger, Adhesive Capsulitis or Impingement Syndrome?

If you spend a lot of time in the company of screens, computer mice and keyboards, you may already be suffering from these or other occupational overuse syndrome (OOS) conditions.

The term is used to describe a range of conditions and injuries in which people suffer discomfort or persistent pain in muscles, tendons or soft tissues. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Service (OSH) nearly 10,000 New Zealand workers have suffered from one or more OOS conditions in the past three years, usually caused by work environments that require repetitive movements which tense the same set of muscles or tendons.

People working almost exclusively seated at computers are considered to be at high risk of OOS. Conditions affecting IT workers include those of the eyes, hands, shoulders, forearms and neck. Lower-body circulation may also be affected.

While conditions may not seem as traumatic as gorier workplace injuries such as amputations and crushings, IT employers and employees who trivialise the impact of OOS do so at their peril.

One former IT worker, now an ACC beneficiary, is permanently out of a job after suffering debilitating pain from carpal tunnel syndrome.

"I can't use a keyboard ever again, and I have trouble writing by hand and using kitchen and garden tools. I take anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving drugs, but I still can't sleep for the pain," she says.

The beneficiary says she received no advice from her former employer on how to avoid OOS, despite the fact New Zealand employers are required to comply with Health and Safety Employment Legislation and meet OSH standards for the education and prevention of such conditions.

So what should IT employers be doing?

Emma Rutherford, HR delivery manager for IT outsourcing specialists EDS New Zealand, knows a thing or two about how to keep people safe at a keyboard.

EDS has been a finalist in the large companies section of the EEO Trust Work and Life Awards and is nominated for a Wellington Region Gold Award for Workplace Safety. Not bad for a company that has more than 2000 people seated at a computer workstation.

Rutherford says EDS manages its OOS risk by training workstation assessors on health and safety issues. It also uses "time out" software to impose compulsory pauses and exercise breaks on IT workers, and has made all its directors, including the managing director, accountable for compliance with Health and Safety legislation and codes of practice.

"As with any industry where employees are primarily working at a VDU and keyboard there is the risk of OOS. But we provide health and safety information, training and supervision so that we know our employees have the knowledge and experience to work safely," says Rutherford.

She says EDS regularly implements strategic health and safety initiatives for its IT workers.

"Last year we purchased five mountain bikes for employees' use at lunchtimes or after work. This year we'll pay for flu shots, and our head office hosts yoga classes twice weekly where the emphasis is on stretching and techniques to assist employees who spend the majority of their time at a computer."

For the software savvy, the term "Lotus skills" just gained a whole new meaning.

Simple ways to avoid OOS

FOR EMPLOYERS:

* Understand your responsibilities for managing and preventing OOS. A useful guide can be found at www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/pdf/oosguide.pdf

* Educate employees about the importance of managing muscle tension and maintaining posture.

* Encourage employees to report even small discomforts immediately.

* Use ergonomic guidelines to pinpoint causes and remedies.

* Introduce natural relaxation pauses to interrupt tension. Some software programmes enforce this.

* Demonstrate ergonomic exercises and supervise them in practice.

* If an employee is in discomfort after two weeks of attempts at remedy, consult an occupational health or medical expert.

* Educative and analytical materials on OOS are widely available at www.osh.govt.nz

FOR EMPLOYEES:

* Your employer is responsible for helping to prevent OOS conditions and provide OOS education.

* Know your employer's health and safety policies and respect them.

* Report suspected OOS discomfort to your employer immediately, however minor it seems.

* Know that ACC compensates people with work-related injuries which include "physical deterioration resulting from an activity such as keyboarding where there are no specific events involving impacts or strain".

* But the ACC does not cover progressive degenerative change because of ageing.