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Microbreaks are an important component of workplace health. Muscles become stressed if asked to perform repetitive tasks or hold static positions for too long during the work day. Microbreaks allow a change of position, different muscle use, stimulate blood flow and can help reduce the risk of injury or discomfort. Microbreaks can last a few minutes or just a few seconds, but your body will thank you for them!

Try some of the following microbreaks to reduce build up of stress to your joints and muscles during the work day.

At The Computer

• Regular ‘palms down’ typing and mousing posture is a non-neutral position. It requires wrist and forearm work to maintain, and can result in fatigue over long periods.
• Neutral posture for the wrist and forearm is ‘palms sideways’ resting on the 5th finger side of your hand as shown at right.
• Unwind into this low risk posture whenever you’re composing your thoughts, reading, or anytime you’re not mouse clicking or typing.

Back Basics

• Try the ‘why me’ stretch to counteract forward hunching over the computer.
• Stretching backwards for a few seconds every 10 or 15 mins will give your back a break.
• Close your eyes for an extra relaxation boost!

Alternating Tasks

• To further reduce repetitive muscle work during the day, alternate your work tasks so that you do at least 5 minutes of work using different muscles each hour.
• If you’re busy on the computer, stop every hour and do 5 minutes of filing or check voice mails so your ‘computer muscles’ get a break.
• If all your work is computer-based then alternate applications so you do an hour of spreadsheet work alternated with 5 minutes of replying to email, etc.

Natural Microbreaks

• Natural microbreaks happen in the day without you planning them, but you can encourage them as well…
• Try printing to a printer outside your office so you have to get up or take a short walk to get documents.
• Drink water during the day, it’s healthy and you’ll need to get up from your desk to refill and take bathroom breaks.
• Try walking to a co-worker’s desk to get information rather than calling or emailing.
• Leave your office and take a short walk at lunch time.

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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Human hands are unique and one of our greatest assets. Can you imagine not being able to work with your hands? Unchecked, signs and symptoms of wrist discomfort can progress to severe pain that impacts every part of your life.

Common signs and symptoms in the hand include discomfort, stiffness, numbness, tingling, redness, and weakness.

Some of the most common reasons that we develop problems with our wrists and hands are:

• Wrists bent upwards or to the side when typing
• Using repetitive sideways wrist movements with the wrist bent backward when using the mouse (awkward postures)
• Using our wrist as an anchor point, resting it down on a hard surface when using the mouse or keyboard (contact stress)
• Overloading of one hand (and arm). For example, accountants, graphics designers and CAD technicians do over 80% of their work with their right hand (extremely high number pad and mouse use).
• Using the keyboard or mouse with awkward postures of the fingers (e.g. see the picture on the bottom right).
• Working with the thumbs bent backward and with the pinkie fingers raised are more common than you may think
• Not giving our wrists and hands time to rest throughout the day

It can be difficult to modify the work that we do in our job. However, we can control when we take breaks, when we alternate between desk work and other work and our posture throughout the day.

Take a look at our ‘Microbreak’ guide to get a few suggestions on how to give your hands a break

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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Q: What exactly is the ideal monitor height?

A: Monitors should be set so that the top of the screen is roughly at eye level when you are sitting up straight.

Why? – Relaxed posture for the human eye is 15˚ below the horizon and we all slouch now and then, so before you know it your relaxed eye is focused in the middle to upper 1/3 of the screen….and that’s where most of our work is.

How? – Raid your photocopy room and prop your monitor up on packages of paper if it’s too low, or pull out those phone books from underneath if it’s too high.

Q: How far away should your monitor be positioned from your eyes?

A: It depends on your vision, if you catch yourself leaning forward or squinting to view the screen it’s too far away and you need to pull it closer!

Why? – Your head weighs as much as a bowling ball! When you lean it forward to squint at a monitor your upper back and shoulder muscles pay the price!

How? – Pull your monitor closer! … with the advent of flat screens everyone seems to push their monitor farther away to regain desk space, but that has spawned a generation of ‘leaners’ with sore necks and upper backs! If you can’t part with the debris on the front of your desk to bring your monitor closer to you, then try keeping your chair tucked in close to the front of the desk so you bring yourself closer to the monitor.

Q: Won’t a close monitor bother my eyes or project ‘radiation’?

A: Those worries about monitor radiation from CRTs were resolved years ago, and flat screen technology is totally different and much easier on the eyes. If you find the monitor is too bright or it bothers your eyes to have it close try adjusting the brightness and contrast. (But don’t get too close – minimum recommended distance is 16”).

How? – Those little buttons on the bottom front of your monitor case adjust the screen brightness and contrast. It might take a bit of trial and error, but once your monitor is set for your vision your eyes will thank you!

Q: What if I wear bifocals or progressive lenses?

A: Bifocal wearers typically look out of the bottom of the lens to view the monitor so to avoid tipping your head up to view the screen, set the top of the monitor 3” -4” below eye level.

How? – Lower your monitor as much as possible. If you’re still too high try the following tips: Sneak your chair up a bit to get your eye level above the top of the monitor OR position the work on your screen a few inches lower. You’ll lose a bit of screen area but your neck and shoulders will thank you!

TIPS:

Your monitor should be lined up directly in front of you so that you don’t have to twist your neck to view it.
You should take regular 20-20-20 vision breaks to rest your eyes if you spend long hours in front of the computer – every 20 minutes take a 20 second break and refocus your eyes on something at least 20 ft away. (It works just as well to close your eyes for 20 seconds, but then folks might think you’re sleeping on the job!)

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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While standard mice fit most people’s hands and meet the demands of day to day computing, there are some circumstances where alternative input devices can be beneficial.

One of the most important things to realize is that newer input devices are designed to address specific user needs.

A few of the common types of alternative input devices and their purpose follow:

• Vertical mice – position the wrist into a neutral (handshake) position, decreasing stress on the wrist and forearm.
• Contoured mice – position the wrist closer to a neutral position (somewhere between hand flat on the desk and the handshake position)
• Trackball – designed to allow the user to move the ball rather than the whole device (typically reduces reaching, repetitive wrist motion, good for limited mouse space)
• Left/Bilateral mice – designed for left hand use or to allow the user to switch between right and left handed mouse use.
• Central – some newer devices are designed to be positioned near the centre of the bottom of the keyboard. Generally, the aim is to reduce reaching and wrist motion.
• Graphics tablets – highly specialized devices, typically used for users working in graphics applications.

Unfortunately, the ‘perfect’ mouse hasn’t been designed yet, there are always tradeoffs. That’s why it is important to make sure that you choose the right tool for the job. And that right tool will be specific to you, your hand size and your work tasks. But beware – without careful selection, a new device may transfer the stress to another part of the body.

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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The golden rule of office ergonomics is straightforward: Put your body into ‘neutral posture’ and then find ways to make your computer fit you.

The early designers were right, separating the keyboard and screen is the most important step.

For the frugal, an external keyboard, mouse and a stack of paper to lift your laptop screen help you get 90% of the way there.

For the technologically inclined, newer tools like wireless keyboards and mice, USB hubs, laptop holders, larger LCD screens and docking stations will help make your laptop easily adapt and contort to you.

If you find yourself somewhere and you don’t have all of the tools, remember that you still control your work habits. Taking frequent short breaks, changing working positions, using keyboard shortcuts, and managing your day will help you keep discomfort away.

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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Ergonomics is based on the science of fitting our life to our physical and mental capabilities and limitations. When it comes to physical abilities, our muscles tend to provide us with an inside voice that tells us whether we are close to our limits (whether we listen to them or not is another issue altogether).

When it comes to using our brain, it’s not as black and white. Over the past few years, researchers have focused on ‘reaction time’ to determine how distracted and impaired we can become when we are driving. At any given moment, we make decisions as we are distracted by road signs, conversation in the car (or on a cell phone), and other electronic devices or displays (radio, DVD, organizer).

It’s interesting because all of us have a line that we hopefully don’t cross – drinking and driving. What’s interesting is that research has found that drinking and driving, driving exhausted, dialing and driving and texting and driving can all have the same effect on our decision making capabilities and reaction times. (If you have ever driven behind someone on their cell phone, this isn’t a surprise.)

Not surpisingly, many companies and cities are creating policies directing workers to eliminate distractions (cell phones, texting, computer use while driving).

What’s your plan or do you need to have a wake-up call before you change your habits?

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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Whether you are commuting or on the road for the majority of the day, do you ever just stop and think – what the heck is in all of these bags?

Shouldn’t we be carrying a lot less considering the miniaturization of all of our devices? Isn’t this supposed to be a wireless, paperless business world?

But if you’re like most people, you probably carry not one bag but two or three to work. What do your shoulders and back think about this?

Whether you’re hitting the road to work or on a business trip, take the time to realize that more isn’t more – it’s just more of a pain in the back and neck.

Next time you’re carrying that heavy bag(s) around:

• Ask yourself – what is essential and what can be left at home or the office (especially if you have taken your bags home and not opened them)?
• If you are constantly packing a laptop back and forth and you have a home and work computer – look into whether your company allows you to log-in remotely or use a USB drive instead.
• Consider a wheeled bag for your laptop and/or files. While this does reduce the weight on the spine and the shoulder, it can also tempt us to carry around more and more stuff. This is fine until we have to carry our case up a couple of flights of stairs. The pulling up motion with our shoulder behind the body is a no-no. If the files are essential and stairs and curbs aren’t a problem, they are worth considering. But it’s important to be aware of the potential issues.
• Consider a back-pack. This keeps the load balanced on your back. But remember, you still have to lift it to get it on and wear it correctly. Generally, we recommend that our children’s backpack not weigh more than 10-15% of their body weight. Do you lead by example? Pull out your scale and see if you need to put your bags on a diet.

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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There is a classic Seinfeld episode where George gets picked on for carrying his ‘Costanza’ wallet. He carried so many receipts around in his thick, massive wallet, that at one point his back leaned to one side when he sat down. He even resorted to stacking napkins beneath his other pocket to level himself. Suprisingly (not!), he ended up with a sore back… What do you do with your wallet when you drive?

The good news is that most of us don’t sit on our wallet when we drive. But it’s often the small details that we forget when we are in a rush. Most of us take the time to get comfortable in our chair before the workday starts. Do you take the same time before you get out of your driveway?

Taking the time to put your back in ‘neutral’ while driving is essential. Neutral posture happens when your hips are at the back of your seat, and your low back is supported comfortably. The combination of long commutes and road trips, coupled with poor low back posture and vibration from your vehicle is as good as a GoogleMaps itinerary to the land of the Soreback Blues. The bottom line is that before you start any commute – start with your back in mind.

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.

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The first typewriter was mass produced in the 1870’s. The original QWERTY layout minimized frequently used pairs of keys from being positioned side-by-side. When adjacent keys were pressed in close succession, they tended to jam on each other. The QWERTY layout was, in fact, an attempt to increase typing speed.

Current keyboards don’t have the same mechanical obstacles of typewriters. However, the QWERTY layout has endured.

Interestingly, with the evolution from typewriters to computers, mice and numeric keypads have been integrated in a desire for increased speed. For some workers, their layout can contribute to fatigue and discomfort.

Our greatest challenge is that we spend too much time sitting, alternately keying and mousing. The type of key layout is much less important than using proper postures and taking frequent microbreaks to interrupt awkward, static postures day after day after day after day…

The content of this article was written by ErgoRisk and has been republished in an online format at OnTask Rehab: your source for ergonomic and rehab articles and services.