I was at a meeting of chief executives recently discussing health problems arising from computer use. One CEO said he didn't mind paying to fix problems but would not pay to prevent them. It was alarming to discover that intensive use of computers was actually the most common cause of absence from work in the UK.
All too often it seems that employers will prefer to pay out only after the problem has happened rather than prevent it in the first place. If they thought about it a bit more it is obvious that this strategy doesn't add up.
Much research has been done to demonstrate the size and seriousness of the issue. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, and the Health & Safety Executive, have all published detailed accounts on the subject. Mostly the concerns are about Musculo Skeletal Disorders or MSDs or back pain to you and me, Repetitive Strain Injury RSI, whiplash, and a wide range of other conditions including, De Quervain's syndrome, golfers elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, tennis elbow, tenosynovitis, etc.
Paul Goddard, Education Officer at Keytools and well known RSI expert claims that the majority of these problems are easily preventable. He says "It's a bit like seatbelts; they are far more effective before you crash than after. Many companies are happy to adopt preventative strategies in other situations.
These days, most organisations have a good programme of employee healthcare providing lots of good advice. Safety issues are taken seriously and every possible risk is minimised such as provision of fire extinguishers, safety training and so on. So why do workstations get ignored when clearly they are a major issue for the workforce and the company?
It seems that many organisations have totalled the costs and simply got the sums wrong. If you add up the wages, the extra work for colleagues and the lost opportunity it is not surprising that the bill for doing nothing finishes up a lot more than the prevention. For organisations like HP, E-Bay, and Visa, that have adopted a more proactive stance the reality is that bottom line savings and productivity improvements have been well worthwhile having effectively halved their costs of employee absence.
Case studies are now available that can demonstrate that organisations adopting a properly planned programme of office ergonomics, education, and the right equipment can expect an ROI within 2 years, a massive drop in problems with high-risk workers and a lot more money in the bank. For those better performing CEOs the statement is now "I paid to prevent it and now have no problem to fix!
All too often it seems that employers will prefer to pay out only after the problem has happened rather than prevent it in the first place. If they thought about it a bit more it is obvious that this strategy doesn't add up.
Much research has been done to demonstrate the size and seriousness of the issue. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, and the Health & Safety Executive, have all published detailed accounts on the subject. Mostly the concerns are about Musculo Skeletal Disorders or MSDs or back pain to you and me, Repetitive Strain Injury RSI, whiplash, and a wide range of other conditions including, De Quervain's syndrome, golfers elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, tennis elbow, tenosynovitis, etc.
Paul Goddard, Education Officer at Keytools and well known RSI expert claims that the majority of these problems are easily preventable. He says "It's a bit like seatbelts; they are far more effective before you crash than after. Many companies are happy to adopt preventative strategies in other situations.
These days, most organisations have a good programme of employee healthcare providing lots of good advice. Safety issues are taken seriously and every possible risk is minimised such as provision of fire extinguishers, safety training and so on. So why do workstations get ignored when clearly they are a major issue for the workforce and the company?
It seems that many organisations have totalled the costs and simply got the sums wrong. If you add up the wages, the extra work for colleagues and the lost opportunity it is not surprising that the bill for doing nothing finishes up a lot more than the prevention. For organisations like HP, E-Bay, and Visa, that have adopted a more proactive stance the reality is that bottom line savings and productivity improvements have been well worthwhile having effectively halved their costs of employee absence.
Case studies are now available that can demonstrate that organisations adopting a properly planned programme of office ergonomics, education, and the right equipment can expect an ROI within 2 years, a massive drop in problems with high-risk workers and a lot more money in the bank. For those better performing CEOs the statement is now "I paid to prevent it and now have no problem to fix!
About the Author:
The author, Paul Goddard is the UK's foremost expert on assistive technology for people with RSI and his company, Keytools provides a large range of ergonomic keyboards and mice to assist prevention of RSI.
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