Health Issues and Computers

I am not a health professional, but over the years I have come across a couple of health issues with working with computers. (And I started giving this lecture when ergonomics wasn't listed in my dictionary.) All of the links shown here, actually refer to one large umbrella site, based at UCLA. It is clear that they have addressed ergonomic safety of the workplace in a serious manner.

Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) - most everyone who has worked with computers any length of time has faced this at one level or another. Back when I gave lectures to classes and had quizzes on them, the short answer of what to do was:

Type at your computer with good posture: elbows bent at 90 degrees (UCLA says 100-110 degrees) and wrists straight. Many people turn the little 'feet' on the keyboard down to tilt the keyboard towards them. This is opposite of good practice. If anything, the keyboard should tilt away from you so that your fingers curl over the keyboard. Wrist pads in front of the keyboard are ok, but it is more important to hold your wrists straight; do not let them sag down to rest on a pad that is too low.
Take breaks. Get up and move around every once in awhile. Do something else besides sitting at the computer.
If you find that your wrists start hurting, do something about it!
Further information on UCLA site - Tips for Computer Users

Headaches and Eyestrain - What I put in my notes years back was " This is hard to quantify, but if you spend 8 hours a day, every day, looking at a screen, I think it is likely that you will have headaches. Take a break!!"

The first hint that UCLA mentions is to follow the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a 20 second break and look 20 feet away to rest your eyes.
Some at SAHS try to avoid the fluorescent lights as much as they can.
Further information on UCLA site - Tips for your eyes (And yes, they do like flat-screen monitors better than CRTs.)

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