| Information Technology Injuries Prevention Links |
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| Poor use of any
technology, even pen and paper, can cause preventable injuries. Writer
Henry James lost the use of his wrist by spending long hours using a pen
in uncomfortable working conditions. Using a pen is not aerobic muscle
activity. Using a pen is not dynamic muscle activity.
After more than a hundred years of pens in court rooms, most benches are relatively safe work stations to use all day every day. They are designed for that. Other than in some of the newer courts, the benches have not been designed for using keyboards. The combination of standard computing equipment, standard work stations, and too few breaks (the ideal is ten minutes every hour) can become a crippling combination. People do not come in standard sizes and shapes, so some have to work in contorted positions, carrying out muscle actions which are not dynamic, muscle activity which is not aerobic activity. Muscles tendons and joints can only be starved of oxygen for so long. After that, they fall apart. Prevention Prevention is much easier than rehabilitation. A complete cure is about as likely as winning a big lottery prize. It happens, but not many people experience it. At the end of a long day on a computer in a court room designed for pen and paper, putting a phone book on the chair seat and feet on the wastepaper bin can make the difference between capacity and incapacity. There are Australian Standards for keyboard work stations which purchasing officers can use to minimise the risk of injury, but these are not available online. REHABILITATION TECHNOLOGY AND
TRAINING The R.S.I. Page (obsolete link) is an excellent directory of world wide web resources. Muscles (obsolete link) is a US doctor's patient information site which contains illustrations of pain referral zones, photos of treatment of muscles and text describing the muscles. |
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