The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Office work is a pain in the neck

Tell us something we don't know

See what The Register's experts have to say on application security

Office workers risk health problems as communications technology makes them slaves to their desks.

So says research from cordless communications outfit, GN Netcom, which found that a third of workers are tied to their desks for more than seven hours a day.

Two thirds of those quizzed blamed health problems on being chained to their desk, with half claiming they suffer from stress and four in ten complaining of neck and shoulder ache.

The research also found that email now takes up almost as much time as telephone calls for the majority of the UK's office workers.

Six in ten people spend more than an hour per day on emails with a third spending up to three hours a day ploughing through their inbox.

Ann Brooks, principal consultant at Ergonomics in Practice, said: "Many people now multi-task while on the telephone, which usually means wedging the phone between ear and shoulder while they type or write.

"This posture is extremely bad for the neck and shoulder, especially if held for long periods, and can result in discomfort in these areas, sometimes leading to longer-term injury," she said.

Earlier this month the British Chiropractic Association (BCA) warned that too much texting could lead to RSI-type injuries. ®

Related Story

2 mch txting cud corz RSI

Understand how application security is evolving

Don’t Miss

Win a Samsung C6625!

Reg Lucky Draw Windows Mobile handsets up for grabs

Palm_Pre_001_SMIs your cameraphone an oxymoron?

Pic Review iPhone 3G v iPhone 3GS v Palm Pre

Reg black vulture logoReg Mobile and Wireless newsletter is go! go! go!

Site news Email-tasm

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes