Does your workstation suit you? Part 2

Did you know sitting more than 4 hours a day is linked to obesity, mental health issues, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, neck pain, and back pain?

In one of our previous blogs, we looked at changes you can make to your workstation to better suit you. How did you go?

Adjustments to screens and seats is a great start to injury prevention at work. But you can do even more!

Here are my top 5 additional workplace changes

1. Look at your mouse: Changing from a standard index finger click mouse to something like track pad will decrease your chances of overuse wrist injuries.

2.How many computer screens do you work off?  Looking at multiple screens, especially when they are at different heights (such as a PC screen and laptop screen) can increase your chance of neck injuries. So try your best to minimise the number you have, and make sure all the ones you use are set up to suit you.

3. Standing work stations: Even if you have a state of the art chair, prolonged sitting will still put you at risk of injury. Standing work stations allow you to get up alternate between different positions and therefore reduce your risk of sitting related health problems. Standing workstations are becoming increasingly popular and becoming more affordable. Ask if you manager can get you one!

4. Get up!: NSW health recommends that the general population avoids sitting for greater than 30min at a time. Your body needs regular movement to be happy and healthy, so aim to avoid long periods sitting.

5. Braces and supports: I am not usually a fan of braces, but sometimes I will make an exception. Remembering to change your posture to help neck or back pain can be tricky (especially when you are busy at work). In times like this, braces like the one below can act as the perfect reminder. 

Work and sitting typically form a very large part of our week. And we now know that spending too much time sitting can have a serious impact on our health.