Due to health and safety directives in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers are faced with ever increasing demands for professional and thorough work place assessments. Some HR departments have trained staff who perform these assessments. While there are certain general rules, our experience has shown that every employee is different and therefore they may not apply similarly to every person.

The following are the more common conditions resulting from poor work station setups:

Repetitive strain injury: Generally this is described as symptoms of the neck, arm and wrist.

Eye strain: This is often a result of computer work and is a particular problem for workers who concentrate on the screen for long periods. Symptoms can range from sore eyes or head aches to visual disturbances. Badly positioned screens and poor lighting are contributors to this.

Back problems: These are the most common form of ill health at work. If workstations are not set up correctly for the individual employee, they are at risk of pain and discomfort. The lack of fluid movement through body tissues (i.e. sitting in one place for a long time) can have huge impact on the working structures of the body. Often ensuring regular breaks during which time the employee walks around is all that’s needed.

Although the above focuses on the office environment, it does not matter whether work is at a computer terminal or in heavy industry: pain and injury can develop if proper work place assessments are not carried out. If you feel that by the end of your working day you are experiencing aches and pains it may well be due to your working environment. It is advisable to seek professional advice as soon as possible to ensure it does not develop further.

Myosteopractic is useful in releasing problems that have arisen from work fatigue, stress and aches. Advice may also be given to lessen the reoccurrence of these problems. Many people, who are well aware of the stresses of their work, use Myosteopractic as part of their self maintenance programme by having monthly releases.