No business wants the worry of employees made unfit to work. But, unfortunately, the great transition into WFH culture we have shifted through thanks to Covid-19 has seen 2021 left with the aftermath. Folks forced to work at kitchen tables, people crammed onto the couch with their laptops... all of it adds up to a sea of backpain in our near future.
The Cost of Working from Home
WFH has caused us to have to fork out for new digital tech. It has delayed most of us with the Great Laptop Shortage of 2020, and it has seen our offices bereft of seating as employees are forced to take their chairs home for the long haul.
But WFH caused more than a surge in the sale of digital products. It saw many of us forced to 'make do with what we had. Sources say that there is a link between the rise in musculoskeletal disorders and working from home. This is down to lousy seating, improper desk setups, chairs with no back support, and even poor lighting.
Few of us truly appreciated how adversely our health would be affected by improper working conditions. Everything from headaches and spine pain right through to aching wrists and eye strain is all happening even now. All because we haven't set up a home desk in the correct way.
Workspace Solutions for the Home Office
Given all of the above, employers need to be doing all they can right now to safeguard their employees' health long term. Although we can't perhaps go into their homes and check how they are set up, we can form guidelines of our own and have specialist companies (like osDORO, for example) create workspace solutions designed to operate across many different homes settings.
However, for the short term, consider implementing the following guidelines for workers who are having to operate from home.
1 – Don't work in your bed
Lying down to look at a laptop screen is one of the worst things you can do. Make sure none of your employees are working in bed. The neck will be forced to bend at unnatural angles and will cause pain in the long run.
2 – Keep the head and neck straight
The head and neck should be straight at all times. You shouldn't hunch over any documents or devices to read them. If you are always looking down, your head and neck are not straight. Try to keep your back as straight as you can while you work.
3 – Don't always type
GoogleDocs have a brilliant voice typing tool that can help you answer emails with a quick copy and paste. Take advantage of it to give your wrists a rest.
4 – Keep feet on the floor
Keeping your feet on the floor ensures the risk of DVT is lessened... and that's all the convincing that we need to know it's the right thing to do.
WFH doesn't have to Cost Us
If we do it correctly, working from home could be a real blessing instead of a curse.
