Less Staff Sick Equals Better Performance
A survey of chief executives has revealed that very few of them are prepared to pay to prevent people getting health problems from computer use. Quite surprising when you consider that MSDs (musculo-skeletal disorders) account for more than half the people off sick today in the UK.
The perspective of the CEO was that the cost of the injuries over a year was considerably less than the cost of providing a better working environment. Apart from a lack of concern for the people who were working for him you have to wonder if the sums really add up.
Much research has been done to demonstrate the size and seriousness of the issue. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, and the Health & Safety Executive, have all published detailed accounts on the subject. Mostly the concerns are about Musculo Skeletal Disorders or MSDs or back pain to you and me, Repetitive Strain Injury RSI, whiplash, and a wide range of other conditions including, De Quervain’s syndrome, golfers elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, tennis elbow, tenosynovitis, etc.
“You don’t need to live with this waste of time, money, and people” says Paul Goddard, RSI expert and education officer at Keytools. “For example, you wear a seatbelt to prevent a possible injury, it won’t help after the event!” There are plenty of other strategies that companies put in place as preventative measures.
Your organisation very likely has a healthcare programme, safety training, fire extinguishers, and security systems all of which are there for “in case” something bad happens.” So why don’t employers do a bit more to make workstations easier to use and less damaging for employees?
It seems that many organisations have totalled the costs and simply got the sums wrong. If you add up the wages, the extra work for colleagues and the lost opportunity it is not surprising that the bill for doing nothing finishes up a lot more than the prevention. For organisations like HP, E-Bay, and Visa, that have adopted a more proactive stance the reality is that bottom line savings and productivity improvements have been well worthwhile having effectively halved their costs of employee absence.
In some case studies, organisations that have planned programme of office ergonomics and using of right equipments can feel within 2 years of return of investment. CEOs now can be proud and say that “I have no worries to fix because I paid to prevent!
Paul Goddard is the UK’s foremost expert on assistive technology for people with RSI and his company, Keytools provides a large range of ergonomic keyboards and mice to assist with the prevention of RSI.