A serious occupational disease today is repetitive stress injury (RSI), which occurs when muscle groups are forced through repetitive actions with high-impact loads (tennis) or thousands of repetitions under low-impact loads (computer keyboards).

The most common computer-related RSI is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), in which pressure on the median nerve through the wrist’s bony structure called carpal tunnel, produces pain.

The pressure is caused by constant repetition of keystrokes - some 23,000 in a single shift - a word processor may perform. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include numbness, shooting pain, inability to grasp objects. Millions of workers in the world suffer from it.

The good news is that RSI is avoidable. Designing workstations for a neutral wrist position, proper monitor stands and footrests contribute to proper posture and reduced RSI. Workstations with an underneath keyboard compartment are ideal for home use but inappropriate for long office use.

New, ergonomically correct keyboards are an option but their effectiveness has yet to be established. These measures should be backed by frequent rest breaks, rotation of employees to different jobs and movement to voice or scanner data entry.

RSI is not the only occupational illness computers cause. Back and neck pain, leg stress and foot pain also result from poor ergonomic designs of workstations. Computer vision syndrome (CVS) refers to any eyestrain related to computer display screen use. Its symptoms, usually temporary, include headaches, blurred vision and dry, irritated eyes. It is recommended that workers get a short break after every hour spent on a computer.

The newest computer-related ailment is technostress. Its symptoms include aggravation, hostility to humans, impatience and fatigue. The problem, according to experts, is that humans working continuously with computers come to expect others to behave likewise, providing instant response, attentiveness and absence of emotion.

Computer-intense workers are aggravated when put on hold during phone calls and become incensed or alarmed when their PCs take a few seconds longer to perform a task. Technostress is thought to be related to high levels of job turnover in the computer industry, high levels of early retirement from computer-intense jobs and elevated levels of drug and alcohol abuse. Its incidence is not known but is thought to be significant and growing rapidly. Computer-related jobs now top the list of stressful occupations based on health statistics in industrialised countries.

Video display terminals(VDTs) emit non-ionizing electric and magnetic fields at low frequencies. These rays enter the body and have unknown effects on enzymes, molecules, chromosomes and cell membranes. Manufacturers have reduced display screen emissions since the early 1980s and European countries like Sweden have developed stiff radiation emission standards.

Here, our health and safety laws are not strict enough on IT equipment use. Computers have become part of our lives. As our dependency on computers increases, it is imperative that we consider and take precautions towards health and safety issues.

<B>Shaffick HAMUTH</B>