Does your workplace pose a health hazard?

Does your workplace pose a health hazard?

By Maria Kegel

JAKARTA (JP): "Sara" used to boast about her 20/20 vision, but
that was before she needed eyeglasses like many of the other
employees at her office.

During the height of the monetary crisis, her company reduced
office lighting to half of what it normally was in an effort to
cut costs. Three months later, Sara needed reading glasses.

Whether it was a case of the poor lighting, reading small
print or a combination of those and other factors, Sara shared
the same fate as some of her colleagues three years after she
started working for the company. She now wears bifocals.

Developing poor eyesight is one of several health risks
associated with working in an office, and those who log long
hours at the desk can be prone to other ailments over time,
including carpal tunnel syndrome, respiratory infections and back
and neck pain.

The chairman of the Indonesian Association of Occupational
Health and Safety, Dr. Tan Malaka, attributed workers' complaints
to several factors, but particularly their interaction with
office equipment.

"Before, offices were just a place where people typed but now
we have photocopiers, computers, air conditioners, and all of
these are going to have an impact on people's health."

He said ergonomics -- the applied science concerned with
designing and arranging things people use for the safest and most
efficient interaction -- needed to be addressed for worker health
and safety.

The likelihood of problems is increasing, he added, because
more workers are putting in extra hours at the office instead of
rushing home after the traditional work day ends at 5 p.m.

Among the health hazards at the office is eye strain, which
can result from the glare of a computer terminal caused by the
angle of the light source in an office.

"Over time you are trying harder to read and you end up with
sore eye muscles and that could lead to some more serious
problems with your eyes and muscles," Tan said.

The light source as well as the level of lighting can cause
problems, he added.

"If you're in the finance department, then you're dealing with
numbers and small print, and you need a good level of
illumination, and there is a standard for companies to follow,"
he said.

Article 10 of the manpower ministry's Regulation No. 7/1964 on
health and cleanliness in the workplace states that every
workplace has to have sufficient lighting for workers to carry
out their tasks.

The top of the computer screen should be adjusted to eye
level, otherwise workers will lean forward unnaturally and that
strains back and neck muscles, he warned. A document holder that
puts the copy at the same level as the screen can also aid in
avoiding muscle strain.

Another problem is office chairs that cannot be adjusted to a
worker's height or accommodate the natural curve of a person's
spine.

"Sitting in a chair like this eight hours a day as well as the
extra hours people put in will lead to lower back pain, which is
very prevalent among office workers."

Sick building syndrome

Air conditioners, especially on a central system, are a health
concern, and Tan said they were one of the culprits of "sick
building syndrome", which is caused by poor air quality and
exposure to chemicals.

One example of this is if maintenance workers spray the
carpets with pesticides and the air conditioners are turned on
while the carpets are still wet, causing vapors to circulate
throughout the workplace.

The syndrome is marked by flu-like symptoms, ordinary
bronchitis or upper respiratory trachea infections, and people
usually explain it away as a cold they caught from someone else
who had it the week before, he said.

Air conditioners are also responsible for an illness similar
to Legionnaires' disease in that the bacteria (Legionella
pneumophila) is the same, Tan said.

"The central air-conditioning unit is switched off on Friday
evening and its water reservoir, which acts as a humidifier, is
left over the weekend with bacteria rapidly multiplying in it,"
he explained.

If there is no occupational physician working at the company,
the problem may be overlooked and other explanations will be made
for the illness. There are about 600 occupational physicians in
Indonesia, most of whom work at larger companies.

Tan said a personal physician would probably only become
suspicious after seeing a number of ill people from the same
building at the same time.

Even large photocopiers may put workers at risk as their
toners contain solvent and the machines emit ozone, both of which
are bad for the respiratory system, he said.

"We recommend that the photocopier be put in a well-ventilated
room away from the general environment, so that no one inhales
its emissions."

Computers pose little risk of giving off radiation, he said,
because companies now produce low-radiation computers that are
environmentally friendly.

Keyboards present different kinds of problems, including
sticky keys which require you to strike them hard, which can
affect your arms and hands, he said.

There are wrist supports specially designed for use with a
keyboard and which are ergonomic for the hand.

Moving a mouse, which can sometimes stick, in a rotating
fashion 40 hours a week can cause a sore arm, which, over time,
can develop into carpal tunnel syndrome, he said.

The carpal tunnel is a narrow passageway between the bones and
ligaments in your wrist. A median nerve, which controls sensation
in the fingers and some muscles in the hand, passes through this
tunnel along with some of the finger tendons.

Carpal tunnel syndrome develops when there is pressure on the
median nerve where it goes through the carpal tunnel, and is
characterized by numbness or pain that gets worse when you use
your hand or wrist.

Who's responsible

In theory, companies are not 100 percent responsible for the
health of their workers, Tan said.

Individuals should be partly responsible for their own health
and not jeopardize themselves, but companies can support
employees in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, for example, by
prohibiting smoking in the office, he said.

However, Tan said companies should provide a safe and healthy
working environment, which is in accordance with Law No. 1/1970
on safety in the workplace. The law states that every employee
has the right to a safe workplace.

Companies should also provide their employees with ergonomic
chairs that can be adjusted to fit a person's height and back, as
well as good lighting.

"It's also the responsibility of the company to provide first
aid in the office, good equipment to work with and training on
safe working practices."

On the part of employees, they should follow rules and
regulations on how long they should work, making sure they get
adequate rest, he said.

Workers should also read the instruction manuals for computer
terminals and be familiar with their operation, he said.

It is unhealthy to sit for four hours in one position, and Tan
suggested office workers stand up once in a while and stretch,
which helps circulation.

It is also a good idea to rest your eyes once an hour by
closing them for half a minute to relax the muscles, he said.

The areas most affected by working with computers are a
person's neck, back, shoulder and arms, so they require frequent
exercise, he noted.

A safe and healthy workplace starts with people paying more
attention to their environment and lifestyle, office managers who
are concerned with health and safety in the office, consultation
from experts in the field and office inspections to receive
first-hand advice on the situation, Tan said.

"So many companies have their own doctors, it's just that the
office managers don't ask about them," he said.

Tan also suggested companies invite (risk management) experts
to conduct occasional walk-through inspections of large offices,
during which the physical, ergonomic, biological and psychosocial
factors in an office could be assessed.

If a problem area is found during the inspection, then it is
necessary to pay more attention to it, he said.

For example, if the air conditioner is found to be a cause of
complaint, its maintenance, engineering, how often the filter is
cleaned and the practice of shampooing the carpets needs to be
studied.

Nearby clinics are also a source of information and should be
consulted, as they might have statistics on illnesses commonly
experienced by the office staff.

Inspectors will be able to piece together a clearer picture of
whether something is amiss in the environment by studying
complaints from workers about their backs or necks, and if they
experience headaches, blurred vision or sore arms.