Health and Safety Considerations When Working in IT

Health and Safety

You might look at the title of this article and think "Health & safety in IT? Why?" And to a certain extend you would be right. There is no heavy machinery, no real chance of falling off anything high and very little chance of actually getting injured. In fact I'm a First Aider in our office full of people and computers and the only things I've had to deal with are injuries that people have inflicted on themselves on the way into work. Nothing has actually happened "in" work... yet.

However, that doesn't mean that there isn't the potential for injury and harm. Here are a few areas that you need to be careful of, even working in IT.

Ergonomics

We'll start with a biggie! This is fast becoming one of the biggest causes of injury in the work place and can lead to problems with your back, joints, eyesight and in some more extreme cases RSI or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The biggest factor is your work station. According to Health and Safety regulations you should sit upright with your body at 90 degrees to your legs and your knees at a 90 degree angle to the floor and your feet resting firmly on the ground or footrest if you can't reach. You should sit no more than 16 inches from your keyboard with your eyes in line with the top of your monitor.

Your fingers should be in a relaxed position with your wrists in a relaxed, neutral position with the aid of a wrist support if necessary. And that is just how you sit! There are all sorts of regulations with regard to the chair you sit on, the lighting in the room you work in and even the glare that you get off your monitor. You can find check lists online to help you determine if your workstation is Ergonomic or not.

Lifting and Carrying

This can be quite a big part of IT especially if equipment needs to be moved. Okay so monitors are not quite as big and bulky as they used to be, but some IT equipment can still be heavy all the same. Again, there are a few simple rules that you can follow:

• Avoid bending over to pick things up, always bend at the knees.
• Do not twist at the waist, always turn around.
• Avoid excessive reaching
• Try to avoid carrying out lifting/carrying tasks above shoulder level
• Limit the weight of a load that is lifted and where possible use mechanical aids
• Try not to carrying heavy loads with one hand.

There are others, but these are the main ones.

Ladders

There will be times when you need to be working up ladders as the roof is where most of the cabling goes. You will need to make a decision about which ladders are right for the job and make sure whichever ladders you choose are set up correctly and in the correct position so that you do not have to stretch.
There are other areas to look at, but this is just a taster as to what you need to be looking at even in a nice, safe comfortable IT office.

Ellen Ralph is an experienced author in health and safety. If you are considering reviewing your health and safety procedures she recommends you investigate obtaining ISO accreditation.

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