How to Improve Health in your Workplace?
Headset Health Benefits – Read about the headset health benefits in this article and improve your workplace.
Did you know that using a telephone handset daily will increase unnecessary back discomfort and fatigue? Cradling the phone on your shoulder while making and receiving calls is the main cause of pain.
Holding the phone in this position can have serious long-term effects on your neck and back. Using a headset instead of a telephone as part of your daily work routine will help improve your posture. It will make you feel refreshed and more active at the end of the workday.
What are the risks of using traditional telephone handsets?
Ergonomics (comfort and functional design) issues have seen a lot of spotlights recently; many experts labeled the modern workplace as ¨dangerous¨.
Today’s office employees are becoming more aware of the hard facts of health disorders originating from the workplace.
Office employees spend 25-40 hours a week on average seated behind a computer. Once they arrive home they want to relax and unwind after a long day of work. Exercise is usually not on their minds, but it is essential for maintaining healthy muscles.
Sitting behind a computer for too long is the main cause of back pain, a highly common health issue.
You can easily prevent it.
New ergonomic risks are brought to our attention in the modern workplace environment, but there aren’t enough precautionary measures being taken into consideration. Office headsets like those made by Plantronics for example, are a quick and easy solution that can be introduced into any workplace scenario to achieve better safety and functionality.
Why you should use headsets instead of telephones
Headsets were primarily used by telephone operators in the 1960´’s, but it is useful in almost any workplace environment today and there is a good reason for it. A medical study conducted at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose provided for the first time ever strong evidence that office workers can reduce shoulder, neck, and upper back tension by as much as 41% by using headsets.
More than 2000 telephone transactions were observed in the course of the study and were recorded on
a motion/time basis over an eight-day study period at four firms. The data was then compared between users of traditional telephone handsets and Plantronics Quick Disconnect™ featured headsets.
How headsets improve your health
The results were nothing short of remarkable. In fact, headsets-equipped workers showed an overall productivity increase of up to 43%.
A substantial reduction in time spent on telephone-related activities was assured. Repeat calls were made without interruptions, and ordinarily time-sensitive tasks (such as checking reference materials or typing while on the phone) were performed far more efficiently and quicker with office headsets.
Workers using office headsets full-time placed on average more than 16 more calls per day than those using traditional handsets. They also reported higher morale, lower fatigue levels, and fewer phone-related physical complaints.
“Unlike safety for manual workers, the subject of work originated injury in the office workforce is yet to be considered as a serious matter. The reason is that injuries originating from bad telephone habits are not immediately visible. It takes time to show full effects. Research results show that using headsets instead of telephone handsets helps lessen head, neck, and back aches.¨
– Elizabeth Simpson SRP, MCSP EIHMS (the European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences).
Headset health benefits
Freedom and productivity:
- Headsets free up both your hands to use a computer, handle documents, make notes, etc., which makes you more productive.
- Wireless headsets give you the additional freedom to leave your desk and move around during phone calls, currently up to 300ft from your phone.
- With a handset lifter you can answer and end calls while away from your desk, enabling you to be completely free while you walk, talk and work. This means less voicemail and less playing phone tag which all help raise your personal productivity.
How you sound and what you hear:
- Wearing a headset enables the microphone to stay in the same position as you move your head and speak, so your voice stays consistent.
- If you use a headset with noise-canceling technology the microphone filters out up to 75% of background sounds (effectiveness varies between different models) so that your callers hear only you, even in noisy environments.
- If you use a binaural headset that covers both ears you reduce any distracting background noise thereby aiding concentration on your telephone calls.
Do headsets really improve health in the workplace?
Regular phone handsets bring about risks for the neck as well. The act of placing the receiver between the neck and the shoulder leads to distress and damage of structural tissue over time.
On the contrary, using a headset is far healthier for your posture. It remains stable and there is no frequent bending of the back to attend to or place a call. So for those who are constantly connected to their phone and computer the headset is not only a great but also an essential piece of equipment.
Musculoskeletal Disorders or MSDs a medical terms referring to upper body injuries (i.e. Stress damage to nerves, muscles, tendons, and holding structures). They affect the human body´s movement or musculoskeletal systems. Their severity can range from infrequent to quite frequent.
There has been a focus on extreme upper body disorder research for a long time now, focusing mostly on shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists & arms. Researchers wrote many papers about particular threats related to these body parts. (i.e wrists affected by carpel tunnel syndrome, elbows affected by epicondylitis, and hands affected by De Quervain’s ailment.
Do you use a computer or spend time on the phone? Do you feel neck or back discomfort? If “Yes” you’ll definitely benefit from using a headset. Delve into the numerous headsets on our website and discover the perfect one for you and your posture today!
For more information call our team of experts on 0333 123 3050 or visit our full range of products at onedirect.co.uk
