Office Ergonomics Tip of the Week

This week’s office ergonomics tip comes in the form of an exerpt from an article on the OSSA website.

“What makes lower back injuries difficult, but not impossible, to prevent is that the majority of these injuries are not the result of a catastrophic accident, such as a fall or a major accident, but rather a cumulative injury-the result of years of repetitive or awkward movement such as bending, lifting, twisting and carrying, combined with using ill-fitting or inappropriate tools and equipment. A lifetime of poor ergonomic practices-making the worker fit the job, instead of the job fitting the worker.”

This is a very important point that we must consider while at the office. Constant slouching and straining at the office can really sneak up on us! Pay attention to your posture and your office activities / habits.

To read the rest of this article click here: Watch Your Back – Reducing Back Injuries.

Headset Express firmly believes that wireless headsets and proper office phone equipment can help reduce body strain and improve your quality of office life. Contact Headset Express today!

Refurbished Headsets across Canada

Considering purchasing a refurbished headset? Headset Express can get you some great deals on high quality refurbished wireless headsets…and wired headsets, too! We get refurbished headsets straight from the manufacturer because we have a great relationship with Plantronics and other top notch headset manufacturers. This means that we also maintain great relationships with our customers.  

So if you are in the market for a CS351 Plantronics Wireless Headsets, a H51N Supra With Noise Reduction, a CS 50 Wireless Headset, or most any communications equipment, let Headset Express help save you a few dollars.

Contact us today about our refurbished wireless headset deals and discounts.

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Office Ergonomics Tip of the Week

This week’s office ergonomic tips come to you straight from a site called The Helping Hand. The Helping Hand is an excerise tool that helps people who are suffering from isssues like carpel tunnel syndrome or burning, tingling, pain, and fatigue in the hand / wrists.

Rest your hands frequently, especially when any tingling, numbness, pain, cramping, etc. occurs.

Try and control your mouse with the lightest possible grip.

Rest your palms, not your wrist, on a wrist-rest or the desktop.

When using a keyboard/mouse, your hands should be even or slightly lower than your elbows. An adjustable keyboard tray mounted under the desktop may be necessary.

Keep your hands in-line with your forearms as much as possible, not bent in/out or up/down at the wrist.

Rest your elbows on your chair’s armrests and adjust them so the weight of your arms is supported by the armrests, not supported by your shoulders.

Use a foot rest if your feet aren’t flat on the floor.

The top of your monitor should be about eye level so you aren’t bending your neck up or too far down.

Sit upright so your head is above your shoulders. Don’t slouch forward.

Take frequent breaks and do stretching exercises to replenish blood flow which is restricted by continuous muscle use, especially involving your hands.

Alter your posture from time to time but keep within the guidelines of correct sitting most of the time.

Sit so the natural hollow stays in your lower back. A good adjustable chair should allow this.

Position your monitor and keyboard in front of you, not to the side.

Use larger barreled pens (1/2″+ diameter) to make them easier to grasp.

Don’t wear wrist splints for extended periods during the day. Some muscles may atrophy.

Don’t type with long fingernails.

Cut back or discontinue the use of tobacco products.

The Helping Hand site has many more ergonomic tips and suggestions so feel free to check them out.

If you want to improve the quality of the time you spend at the office, consider purchasing a CS55 Wireless Headset System. The complete CS55ex complete kit is on sale now at Headset Express.

 

Quality of VoIP Improved By Headsets

Back in the day, when VoIP first came on the scene, were you among the many who were incredibly excited about all the possibilities VoIP entailed. I worked for a company at the time that decided to stay above the curve and equip their entire company with VoIP capability. Well, the results were a little less than stellar. Many employees and clients complained about the quality of their calls, among other things. A lot of resistance, I think, could be written off as technophobes resisting new technology. With that said, I did notice a dip in quality, static, ringing, hollow sounds. It did not bode well for the relationship between my employer and VoIP.

Fortunately, we learned very fast that a lot of the quality issues we were having could be cured with some new equipment – headsets, believe it or not. Once we invested some time and a surprisingly small amount of money into high quality headsets, we found that the quality of our conversations greatly improved. Phew! Disaster avoided.

I found another blogger promoting the same fix in the post, A Good Headset Can Boost VoIP Call Quality

Tips for Organizing Your Home Office

My first New Years resolution for 2008 is to organize my home office. My second is to stop procrastinating when it comes to big projects (see resolution 1). So As of this weekend, I have bitten the bullet and started the home office organization process. Luckily, I have done this before and I know a few things about this subject/task. Here are just a few tips I have learned: 

1. Assess what you need to purchase and/or do to be organized. Do not get off track by buying things that look or sound cool but will not further your organizational goals.
2. Once you have decided what you need (a desk with drawers, a filing cabinet, etc.) do your research and measure, measure, measure! We all know that spending hours assembling a corner desk form Ikea, only to find out it does not actually fit in the desired corner, is not at all fun!
3. Keep ergonomics in mind. Set up your phone and wireless headset within easy reach, your monitor at the proper eyelevel, and make sure you have a comfortable chair with proper lumbar support, just to name a few ergonomic biggies
4. Create a system for filing and staying organized. Make sure that the files you need to access the most often are the ones that are easily in reach. I like to colour code everything and always have back ups
5. Do not think that office organization is a one time thing. Set aside an hour per week, or at least per month, in your calendar/planner to maintain your organized office.
6. Purchase a calendar/planner!

These are my tips for organizing an office, but I am always up for more. If you have any, let me know, please!