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Career RSI

RSI potential in these stressful economic times

In these stressful economic times, it can become commonplace to spend time worrying about whether we may be in danger of losing our jobs or not. As the economy downturns, some businesses will start to review expenditure and decide whether or not to downsize. This lingering threat can result in workers putting in extra hours in an effort to make themselves look less expendable.

Many of these jobs will involve working at a computer for many hours a day, often continuously. If employees are working longer, in stressful environment because of job security reasons, they will be exposing themselves to health risks on top of job security risks.

According to one article –

“The TUC said research among 2,600 union safety reps showed that almost two thirds reported that stress or overwork were a concern in their workplace.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Stress casts a gloomy shadow over far too many UK workplaces. And as the current economic crisis creates more anxiety about job security, stress is likely to increase.””

The chances of developing an RSI condition in this environment is high. Using a computer for more than 6 hours a day makes you susceptible to RSI type injuries. If you add in stress and worry over job security to this situation, it can be like adding fuel to an already smouldering fire.

It is important that all computer users realise the risks to their health that are inherent when times are tough and stress levels are high. In this situation it can be difficult to look beyond the next month, but it is way more important to take a long term view because the implications of coming down with a long term injury and its subsequent economic impact can be a lot worse than the immediate economic impact of losing your job. No job is ever worth risking your health over.

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