Health and Safety When Working With Computers

Take short breaks. After an intense session in front of the PC, get moving. Go for a small walk outside the office, preferably in the open. Relax your body muscles. Work on the PC for 20-25 minutes straight, and then do simple head exercises and chin exercises. The top of your PC screen needs to be on a level with your eyes so that you don't have to look much below for the screen. This way, you can avoid head, shoulder and neck pain.

If you are working on the PC for unusually long stretches, you may end up experiencing less face to face conversations with your family, friends, and colleagues. This way, you will be isolating yourself and can land up in anxiety, resulting in depression. The most common symptoms would include tense muscles, back pain, poor sleep, headaches, etc.

As much as skipping meals can be a problem if you're glued to the computer throughout the day, sitting in front of your PC for unusually long hours can lead to obesity as well. Your tendency will be to munch on something all the time that you'll be on the couch. Moreover, prolonged hours on the chair with no movements or exercise can lead to increased weight gain and obesity.

You can put yourself at the risk of cancer gnawing away at your life if you spend too many hours in front of your computer screen. Research suggests that long hours of PC work is linked to breast cancer in women and colon cancer. One study showed that most active people reduce their chances of colon cancer by almost 30-35%, whereas active women reduce the chances of breast cancer by almost 20-30%.