Does desk working cause you pain? Here’s how we can help!

In this blog, our marketing and communications officer, Hannah Johnson, discusses how you can help yourself or your employees to reduce pain caused by desk-based working and how our E-Learning provision can equip you with the knowledge you need.

During the COVID pandemic, many of us had to adapt to new ways of working, including finding ourselves based at home without our usual desk-based set-up. If you weren’t lucky enough to have a home office already, you might have had to create makeshift workspaces or even having to work from a sofa or bed.

However, with more ‘unconventional’ workstation set-ups, there was a huge rise in the number of employees suffering with musculoskeletal pain, with more people than ever complaining of back, neck and shoulder pain.

In fact, according to research by health and safety consultancy firm, Arinite, 37.7 per cent of musculoskeletal cases reported in 2020 were work-related, compared to just 1.42 per cent of workers experiencing these injuries in 2019. 

The study found that keyboard work is the third biggest cause of work-related musculoskeletal conditions, leading to 11.3 per cent of cases.

Now restrictions have eased, many office-based workers are returning to spend more time face to face with colleagues and getting back to ‘normality’. However, does being back at our desks and having the correct display screen equipment (DSE) really mean people don’t encounter these problems? Unfortunately the answer is no. If your office workstation is set up incorrectly, you are just as likely to experience pain as when working at home, even if you have the appropriate equipment.

Employers actually have a legal duty under the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to ensure workers who use DSE daily, as part of their normal work, continuously for an hour or more, have a workstation assessment carried out.

They should look at the whole workstation set-up, including equipment, furniture, and work conditions, as well as the employee’s job and any special requirements they might have, for example a user with a disability.

This assessment will allow risks to be identified and, where there are risks found, steps should be taken to reduce them. Employers must also do an assessment when a new workstation is set up and/or a new user starts work, a change is made to an existing workstation or the way it is used or if users complain of pain or discomfort.

HSE have also put together this handy checklist to help make sure you’re carrying out the assessment correctly.

This is a subject I have learnt a lot about myself over the last few years, because outside of my role as Community Chesterfield’s marketing and communications officer, I am a freelance copywriter for an ergonomics consultancy based near London. I have written many articles on the damage incorrect workstation set-up can do to people’s overall health and wellbeing.

Many years ago I also experienced first-hand how back pain can make your working days almost unbearable, so now I’m really conscious to make sure my workspace, whether I’m working at home or in the office, is set up properly - and that I ask for support if I need it (something everyone should do!). I am lucky to have such a great team here at Community Chesterfield that I know I can do just that.

We also recognise the importance of other employers being aware of their legal obligations and employees understanding their rights to have assessments carried out - we have a duty of care to others and ourselves after all!

This is why, as part of our successful training and shared learning programme, we offer a free ‘Assessing DSE’ course through our E-Learning provision, allowing people to gain vital knowledge about this important topic.  

The course can be completed at your own pace, making it a perfect option to fit in to times that suits you. Taking under two hours to complete, at the end you will find yourself equipped with everything you need to make sure working at your desk is comfortable and pain free.

If you think you would benefit from gaining knowledge in this area, you can sign up for the course by filling out this short form.

Access to Community Chesterfield’s e-learning workshops are free for University of Derby staff and students with a connection to Chesterfield, as well as those working at or volunteering for Derbyshire-based not for profit community organisations helping people in Chesterfield.