Some complaints were headaches, backaches, neck and shoulder tension, wrist and hand injuries, eyestrain, and general irritability. These complaints led to the emergence of new scientist, called ergonomists, to concentrate on these new complaints and find ways of improving health. "Ergonomists use information about people, for example, their size (height, weight etc.), their ability to handle information and make decisions, their ability to see and hear and their ability to work in extremes of temperature. An ergonomist studies the way that these things vary in a group of people. With this information, the ergonomists, working with designers and engineers, ensures that a product or service will be able to be used comfortably, efficiently and safely. This must be so not only for average' people, but also for the whole range of people who use the product - including perhaps, children, the elderly and the disabled. An ergonomist can also assess existing products and services, showing where they fail to fit' the user (in every sense of the word) and suggesting how this fit may be improved- (www.ergonomics.org.uk/ergonomics.htm). Ergonomists have helped many businesses improve working conditions and employee health issues related to computer and office work. In many cases, most employers are responsible for any health issues that may arise from their employees due to work hazards.
Work hazards may be caused by many different factors in the environment. In the average computer workstation, employees are prone to over a dozen hazards. There exist two factors that can prevent this: forming good work habits and ergonomically designed computer workstations. I will discuss these preventions further throughout the paper. These work hazards can cause several different injuries such as, Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI), Cumulative Trauma Disorder (CTD), and Repetitive Motion Disorder (RMD). "They are described as painful conditions of the hands, arms, neck, and back that develop over days, weeks or years.
