One of our local employers was on the front page of the Monadnock Ledger last week regarding a $400,000 settlement with OSHA for worker safety violations. Ouch! They not only have to pay the fines, but they also must take corrective actions & improve the safety of their workplaces for all of their employees. They have agreed to get a full time safety &...
Stand Up for Your Health
Submitted by Health Forum on Mon 11/21/11 11:20 pm
I sit before my desktop computer a lot, and recently that's caused some shoulder and back pain. My physician's advice: walk away from the chair every hour. Shake out my limbs, stretch, do something.
Prolonged sitting has been linked to weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular illness and many other negative effects. The good news is that very little effort is required to diminish those effects. All we have to do is get up. Running in place while answering the phone, fetching a drink of water or visiting someone's cubicle instead of emailing them will break the link between sitting and bad health.
You may want to program your Outlook Calendar to beep you two or three times a day as a reminder to vacate your chair and move. Computer programs are available that will not only remind you to move but lead you in a series of quick, simple, desk-side exercises, including hand and arm stretches and exercises for relieving eye strain.
You don't have to run marathons, climb mountains or wrestle alligators. Just stand up. Now.
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Harvard Pilgrim is compensating the author for participating in the Let's Talk Health Care program but the opinions expressed are the author's own.