A sample of my feature writing, where I translated research on a complex, technical topic into an engaging, readable article

1. SKYWRITING
BODY
POLITIC
Sitting Pretty
The ergonomically perfect workplace BY BRITTA WALLER
“I
have never seen your the causes or triggers were hidden in plain magazine—a job that requires up to eight
back in such a mess,” my mas- sight. “I think most people, when they set hours a day of typing and using a mouse
sage therapist tells me after 30 up their office, once it’s there it becomes while sitting in front of a computer
minutes of work on my mus- like the bad curtains in your living room screen—I was a staff reporter for a busi-
cles. It’s true. My neck, usually that you stop noticing,” says Dr. Carol Ley, ness magazine. There, I never had the
limber, is stiff as a flagpole. My an ergonomic expert who is the director same schedule twice. I went to network-
shoulders, usually open and of occupational medicine at the 3M ing breakfasts, took plant tours, conducted
loose, seem to have closed down in a per- Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. interviews and worked trade shows, as
manent stoop. And my lower back, usually well as using a computer at my desk.
responsible for taking me into graceful When I lost that variety and began edit-
backbends in yoga class, has as many knots ing full time, I started feeling the effects of
as a plank of knotty pine. my hours at the computer in my right
It’s been a long month at work, wrist, the one that moved the mouse.
and my back, like a barometer, is It started as occasional fatigue, and
showing the strain. Just sitting in a turned into pain that lasted into
chair, I’ve learned, can be haz- the evening, ranging from mild
ardous to your health. to excruciating. I went to my
Sadly, my complaints aren’t doctor, who diagnosed tendini-
unusual. In fact, they’re rela- tis and prescribed a wrist brace
tively mild compared with the for me to wear at night.
sprains, strains, back pains, It helped, and so, I noticed,
hernias, carpal tunnel syn- did a change I made at my
drome and other musculoskele- desk that prevented me from
tal disorders that kept 582,300 torquing my wrist at too wild an
Americans home from work for at angle: I added a bumper (really
least one day in 1999. an unsharpened pencil affixed with
Companies engaged in manufac- tape) about 2 inches in from the right
turing, mining, construction, agricul- side of my mouse pad. The most my
ture, forestry and fishing have been mouse—and hand—could move was
attuned to the risk of workplace injuries
for years, and for good reason: These
goods-producing industries accounted for The good news is that simple changes
2 million of the 5.2 million injuries and
illnesses reported to the U.S. Department
to an office workstation can alleviate
of Labor in 2001 (the most recent year for pain and prevent future problems.
ILLUSTRATION BY FELIX SOCKWELL
which these statistics are available).
But those of us in the “cushy” service
industries aren’t immune to on-the-job in- The good news is that simple changes 90 degrees, not a full 180, to the right.
juries and illnesses. We office rats suffered to an office workstation can alleviate pain I began picking up little gadgets here
some 44 percent of the ergonomic disor- and prevent future problems. and there: a shoulder rest for my tele-
ders—that is, injuries caused by repetitive My journey to a more comfortable day phone, a lumbar pillow for my chair, an
motion, overexertion, and poor or awkward at work was motivated by a twitch in my antiglare screen for my computer’s moni-
posture—reported in 2001. And many of wrist. Before becoming an editor with this tor, pens with fat rubber grips, a keyboard
SKY October 2003 85

2. BODY POLITIC
drawer with a wrist rest and a smaller wrist recommends—filled with 3M gel, not the changes I’ve made. The keyboard tray
rest for my mouse area. When I brought just foam—do their job. “They’re specifi- took the most getting used to, but it made
in an old smashed mail bin as a makeshift cally designed to support tissues,” she the biggest difference in my comfort. And
footrest, a co-worker said my work area says. “One of the benefits is you don’t when I remember not to cross my legs up
looked like a bag lady had designed it. have a pressure point.” under me, the footrest is much more com-
“The [mail bin] looks exactly like the Next, my eyes. My desk is in the right fortable than that old mail bin.
one I used to have,” Ley tells me when I place, she says—perpendicular to my I haven’t made all the changes Ley
send her photos of my office arrangement window, so that the lighting creates nei- suggested, as I knew I wouldn’t. I’m too
to get her advice. ther excess glare on the computer screen lazy and too indulgent to change my
A bag lady, huh? I don’t admit this to nor a backlighting condition. And she couch computing habits at home. The
Ley as we get to talking, but I’m pretty set gives me positive marks for my adjustable document holder was bulky and awkward
in my ways, and she has a hard job ahead window blinds and the antiglare shade to use on my small desk. I gave up trying
trying to persuade me to change my office over my monitor’s screen. What I need to to get the Renaissance Mouse to work
space. But she gives me her analysis, from add, she says, are frequent “eye breaks,” with my Macintosh after four unsuccess-
my feet to my eyes: looking away from what I’m working on ful visits from our company’s IT guy. And
Ley says I have a running start by hav- to give I would have had to submit paperwork to
ing a “great chair”—padded, adjustable in my peepers a rest. get reimbursed for the telephone headset,
height and with good back support. Ley also suggests some other small so I never bothered to buy one.
Adding a real footrest, instead changes: a hands-free headset so I don’t We all encounter such obstacles when
of my mail bin, would help me find the stress my neck cradling the phone while faced with changing our lives—having to
right height for my feet. Why lift my feet? typing; 3M’s Renaissance Mouse, which is rely on others, having to spend money,
Two reasons, she says: First, that lift shaped like a joystick and can prevent trig- having to break our own bad habits. What
presses my lower back into the lumbar ger finger (an ergonomic disorder of the I learned was not to give up and not to re-
support of my “great chair,” and second, index finger tendon); and an extra-wide gard it as an all-or-nothing prospect.
it keeps my legs from falling asleep by document holder right below my monitor, “You’re like a rag doll today,” my mas-
keeping the blood flowing. Walking instead of off to the side, so I don’t turn my sage therapist tells me on my next visit.
around periodically during the day will head to consult my papers while typing. My upper back needs work, but the lower-
help prevent circulation problems, too. I ask Ley what changes I might make back knots are gone, and the range of mo-
My computer’s monitor, she says, is at home with my laptop. I don’t have pho- tion is back in my neck and shoulders.
way too high and too close to my face. It tos of how I work there, but it’s easy to “Better than last time, huh?” I say.
should be exactly at eye level, directly in paint her a picture: I plonk on the couch, “Tons,” she says. a
front of me but an arm’s length away. Any put the laptop on my lap and watch “CSI:
other position requires me to lift or lower Crime Scene Investigation” while I check Sky Senior Editor Britta Waller has made
my head and move my neck to work. Ask- my e-mail. “You notice after half an hour us all sit up straight and take notice.
ing for more trouble, she says, are people scrunching down with the laptop that
with their monitors off to one side of the your neck hurts, your wrists hurt?” she
desk, so they are turned at an angle to type asks. Yes, I admit, and she says the same
Ergo-wise
Employers and employees can get more
and use the mouse. principles apply—good posture, sup-
information about ergonomics at the
My computer’s keyboard and ported by well-designed accessories and following Web sites:
mouse, she says, are also positioned in- frequent breaks for the eyes and body. 3M’S ERGONOMIC INFORMATION
correctly. “You’re putting a fair amount of I am amazed at how subtle and easy BUREAU www.3m.com/cws/selfhelp
stress on your neck and upper back,” she most of the changes Ley suggests are. Fix- BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
says. She suggests an underdesk tray to ing an ergonomic problem isn’t usually www.bls.gov/iif/home.htm
hold my keyboard and mouse. It will what’s hard, she agrees. Recognizing UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
lower these tools so my arms can reach problems is the hard part. Workers them- ERGONOMICS PROGRAM
them at an easy-to-maintain right angle to selves, who should be the experts on their www.me.berkeley.edu/ergo
my body. own bodies, are misled by symptoms. “Of- THE U.S. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION’S
The tray will also bring the keyboard ten [the pain] won’t even be near the area
ERGONOMICS
and mouse closer to my body, stopping they’re related to,” says Ley (like when my www.osha.gov/SLTC/ergonomics
my forearms from resting on the danger- foot position affects my lower back’s com- /index.html
ously hard edge of the desk. Having the fort). “It’s not intuitively apparent where
keyboard and mouse right at the edge of these injuries come from.”
the tray will help the new wrist rests she Four months later, I’m delighted with
86 SKY October 2003